Hoboken Law Blog

Train your Inner Dog with Good Karma Training

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 20:55:00 -0500

Just helped out a new business woman in Jersey City /Hoboken with a dog training business, Steph is great with Dogs and Roxy is already doing all sorts of polite things !!!!! The world needs good dogs, give Steph a try, especially those barking dogs in your apartment.

http://goodkarmatraining.com/

SPATIAL, VERBAL, AND PHYSICAL PRESSURE

My method of training is known as balanced training. The fundamental principle of dog training is pressure on, pressure off. Pressure can be spacial, verbal, and/or physical.

Spatial pressure is when you position your body strategically to claim space. I use spatial pressure to communicate as well as guide the dog into completing a command. There is a difference between intimidation and guidance. The idea when using spatial pressure is to keep the dog engaged in training, not scare the dog into compliance. Depending upon the personality of a dog, this can be a delicate balance, but I am happy to show you how this technique can be used safely and effectively when training your dog.

Verbal pressure is when you use the correction word “no.” Typically, as the training progresses into advanced obedience, you will be able to say “no” and have your dog respond without having to use either physical, or even spacial pressure.

Physical pressure is any kind of physical connection made between the handler and the dog. This can range from a correction with the training collar, to being distracted by receiving affection while in a down/stay.

During our training sessions together, you will learn how and when to apply pressure, and when to release pressure in order to achieve results. Our goal is to correct bad behavior and to train your dog impulse control. In short, I will show you and your dog how to calmly make better choices. I believe it is important to always correct bad behavior the instant it occurs. Dogs exist in the present moment, they require us to exist in the present with them. The virtue of correcting instantly is to prevent your dog from intensely acting out either by barking, lunging, growling, whining, etc. By consistently applying pressure, and releasing when better behavior is presented, your dog will learn to calmly make better choices. When you correct the subtle bad behavior, you will avoid having to be challenged with much more dramatic bad behavior.

Hoboken311 City Government is Computer Cool and Super Useful

Sat, 24 Nov 2012 23:44:00 -0500

They say you learn new things everyday. Well as a long time Hoboken resident and Attorney I thought I knew about most things the City Government did. But there is always something new to learn and that is the wonderful and much needed Hoboken311, which is a website that provides a lot of information about Hoboken Laws and regulations and, which was new to me, you can give detailed requests to the City about problems that need to be corrected. Me, I complained about a broken sidewalk near my office. Here is a screenshot of my request:

I will update this Blog about the response to this request, but I think it is just great that at lease there is a process in place to deal with Citizen requests and suggestions. Check it out.

An article about a wonderful client, a long time Hoboken Resident and Tarot Card Reader. Read about Janet Horton.

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 16:40:00 -0500

http://narrative.ly/2012/11/fortunate-one/

Photos by Sophie Butcher

Fortunate One

A writer turned PR director turned stockbroker finds her calling among a deck of tarot cards.

By Jaclyn Einis

There is no wall of beads. No headscarf. And absolutely no crystal ball. Just a set of stairs inside a boho-chic bistro spiraling up to a tiny alcove near the bathroom. Tucked in the corner is a woman, sitting, hands folded on a floral tablecloth, cards stacked and ready. The din of loud music and a packed house floats up from below. In spite of the noise and the constant traffic of diners, her table feels intimate.

The woman’s high cheekbones belie her 62 years. Her face feels familiar—a slender oval with deep-set brown eyes and cropped golden blonde hair, sort of Susan Sarandon meets Angela Lansbury. Her manicure, vintage rose-shaped earrings and the shirt beneath her open blue button-down are a perfectly matched powder pink.

Janet Horton at Raoul’s Restaurant

Janet Horton tells me her story on a recent Friday evening at the crowded Raoul’s Restaurant, which has hosted psychics on Prince Street in SoHo for the past 24 years. Horton has been reading tarot cards professionally for some fifteen years, and at Raoul’s for the past three. Speaking in an animated, nonlinear narrative, stopping here and there to chat with an inquisitive passersby or to cater to a customer, Horton explains that she tapped into the “other side” long before she knew what it meant to be psychic.

“I’m five years old, and my mother takes me to go meet the woman who moved in down the street,” says Horton, who grew up in a quiet, lakeside Ohio suburb. “We’re sitting on the couch, and beyond this lady’s head,” she motions past me, “is a hall, and down the hall, there are bedrooms, and in that bedroom to the left, there’s an old German man who died there. He says to me, ‘Tell these filthy squatters to get out of my house.’”

The young Horton relayed the message from the deceased old man, and her mother bade the new neighbor a hasty goodbye.

read the entire article at

http://narrative.ly/2012/11/fortunate-one/

Thanks to all the Hard Working people of Hoboken we are finally out of the dark and ready to to Work.

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 17:00:00 -0500

A Paperless office is great when the Power is on !!!!

Not so great when the Power is off.
But the Power is back and we are open and ready for business.
For all my clients, all your files and papers and documents and emails were not touched by the Storm. Everything is safe We moved and protected them.
Our Computer servers were also protected and we are getting fully online this Sunday Nov. 4th. Please call the office at 201 656-1000 if we don’t answer just leave a message. Email is working.
We also are implementing a new Text to Office service, since it is clear that Texting is the way most people communicate. We will be the first Law office that I know of that will have a Text Number for the office. That should be up and running next week.

Now on to some Legal Advice for all.

At this point it is too early to know the exact process and procedure for people trying to recover money for all their damages.
Frankly, for most people and most damages, lawyers will probably be more of a problem than a means for a solution. I have received many calls already about property damage and my advice is this:
Use that Cell Phone Camera and take pictures and more pictures.
Take close-ups and far away shots.
Use your camera to take pictures of any relevant receipts or things you are replacing or fixing.
Make sure the photos are dated.
Use some system to take voice notes, like even calling yourself to document your thoughts

And now for some Spiritual Advise.

Break out the Bubbly and have a great time !!!!

Frank Marciano

(this was written short and sweet, more to follow.)

Big and Getting Bigger

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 03:39:00 -0500

Came across this picture of Downtown Qingdao in the Shandong Province of China. These building are primarily residential and are all newly built.

This is a new bridge that connects Qingdao to other coastal cities in China. It is over 16 miles long and has 6 lanes.

I really cant grasp how China, India and all of Asia is able to just explode in growth but I would say half of my client’s that are buying real estate in Hoboken and Jersey City and the waterfront in Weehawken and West New York are using money which was generated overseas and is being invested here in America.

Let me digress. The more I read about urban growth around the Globe in places like Brazil, Mexico, Yemen and Nigeria the more amazed I am that the Earth can sustain all this growth. When I was in high school the Malthusian Theory predicated mass starvation and disease in the future since human population would rise exponentially and food supplies would increase only arithmetically. When he wrote this theory around 1780 the world population was about one billion but 230 years later world population is at 7 billion and rising. Even though his theory was wrong I cant help but wonder how there can enough fish in the water to allow me to have fresh sushi wherever I go. My last digression about population growth is that 23 million chicken are killed each day in America for food. Worldwide over 50 billion chicken are killed each year to feed the people of the world and that is only a small percentage of the daily food consumption of other animals and fish that are consumed daily throughout the world. And lets not even begin to think about the garbage and waste that is generated by all this consumption. On a day to day basis it all seems so simple and easy, I go to Kings buy what I want and cook up a nice meal. The dichotomy between the complex engines of civilization that can seamlessly deliver such simple pleasures and the day to day enjoyment of products of those engines is astounding.

The Hoboken Shelter

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 05:25:00 -0500

My wife Judy and I took Roxy for walk on the Hoboken waterfront this Monday night, Labor Day. It was an unusually quiet and peaceful night. As we slowly walked from 4th and River towards the Train Station we witnessed what was apparently a nightly ritual where homeless people prepared themselves for bedtime on the streets of Hoboken. Some took out folded cardboard hidden in the bushes for sleeping

on, others alone, some with friends, prepared benches with blankets, taking out food to eat. Some laid down, some sat, mostly men, but there were some women. This was around 10:30 pm, when we saw a little woman with a cart and two small kids, 5 or 6 years old, just walking up and down the waterfront Blvd. As we watched it started to rain and the woman took out a blanket and wrapped it around and over her children's head and bodies to protect them from the rain. The kids, as kids do, were laughing and giggling like it was a game. Taking interest, we then saw the woman slowly and meekly approach the workers closing down the outdoor cafes. We followed them and found out that she was asking for food, saying they were homeless.
What to do, what can you do? Call the police? Will they help? Is that something the Police do? My wife gently approached them and gave them all the cash we had, the mother gently refused the money but when we said it was for the children she didn't object, but for us it felt like a futile gesture. To say it was sad and upsetting is an understatement. We didn't have our phones with us but thought it best to get the police involved for the sake of the children. We called the police, who were very attentive, and went back outside to check up on the response. We went back to the restaurant where the mother asked for food, they said they gave them some bread, but that it happens all the time at the end of the night, people asking for food.
But they did not know where the little family went. Thinking they might be going to the Train station for shelter we slowly walked toward the Lackawanna Plaza keeping an eye out for the little cart and kids. But they were gone, poof, into the night two little kids hanging on to their homeless mother. Along the way we saw 15- 20 homeless people, half covered with blankets and cardboard, the others milling around on benches and hidden alcoves. We come upon a police car and the policeman confirmed that the Police had in fact sent out a patrolman on foot to look for the mother and kids. We walked some more, asked a few people if they saw this little family but nothing.
That's it, no happy ending, no answer, no story arc. We did what we thought we could and should do; my wife thinks it was not enough, she’s right.
Our day to day life in Hoboken is filled with successful people and their real estate riches in our wonderful town, but to see a small community of people homeless and hungry in the shadow of the W Hotel is disconcerting. While our helplessness in this situation may be understandable it made us have a new found respect and admiration for the people and mission of The Hoboken Shelter and thank them for their thankless mission and will do more to support their mission.

"(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)

Sat, 05 May 2012 06:07:00 -0500

Until your back's up against the wall
You never know yourself that much at all
So you've got to share your love with a friend
That's all that you've got left in the end
Living in this city of pure confusion
People mislead by their own illusion

All this action, no satisfaction
We're all linked together like a chain reaction
Play or fold, love is bold
What is the future that will unfold? 
Some like it hot, others like it cold
But we all want to hold the remote control
from “Remote Control” by the Beastie Boys

One of the Beastie boys died today, Adam Yauch aka MCA, and it made me sad. There was something about their smart lyrics and great beats that I still enjoy after all these years. The fight for your right (to Party) song always made me reflect on the fact that Thomas Jefferson, actually wrote at the beginning of the Declaration of Independence that one of the rights that the founding fathers were fighting for was the right to pursue Happiness. In effect the right to Life and Liberty was not enough, that “the Pursuit of Happiness” was just as important as Life and Liberty. How totally radical, in fact how revolutionary that must have sounded then. And now, the right to pursue your happiness is so ingrained in our culture, that people from all over the world come here for a better life, to a country where the pursuit of your own happiness is a founding principle of the government. When Martin Luther King spoke of his dream, when he said that “America is essentially a Dream” he was expounding upon the words of Thomas Jefferson and the right to pursue Happiness. The tremendous struggles of the civil rights era were needed to right horrible wrongs of deep injustice. But it is not frivolous to say that it was a fight for the right to party, because life and liberty are not, in and of themselves enough. The Beastie Boys made me dance and laugh and when I hear their music I feel young again.
How great is that !!!!!!
And now from the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

Failure to Return Security Deposit, Double damages after Legal Deductions

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 04:17:31 -0500

(NOTE: The status of this decision is Unpublished.)
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE
APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY APPELLATE DIVISION DOCKET NO. A-1486-10T3
WAKENNA DOWELL, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. HOSSEIN AMERI, Defendant-Appellant.
January 26, 2012
From the Rutgers Law Library

Defendant Hossein Ameri appeals from the order of the Law Division, Special Civil Part, awarding judgment of $1550.34 to plaintiff, Wakenna Dowell, after a bench trial. We affirm.

…

Regarding the condition of the premises, the court found, based on photographs of the apartment taken by one of Ameri's workers, Ippolito Trinidad, that Dowell left holes in the walls. The wall repairs cost $300. However, the court was unpersuaded that Dowell left burn marks in the carpet, which was unsupported by photographic evidence. The court rejected as incredible the testimony of Kevin Slade, another Ameri worker, that he had installed new carpet at a cost of $300. The court noted that Ameri had claimed $300 in costs for "replacing damaged carpets in three rooms" in an itemized list of repair costs that he allegedly gave to Dowell on June 9; yet, according to the evidence, measurements were not taken until June 10, and work done thereafter. Regarding the issue of damage to the apartment, the court expressly declined to rely on October 2010 photographs that Dowell had introduced into evidence over Ameri's vigorous objection, and which Ameri referenced in his motion for a new trial.

The court found that North First Street where the apartment was located had been flooded in March, resulting in a shut off of water service and a charge for restoration. The court credited Dowell's assertion that her obligation for this was $87.83, and not $463.10 as Ameri alleged. The court thus found Dowell responsible for $387.83 in repairs and charges.

The court offset the repair cost and water charges against the security deposit, finding that $775.17 of the security deposit remained. Doubling that wrongly withheld amount, he awarded a judgment to Dowell of $1550.34. See N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.1 (requiring return of security deposit and interest "less any charges expended in accordance with the terms of [the] lease," and providing for payment of double the amount of moneys wrongfully withheld, plus costs of the action and, in the court's discretion, reasonable attorney's fees); Kan In Yi v. Re/Max Fortune Props., Inc., 338 N.J. Super. 534, 539 (App. Div. 2001) (stating that tenant's damages for wrongfully withheld funds under the Security Deposit Act, N.J.S.A. 46:8-19 to -26, are calculated based on the net amount due).

…

Palimony or Alimony support without Marriage must be evidenced by a written agreement signed by both Parties.

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 17:35:00 -0500

In Hoboken a lot a people live together that are not married, and have no written agreement regarding their relationship. Ranging from craigslist strangers to long term couples with children that have lived together for years without getting married, to same sex partners that never got around to filing for a civil union. For many years, even without a written agreement, the courts would examine the relationship and take into account oral promises to support from one party to another.

This promise by one party to a relationship to provide support for the other party to the relationship, either during or after termination of the relationship, is now not binding unless it is in writing and signed by the party making the promise.

As of January 2010. N.J.S.A. 25:1-5 (h) immediately amended the Statute of Frauds to include a provision relating to personal relationships:

N.J.S.A. 25:1-5. Promises or agreements not binding unless in writing. No action shall be brought upon any of the following agreements or promises, unless the agreement or promise, upon which such action shall be brought or some memorandum or note thereof, shall be in writing, and signed by the party to be charged therewith, or by some other person thereunto by him lawfully authorized:
…..h. A promise by one party to a non-marital personal relationship to provide support or other consideration for the other party, either during the course of such relationship or after its termination. For the purposes of this subsection, no such written promise is binding unless it was made with the independent advise of counsel for both parties.

Of course lawyers have a way of explaining how black is white, and up is down, but for now, be aware that if you living with someone and depend on them for support, be sure to try and get something in writing to protect your interest in case the relationship ends and you have no where to go.

Fewer Americans File for Bankruptcy (New York Times)

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 04:14:00 -0500

http://j.st/5mp
After steadily climbing for several years, the number of Americans
filing for bankruptcy is on the decline, though that is not necessarily
an indicator of an improving economy. The number of bankruptcy filings
in June was 120,623, or an average of 5,483 a day, a drop of 6.2 percent
from May, when filings totaled 122,775, or 5,846 a day, according to a
report from Epiq Systems, which tracks bankruptcy filings.

Rent Control Loophole big enough for a 10 story Roller Coaster !!

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 02:22:00 -0500

Many people in Hoboken are becoming more away of rent control but they are not aware that any 4 unit multi family building built after 1986 is not subject to rent control for 30 years after it is built. I am linking to a synopsis of the law from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs for anyone interested in the applicability of rent control to their particular building.

rent control loophole.pdf

2A:42-84.5. Exemptions from rent control, leveling, stabilization; legislative intent a. It is the intent of P.L.1987, c.153 (C.2A:42-84.1 et seq.), that the exemption from rent control or rent leveling ordinances afforded under P.L.1987, c.153 (C.2A:42-84.1 et seq.) shall apply to any form of rent control, rent leveling or rent stabilization, whether adopted now or in the future, and by whatever name or title adopted, which would limit in any manner the periodic or regular increases in base rentals of dwelling units of multiple dwellings constructed after the effective date of P.L.1987, c.153 (C.2A:42-84.1 et seq.). No municipality, county or other political subdivision of the State, or agency or instrumentality thereof, shall adopt any ordinance, resolution, or rule or regulation, or take any other action, to limit, diminish, alter or impair any
exemption afforded pursuant to P.L.1987

Rent Control not for New Buildings

Here’s how Hoboken becomes Home to another 10,000 people.

Sat, 20 Nov 2010 21:42:00 -0500

Article by Judy Marciano, who is getting so good, that people now say when they see me, oh that’s Frank, the Realtor’s Husband.

The last census taken in Hoboken showed our population in the year 2000 at 38,577 people. As you know, we just had another census count taken this year and by all accounts our population has increased by at least 10,000 bringing the total to around 50,000 people. This amount does not include people who come here to work or party, it is just the residents. There are a few people in Hoboken who think this increase is a bad thing, but they are a small, but vocal minority, most people are happy that the increase in population has brought more stores, more food places and more activity on the streets. All of which has made Hoboken a safer and more vibrant community.

What many do not know is that in the next 10 -20 years there are plans to increase the residential housing stock to add another 10,000 residents to our city. On the Southern edge of Hoboken, New Jersey Transit put forth a proposal by a planning firm called FXFOWLE to add 6,000 residential units to the City. While that plan was withdrawn for now, a more modest plan for an 18 story high rise building is proposed on the site of the existing bus terminal. Since it is on only 3% of the 54 acres that New Jersey Transit controls you can be sure more development will be proposed on their property.

Further west on the southern edge of Hoboken is another area poised for development. This is a 13 acre redevelopment site that has been subject to various plans that will change this currently rundown part of Hoboken. There has been great excitement about a 6 acre park in the area and of course with parks will come more housing and high rises.

Also on the southern edge of Hoboken, is the eventual development of the Neumann Leather Building which was slated for a new mixed used retail/residential project but was knocked down by the zoning board. Another proposal for the development of the Hoboken public works garage area has also fallen away for now. However, it’s no coincidence that these plans have fallen apart as the real estate market fell apart. You can be sure that when the next round of development occurs, as the real estate market charges into its next cyclical upswing, that these two areas will see new and better plans for residential and retail units.

Now all of the above is just on the southern edge of Hoboken. On our northern boundaries the Rockefeller Group has already bought up entire blocks to create a massive 1.1 billion dollar development project with 1.8 million square feet of office space and 85,000 square feet of retail space and it plans to build a 40 story high-rise, the tallest building in Hoboken. Also subject to new development is the western edge of Hoboken near the Shop-Rite building. This is likely to have office space and a series of 8 story mid rise residential buildings.

Along with all these new plans are building now being built on the waterfront such as the new residential building at 1450 Washington Street now being built by Toll Brothers and the Berkshire recently completed by Applied Development. Other new buildings around the Upper Grand buildings around 15th and Clinton Street have been approved and are either in the process of being built or will be built soon.

For those that think that Hoboken will sink into the Hudson or cannot bear to take on so many new projects and people take solace in the history of Hoboken’s population. Here is a graph of Hoboken population over the last 100 years. See Above.

As you can see in the year 1910 Hoboken was home to 70,000 people and over the years the population continually declined to an anemic 33,000 in 1990. However, since then Hoboken’s popularity and proximity to New York has seen its population increase dramatically. So with any luck and a good economy Hoboken will see itself home to more than 60,000 residents, which is less than its peak population, but will allow for Hoboken to become an even safer more vibrant and wonderful place to live!

(Of course something has to be done with parking but with more people will come more transit options such as shuttles that will move more people around Hoboken without cars)

Humpty Dumpty, The Supreme Court of New Jersey and “The Minds of Lawyers” alive and well on the other side of the Looking Glass.

Sun, 14 Nov 2010 21:46:00 -0500

Those profound words of wisdom spoken by Humpty Dumpty in “Through the Looking Glass has special relevance in the world of Law. Clients often want to know, in no uncertain terms, what is going to happen. While I win?; How Long will it take?; What is the Answer?; Can you Guarantee? How much will it cost? are all questions I get after clients give me a one sided, 5 minute summary of their problem. While I do my best to estimate my fees and give an educated guess as to the outcome of a case, no one, no lawyer, can guarantee a result. In fact the entire Court system with motions and appeals, and different courts is based on the fact that in real life nothing is crystal clear. Most of the time the issues are clear enough so the answer to a legal problem is clear, except of course when they’re not. Take for example a simple case of tenant being evicted for non-payment of rent.

Simple enough, you don’t pay your rent you can be evicted. Except of course, if you were being overcharged, then rent control laws might determine that, not only will the tenant not be evicted, that the Landlord owes the Tenant money. Or if the rent was held back because the condition of apartment was substandard, then the Tenant can not only stay but the Landlord would have to fix up the apartment. Or how about the case when the Landlord tries to collect rent, even though he lost control of the property though a foreclosure, and is not entitled to collect the rent. Or how about the case when the tenant, having not paid rent, files for bankruptcy, then the Landlord is prevented from evicting the tenant because the Bankruptcy laws stay all proceedings.

In a recent Supreme Court Decision (Dean v. Barrett Homes Inc., Sup. Ct. (Hoens, J.) (44 pp., including a partial dissent by Rivera-Soto, J.), a case about liability and damages resulting from stucco siding on a house, the dissenting Judge had this to say about the other Judges who wrote the majority decision.

The notion that an exterior finish that can only be removed by extensive demolition work is not “integrated” into the structure to which it is attached is so fanciful, so nonsensical, that it beggars the imagination. It is a conclusion that can germinate only in the minds of lawyers and can find root only in the rarified environment of this Court's decisions; it cannot, however, long survive in the atmosphere of the real world. .… …. There is no kind way to put it: the majority's reasoning simply makes no sense.

Here we have a Judge sitting on the Supreme Court of New Jersey stating without hesitation that “The Majority’s reasoning makes no sense” Realize that this case has already been reviewed and decided upon by the Trial Court Judge and the Appellate Court Judges, all of whom had their own different opinions. So, in effect, if a person had a sitting Judge of the Supreme Court as their attorney, that person would have been given the wrong legal advice. All the logic and reasoning of that hypothetical “judge as lawyer” would not mend the illogical decision of the Court, which like Humpty Dumpty would remain broken and not fixable. The point of this blog entry is that the Courts cannot be relied upon to do justice is every case. If you have a problem do your best to solve it without the Court’s direct intervention. And if you have an attorney be sure that he or she is focused on solving your problem in the real world and not just spending your money on a quixotic search for Justice in the Courts.

Fox Business News interview about Real Estate Market

Fri, 22 Oct 2010 15:36:00 -0500

Some of my thoughts about the current real estate market were taken down by Nancy

Colasurdo a columnist at Fox Business News click here or on the picture to read more.

Hoboken’s Washington Street named one of best in USA

Sat, 16 Oct 2010 03:49:00 -0500

		We all know that Hoboken is the coolest place to be in New Jersey, We love the constant hails of greetings and the endless smiles on so many of the people walking on Washington Street. However, for most people the subtle effects of the physical city around them is given little attention. This is a great award from a great Association
Washington Street	APA Award	and as a Attorney

that has practiced zoning law in Hoboken, Jersey City, Weehawken and the surrounding area I have had a lot of experience regarding the zoning process. The fact that Hoboken retained it’s charm throughout the years is a testament to the steady hand of Hoboken’s City Planner, Elizabeth Vandor of Vandor and Vandor She as quietly but firmly guided the City of Hoboken’s planning process since the early 80’s. The very fact that she has survived the political minefield of Hoboken’s politics during such a politically turbulent period of time is testament to her integrity and professional foresight. Continuity in the professionals advising Hoboken is a great thing if the right professionals are in place, and as a city we are lucky to have Elizabeth Vandor as our trusted professional. When so much is written of the bad in local Hudson County Government I thought it important that some good news be spread around.