First things first. I have maintained that in this election that there is no "Mayoral Messiah". Two of the independents, Tom Vincent and Ryn Melberg make somewhat of a case by being either endearing (Vincent) or bringing real revenue into the equation (Melberg on grants). I am friendly with both of them on some level which always makes expressing your true political opinion that more difficult in a mile square town. I like to say, never say never but without least some level of funding ($100K) I don't see a "Miracle on Washington Street" with an independent win. With that said, there are many undecided voters and looking at this weekend's Kentucky Derby with a 50 to 1 shot winning, anything is possible, just not very probable.
There is no Mayoral Messiah for Hoboken in 2009 but the choice is very importantThat leaves us with three choices for Mayor with respect to electoral viability. Electoral viability is defined by me as having at least a 5% chance of winning and the remaining three certainly each have a shot at getting elected that is greater than 5%. It is the uncertainty of the outcome that to me makes this race interesting. Certainly, some scientific polling is being done in this town but I don't trust the results since given the history of voter intimidation in this town and retribution. I feel you can't trust the numbers as much as these political campaigns would like to.
The three choices remaining are all incumbents as sitting City Council members and are thus all are part of the budget crisis on some level. Michael Bloomberg is not taking up residence in Hoboken any time soon so we can be assured that the next mayor will not have experience as Mayor on the job. For whoever wins, it will be on the job training.
The three most likely to win the Mayor's seat are Beth Mason, Peter Cammarano and Dawn Zimmer.
Peter Cammarano - Robert's Third Term?
Peter Cammarano to me is the most culpable of the City Council members on the budget crisis since he approved every Roberts budget while in office. The 2008 budget approved was bogus and yet he pulled out the rubber stamp once again. Sure, he likes to point out he differed with Dave on the City Garage contract but the whole point was he effectively voted to sell City assets to pay for operating expenses. It is that very act that passed the buck or punted the issue down the line (Ponzi scheme) with respect to our current tax situation.
Peter may look the part of a politician and he certainly speaks well but his voting record doesn't speak well to fiscal conservatism which is required in our current economic situation. I have said this before and will say it again, he was one of Dave Robert's fiscally malfeasant enablers. He didn't adequately question the Administration, or the HUMC and as we know now they both had major problems from a budgetary standpoint.
I don't dislike Peter Cammarano as a person but he does represent the status quo in my opinion. Follow the endorsements. Richard Tremitiedi formally and Dave Roberts, passively have given Peter Cammarno the thumbs up for Mayor. One thing is for sure we need change and I don't feel someone with that voting record has the will to bring the appropriate relief to taxpayers. His ties to the politics of patronage are too strong. If he is elected I hope he proves me wrong.
Beth Mason - Thou hath forsaken me!
Back in September of 2008, I was excited to help Beth Mason when she asked me to help out with her potential campaign for Mayor. At the time she was the only candidate that I was aware of that was planning to run for Mayor that had the voting record and stance on the issues I could support. Despite whatever I may say next, it is important for me to say that I do respect many of the things Beth has done in the past to promote transparency in government. Examples of this are her involvement in POG and FOG. Her recent shift in policies, statements, votes and slate selection however, gave me pause and consider another candidate instead.
Just as I was gearing up to help her I had posted a defense of Beth to statements made against her body of work. In my post on one of the blogs I had defended the general direction of her efforts but had acknowledged there had been some tactical missteps along the way such as a no bid contract of the Fire and Police audit. The next thing that happened was that I got a call for her while she is on vacation, in Israel! She blasted me for stating she had made strategic blunders, a statement in and of itself didn't even resemble what I wrote in the first place. Surely someone from her inner circle didn't want me airing my independent views and took the time to tell her about my innocuous post. Worse yet her reaction to something so minor didn't indicate the steadiness and composure I desire in leadership.
I was taken aback and realized two things at that point, Beth can be difficult to work with and doesn't take constructive criticism very well. These are traits I see more and more manifest themselves as the pressure of the current campaign is reaching its zenith.I was also increasingly frustrated with her lack of ability to convey her platform to me so I could begin talking her up. It was at that point that I decided to step aside helping her formally as part of her campaign. Little did I know at the time, the reason I believe this conversation was not possible is that a deal with the Russo's was already in the works and hence she could not commit to certain positions as a shift was necessary to broker the deal.
While there are sincere Mason supporters out there, certain elements of her inner circle leave something to be desired when it comes to ethics and the dispensation of sound political advice. What is clear to me now is that her inner circle didn't want my inclusion as well on her campaign. Just as well, I couldn't bring myself to drink to Koolaide anyway.
Beth's recent votes on Church Square Towers PILOT, backing of a recent developer friendly redevelopment plan (Rockefeller Group), failure to back Kids First in the BOE, statements such as "build or die", and the general selection of her slate to me represent a doctrinal shift away from the principals I thought she once stood for. Also important to mention is the increasingly shrill and confrontational manner she displayed not only to me but to others in recent weeks. Certainly compromise is a part of politics as long as the candidate isn't compromised. Beth Mason with her political shift will certainly get votes from Church Square Towers and Applied but she has lost my vote. Not that I want mix religion and politics but my feelings can be summed up best by stating: "Beth Mason, thou hath forsaken me"
Dawn Zimmer - A vision of change for all of Hoboken
When I first met Dawn Zimmer last year she didn't have plans to run for Mayor at the time. Given the developments of the political sphere of Hoboken and the directions that the Beth Mason campaign was going, Dawn made the decision to run for Mayor. Hopefully, if she is elected I know she will work hard to make the changes necessary that match her policies. Dawn is sincere about her reasons for running for Mayor. If she was not sincere she would not be showing the boundless energy she has shown pounding the pavement day after day in her grass roots campaign.
Dawn has demonstrated to me the policy positions and leadership qualities by the following actions and traits:
- Vote on Church Square Towers PILOT based on needing more information to protect the 60% needing affordable housing and protecting the taxpayer from the other 40% who don't need it subsidized and require the rest of us taxpayers to foot more of the bill.
- Support of Kids First BOE slate. Dawn made a decision to support the BOE slate and even gave Beth Mason an opening to do the same delaying her official endorsement. Beth declined and Dawn demonstrated the kind of leadership to take a stand in what you believe in regardless of the political consequences.
- Recent legislation to require financial analysis of impact before any PILOT is taken. This was Dawn's initiative and while it was initially criticized by Beth Mason it was unanimously passed. This is important regardless of who is Mayor since we we no longer go into PILOTS with our financial blinders on.
- Opposed Northwest Redevelopment Zone project with Rockefeller Group as it was too large in scale and more importantly did not match community needs.
Dawn Zimmer's detractors like to mention HCDO ties to knock her down a peg. It is true that Dawn did take some money in 2007 from the HCDO but it was a small percentage of her total campaign. Dawn's recent ELEC report shows no such contributions in 2009 from the HCDO which refudiates that claim to date.
Beth Mason is now in bed with the Russos whose legacy of voter intimidation, preferential patronage of personality rather than merit and felonious kickbacks speak for themselves. The Russos have had their chance to help put this town into a condition as Frank Raia recently described as "out of whack". I'll take my chances with Dawn and the Mason team manufactured bogeyman known as the HCDO.
I encourage all voters to make their own judgments based on what they know about their candidate's voting records and judgements about how their positions and ability to carry out those positions will represent you best.
In my belief and judgment Peter Cammarano has been very consistent, but very consistently wrong. Beth Mason in my opinion and judgement has been inconsistently right and wrong and more wrong than right lately. Finally Dawn Zimmer in my belief and judgement has been consistent and right on most issues that match my views. I also believe that Dawn if elected will surround herself with smart people and work to help alleviate the tax burden as well make sure that those who need help do get it though subsidized housing and other means of support the City can provide.
My vote is for Dawn Zimmer and her slate of Ravi Bhalla, Dave Mello and Carol Marsh.
- Kurt Gardiner Editor
My Comment: Feel free to submit you letters to me at kurt.gardiner@gmail.com to back whichever candidate you may choose.
◦
