Letter from Dean Kemph (Endorsing Tom Vincent)
This is an email that arrived last night from Dean Kemph who was active in Hoboken before he moved away. He's been watching the election here and, well, you can read the rest for yourself (I've included his followup from this morning at the end).
-Tom Vincent
Subject: The Great Hoboken Mayoral Election
Well, folks, it's that time again! Despite our partial abandonment of the Mile Square City, we still live a good chunk of our lives there. I've been surprised that I've been getting so many inquiries as to my thoughts on this year's election, which I guess stems from my long-time (albeit sporadic and often cursory) association with causes and candidates, my consistency as to principles I support, and my willingness to jettison even friends and allies who begin to play fast and loose with their previous convictions. So, thank you for recognizing that even in the face of my inherent goofiness. So here go my thoughts about the least charismatic and most humorless (at least publicly) slate of major candidates any town could hope for. Exciting surprise endorsement near the end! Oh my!
Cammarano
There's not a lot to say here. In the Roberts/DelBoccio/Cricco mold, this seems to be a guy that will gravitate to any power source for personal interest. By the time he ran with Roberts, Dave's spending excesses, failure to limit developers or hold them accountable for betraying promises, and inability to say no to the costly demands and job requests of his childhood friends were well established. Peter never wavered in his support for Dave's policies until it became clear that Roberts had lost all credibility and power. For someone so concerned about what became a necessary state takeover, it's too bad he wasn't fighting these excesses earlier.
Zimmer
The grass-roots populist choice, if you ignore her tendency to align with notorious villains of the past (Amato) 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. 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. 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. In this case, I think she 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.)
Mason
Beth, we hardly knew ye. While a city turns its lonely eyes to you, you've become a veritable John McCain. (Let's win now, we'll worry about integrity when we get into office.) I was one of the select invitees to that now-famous late 2006 meeting in which Beth expressed her desire to forge a new path for "reform" candidacies, which I fully supported because I thought a lot of the existing conventional wisdom about winning in Hoboken was nonsense. Conspicuously absent was the Lenz/Soares/Marsh contingent. While Michael and Tony seem to have an uncanny ability to alienate as many supporters as opponents and I frequently disagreed with them, they had generally been fighters for the right causes in town and I felt that their total ex-communication (along with any similar-minded but less abrasive activists) was silly, paranoid, and non-productive. The meeting turned out to be nothing more than a ill-disguised fund-raiser for Beth to hire political operatives to help her get elected. When a couple of us suggested that it might be appropriate to actually have a platform (unlike Carol in her mayoral bid) before we started asking for money and to let candidates emerge from issues, we were politely thanked and asked to kindly relegate ourselves to the nearest black hole at our earliest convenience. Still, that was easy to shrug off assuming Beth would stay devoted to principle. In recent months, she has studiously avoided support of any individual or policy, no matter how appropriate, that could stir up any degree of controversy. Now supported by former Roberts supporter Brian Stack, Beth seems to have become the consummate political animal, and Hoboken needs too much help for that. Moreover, her hollow and ineffectual defense of a slate that would have at one time appalled her (much as I like Vinny Addeo personally) does not begin to obscure what may be the most transparent pander in recent Hoboken political history. Raul Morales, Jr.? Are you kidding? Ask any long-timer about his father's tactics and the damage effect it had in close elections. Apparently, intimidation is OK if you are using it to your own benefit. Go get that applied housing vote Beth, no matter what the cost. The only thing more transparent is Beth's campaign carefully crafting many of the letters to the editor which have appeared in the Reporter.
Dave Roberts' term was a great tragedy for Hoboken. He had a unique opportunity, with support of the traditional "reformers" who were weary of the Russo reign and willing to take a flyer that David, who had always SEEMED to know what was the right thing to do, would somehow stumble upon his long-awaited epiphany and reverse his 15 year record of capitulation. But alas, it didn't happen. He was still Dave.
Beth, the apparent front-runner with seemingly endless financial resources; substantial, if ethically-challenged, professional assistance; determined work ethic; and natural penchant for public service also had a great opportunity. With Hoboken's changing demographic and new political emergence of heretofore uninvolved tax-revolters, a great chance exists to shatter the "reform" vote ceiling that has plagued the last couple of decades of mayoral elections. She could have put together a like-minded slate (a "real" coalition - one of ideas) instead of one which will, if Beth is elected, stay unified until next Thursday, perhaps as late as the afternoon. She could have stayed on policy track. She could have won with everyone feeling pretty happy about it. But alas, that didn't happen either.
I'm not a great fan of the practicality of small candidacies -- I'm still mad at Ralph Nader for 2000. But I don't think any of the three primary candidates has earned your vote, and here's the reality. There will be a runoff. Beth or Dawn (maybe both) will be in it. I don't actually see much in the way of policy difference, although Dawn seems more willing to take stands these days. Beth may make a more efficient administrator, but Dawn's slate would stick together much better.
True Hoboken political heroes like Tom Vezzetti, Helen Cunning, and Joe Dellafave seem in short supply these days. There's a guy named Tom Vincent, one of the good guys in town, who is running as an independent. To call him "a long shot" would be an absurd understatement. Very thoughtful, very smart, apparently very honest and unassociated with unsavory alliance or agenda. Actually has charisma and humor. And anyone who has both the guts and judgment to unequivocably state that Vezzetti was the only mayor he liked deserves consideration. So my recommendation is to vote for Tom, make a statement, give him some visibility and a little louder voice. That has value in Hoboken. Make your final choice in the runoff.
One last thing -- as you may know, I hate being serious for too long, and I try to bring levity where I can to this dark arena. (Old timers may recall The Little Old Lady From Willow Terrace, the response to Mayor Russo's accusation that I was "hitting on" young waitresses at Caffe Roma, the newspaper series involving the John DePalma campaigning lookalike, etc.) One of the most well-received of these was a parody re-writing of Eugene Flinn's last-minute newspaper endorsement of Dave Roberts in 2005. Eugene did not see fit to mention that he and Dave were business partners, and I regard that sort of non-disclosure as disingenuous. No one was more gleeful about that at the time than Mason operative John Keim, who is a friend I respect greatly. Nonetheless, that darned consistency thing is getting me again, and I think that John's newspaper endorsement of Beth / criticism of everybody else deserves the same disclosure scrutiny. If Beth is elected, John's wife Ines will be appointed to the 2nd ward seat. John's household income takes a jump. Full disclosure. Perhaps John should let others write the letters, and help Beth get her campaign funding reports submitted on time.
Best of luck, Hoboken!
Dean[The next morning]Subject: What a reaction!
Apparently, my oh-so-candid comments on the mayoral race hit a nerve, as I woke up to more than 100 responses. It also proves that I have no original ideas, since virtually everyone, except a few people deeply immersed in the campaign, has said that I merely gave voice to what they were already thinking. Maybe there really IS a silent majority!
Naturally, the few deeply immersed said that the REAL opposing candidates were Michael Lenz/Michael Russo/David Roberts (depending on which camp), which only reinforced my feelings about the disservice their opportunistic sniping is doing to the welfare of Hoboken. Go Tom Vincent!
Sorry to clutter your inbox again, but I'm still wading through these and so many of them asked whether it was OK to forward these comments that I wanted to assure everyone that it's fine.
-Dean ◦
