"Children and dogs are as necessary to the welfare of the country as Wall
Street and the railroads." - Harry S. Truman ---
In June 1999, the Judge ruled that JC must pay the fees in arrears to the Hudson County SPCA, now renamed the Assisi Center/SPCA, which amounted to over $ 400,000 since 1992. What a coincidence but that's when Schundler was elected! The settlement was based on the fact that despite the City's refusal to pay the SPCA, it brought animals to the shelter daily. The SPCA settled for $300,000 since the City pleaded financial hardship. In a meeting a few months ago, summer 2000, the Health Officer laughingly said, "That was pretty smart, wasn't it? We saved almost $200,000 by not paying you."
Schundler has been misleading the dog activists with the hopes of a new shelter at an estimated cost of $3 million. Where he thinks he's getting the bonding authority is another matter. Will this be another museum fiasco where the state, due to our excessive bonding level, put the kabash on the $10 million museum construction bond and now the City is taking CDBG federal funds earmarked for struggling neighborhoods like Palisades Avenue and giving it to the museum? ( see EXTRAVAGANT BUILDING PROJECTS)
Jersey City has no other animal shelter and most of the animals come from here. The City's $60,000 annual fee must feed, medicate and shelter thousands of animals, primarily dogs, each year. Sixty thousand dollars is inadequate to pay salaries for local help, provide heat and hot water, clean, and maintain old buildings but they'd be happy to get it.
Again the SPCA sued the City to get paid. In the June 2000 court order, "the City was ordered to pay the past bill and to forthwith and continuously thereafter." The City hasn't paid a dime since 1999 and owes over $100,000, and is in contempt of court. When the SPCA sues now, it will seek payment plus interest and will seek the amounts of fines for the contempt of court charges... but remember Schundler loves hiring attorneys….
Just to put this in prospective, in 1996, Schundler awarded a nursery in North Arlington an annual contract to water and plant, 7 days a week, the hundreds of hanging flowerpots and over 800 reddish, plastic street planters in front of City Hall, every major city corner in the City, every commercial shopping districts! The Mayor insisted on the reddish, street pots over the objections of many of the residents who knew we had real needs not being addressed. The nursery sends 5 guys 7 days/week for at least 6 months of the year. As you can see it's all about priorities…. taking care of political contributors or homeless animals that can't buy $500 fundraiser tickets! (see cartoon in the Police section)
If you're interested in adopting, check out the Assisi's web site. Volunteer Dave Norman and I set up the site on Petfinder.Org and now Althea Miller, a volunteer, updates it but needs assistance in maintaining the site …. LINK- http://www.petfinder.org/shelters/NJ182.html …The shelter needs volunteers to walk the dogs, money and supplies. Send your donations to the Assisi Center, 480 Grand Street, Jersey City, NJ 07304.
or EMAIL to volunteer
Check out the city's web site and the link A site for lost or abandoned pets in the Jersey City area. LINK - it's the last link) and notice Welcome to Miss Puppykins' Are You My Mommy? Home Page! …. Schundler, where's the money for the Assisi Center who handles hundreds of stray and abandoned dogs & cats every year?
FOR THE MAIN TOPICS, CLICK BELOW