Ballot Drawing this Wednesday:
The drawing of the ballot position for Mayor and City Council Elections is coming up this Wednesday April 1st from 12PM -1PM at City Hall. I would imagine all of the Major slate candidates are in since many of them submitted well over the required amount of petitions. I also received confirmation that Mayoral Independents Ryn Melberg and Tom Vincent also had enough signatures. Frank Orsini had told me that he submitted over 600 so I think he should be safe as well. As far as the Council Independent candidates, it is reported that the City Clerk's Office only had time to validate voting registration and validity but not check for duplicates. Therefore, as long as they submitted enough valid petitions they should all be fine to make it on the ballot as well.
Beth Mason's Campaign: Until I checked this afternoon, there had not been any updates on Beth Mason's website about fundraisers or public events for about a week. An invitation only event was held this weekend at her campaign headquarters to what could best be described as people on the fence but receptive to her campaign. The goal was for these people to meet her slate of council candidates and hopefully get a better comfort level with what some perceive to be a handpicked Russo slate.
My source, who was invited to that meeting did not come away with a favorable view of the slate as it pertained to such concerns. As they say, opinions vary. It is not that unusual to have non-public events for a campaign but I would have expected more publicly announced activity by this point. Each campaign has a right to have its own style but so far I am finding the Beth Mason campaign to be less transparent (or at least publicly open via the web) than the Zimmer and Cammarano campaigns to date. That could change as time goes by.
There is an event at Maxwell's for April 16th on her site (http://bethmasonformayor.com/) with a recommended donation of $250 dollars. I have posted numerous emails and press releases from both the Cammarano and Zimmer camps as well as document by video events for Frank Orsini and Tom Vincent but the Mason Campaign has not sent me any releases to date. If the Mason campaign decides to do so, I will be sure to publish.
Phone Poll Follow up: The phone poll I had on Sunday March 22nd has been confirmed by the Zimmer Campaign as not being theirs. This poll asked many questions about how support for Beth Mason would be perceived if Mike Russo, Theresa Castellano, Ruben Ramos, Frank Raia, etc. were to support her in terms of likeliness to make you vote for or against her. One of Mason's core bloggers Wakeup_07030 on NJ.com insists that it was not Beth's poll. Question: Who else would waste their money on those questions that pertain specifically to matters only her campaign? Using the principal of Occam's Razor the simplest explanation is usually the correct one but who says Hoboken politics is scientifically rational?
Celebrity Tactics: White Horse Strategies has put up a nice looking website for Peter Cammarano but I have to call to question the strategy of using celebrities unrelated to Hoboken politics to win an election. Sure, it makes for a good buzz but I think the voters who are savvy will look beyond the glam and vote for who they think will do the best job. A 23 year old statement by a wanna-be filmmaker whose last name just happens to be Kennedy isn't going to swing my vote as much as an old time B&R Hoboken resident.
"Mayor Quimby": I don't take credit for the nickname, I first heard that one on www.Hoboken411.com. Dave Roberts was sighted at the new W Hotel this Friday with a selection of Hudson County's finest. Geez, I thought he was spending most of his time in Mantaloking because I hadn't seen him on the street in for some time. Maybe he was keeping his promise to buy anyone a steak dinner at Zylos if they could find a city run better his beloved Hoboken. Given the current budget mess and his predominant role in it I would imagine that would be pretty easy now.
Dave Roberts also had a very public temper tantrum about signage last week that yes was offensive but truthful. I only ask for him to take a good look in the mirror and ask himself, was there any thing he could have done better in years 2001-2007 to improve the financial position of the Hoboken taxpayer? As Michael Jackson once sang "I'm asking the man in the mirror". Maybe had he done a better job at controlling costs that sign would not have been created in the first place.
