It is important to note that Tom Vincent does not necessarily agree with all the points in the letter but thought is was worth sharing for another take on the race.
Here are the points and counterpoints:
1. Dean: "The grass-roots populist choice, [is Dawn Zimmer]..."
Theresa: OK so far.
2. Dean: "...if you ignore her tendency to align with notorious villains of the past (Amato)..."
2. Dean: "...if you ignore her tendency to align with notorious villains of the past (Amato)..."
Theresa: Andrew Amato (and his wife Flo) supported Dawn in 2007 while frequently proclaiming he wasn't seeking anything in return for his help. Dawn promised him nothing in return for his support and he received nothing but a good councilwoman. Perhaps that is why he does not support Dawn this year.
3. Dean: "...while seemingly embracing the type of unethical 4th ward campaigning that made many of us cringe for years. While her camp claims, in contrast to the Mason camp allegations, that the HCDO has no influence and that Dawn is running her own show; that clearly didn't seem to be the case on her council run. I was astounded by both the techniques used in her 4th ward campaign and how little knowledge she seemed to have of some of the stuff going on around her. Read the deposition - it's available on Hoboken411 - but be prepared to need a shower afterwards."
Theresa: This paragraph makes me nuts. It consists of baseless innuendo and contains absolutely no facts. What “tactics is Dean referring to? He doesn’t say. Precisely what was revealed in Dawn’s depositions that makes Dean feel unclean? He doesn’t say. Dawn ran a grassroots campaign against Chris Campos, a machine politician who ran a vicious campaign that was funded by Brian Stack and various developers to the tune of $200,000. Dawn combated that with a tough but clean campaign funded almost entirely by her family and her Hoboken friends and neighbors. The depositions that arose in the election challenge reveal nothing untoward, and I invite everyone interested to read them for themselves, rather than rely on the unfair and politically motivated characterizations of others. As far as HCDO influence is concerned, I challenge anybody to point to a single vote that Dawn has cast that even hints at such influence. In stark contrast to Dawn’s record, Beth Mason has cast several votes recently that appear to have been the result of the influence of the Russos (Church Towers) or Brian Stack (Rockefeller Group/ NW redevelopment).
4. Dean: "On her ticket, I'm friends with Carol Marsh, although I'm more a fan of her good intentions than her political abilities. I got friendly with Carol when I was managing Phyllis Spinelli's second ward campaign in '99."
Theresa: I agree with Dean on Carol's good intentions but pull my hair out over her supposed lack of political abilities. Let me be clear -- Carol Marsh has been at or near the center of almost every good thing in Hoboken Politics in the last decade, from Kids First, to Vote Yes for Parks, to the successful Cunningham and Zimmer Campaigns to so much else.
5: Dean: "Knowing what a supposedly reluctant candidate she was for her first at-large run, I'm puzzled by her affinity since for running for any available office."
Theresa: In my experience Carol has always stepped-up when needed and asked to do whatever was required. Her run for Assembly in 2007 ended the period in which the HCDO supported the Bad Guys in every Hoboken election and bad ideas in Hoboken and began an era where they supported such things as Dawn Zimmer, Vote Yes for Parks and the land acquisition at 1600 Park Avenue. Does this make them good guys? Of course not as Carol is the first to acknowledge. But it does make it easier for the real good guys to succeed.
In this case, I think [Carol] may simply be ticked off at Beth because she was ill-treated by the underhanded tactics of Mason's professional operatives. (The childish schism in the "reform" camp that may yet keep both Beth and Dawn out of office can be laid primarily on Beth's doorstep.)" Nothing in Dean's letter makes as clear how out of touch with Hoboken Dean has become. The problem is not Beth Mason's professional operatives, nor her unpaid operatives, it is the choices Beth Mason has made herself. She has undermined Dawn Zimmer for Council, Kids First, Vote Yes for Parks, and now is working to elect a Russo backed council.
Theresa's conclusion: There is no "schism in the "reform" camp" childish or otherwise. Only one mayoral candidate has championed a Reform Agenda by not only endorsing but putting it on the line for Kids First and Vote Yes for Parks. There is one ticket -- Dawn Zimmer's -- working for reform and two others opposing it.
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