The Hoboken election has two opposing theories butting heads. One theory claims that a sitting mayor such as Mayor Dave Roberts should not have fallen into a runoff, that his record as the city’s top elected official should have been so overpoweringly positive that he could have beaten back opposition and been swept into office by acclimation.
“Sixty three percent of the voters voted against Dave Roberts,” said Councilman Tony Soares, who came in third in a race for three at-large seats but still faces a runoff election as well. “That was old Hoboken, New Hoboken and all of Hoboken.”
Under this theory, Carol Marsh simply has to keep on delivering her message to become the next mayor of Hoboken.
“It’s easier to get the frustrated anti-administration voters to vote with us than for Roberts to get them,” Soares added. “We have to show people that we are more professional. We have to continue to out and talk to the people.”
Soares said mayoral candidate Frank Raia had some good ideas as far as dealing with the parking in Hoboken, winning him votes during the original four-way campaign for mayor. And he says Councilman Michael Russo, the fourth candidate, had some good ideas about fiscal management, many of which are also part of the Marsh campaign.
“So if it is a choice between us and Mayor Roberts, I think many of those votes will come with us.” Soares said. “We just have to continue to send out our message, while Roberts will have to switch gears.”
Marsh supporters said the campaign has always been one developed around issues, and that they have not used smear tactics, only criticized Roberts’ actions in office. However, Marsh’s own website did try to link Roberts’ fundraising with past corrupt administrations, even though Roberts has not been accused of wrongdoing.
Marsh supporters note that they themselves have been victims of much misinformation.
“We have been accused of being Republicans, of shutting down government and seeking contributions from vendors,” Soares said. “We are not Republicans. We did not shut down government – we simply refused to vote for a budget we felt wasn’t funded properly. And Carol asked for contributions from a vendors’ list that any candidate can get.”
Will old Hoboken swing to Roberts?
But the Roberts camp says Marsh should have won on the first ballot. In this theory, Marsh needed to have Raia and Russo steal enough of Roberts’s votes away for Marsh to slip into office. But in a head-to-head battle between Roberts and Marsh, Roberts may have the edge.
While Roberts may not have come up with the necessary 50 percent he needed for the first ballot victory, he took five out of six wards – a sign that he has citywide strength if not the overwhelming force needed to win a first round.
The May election also saw a relatively light turnout. In most cases, reform candidates win because so many people are so outraged at the administration that voters turn out in droves.
State Sen. Bernard Kenny, who has been a strong Roberts supporter, said the Marsh campaign lost steam over two critical issues: the closing down of city government and the seeking of campaign donations from developers. Under this theory, votes for Raia and Russo were largely Old Hoboken, and will likely swing to Roberts in the run off.
“But we’re not taking anything for granted,” Kenny said, hoping to build on the 900-vote majority over Marsh. “We’re looking to build a coalition with those who did not make the runoff. We’ve always had a relationship with them and we have a lot in common.”
Kenny said the strategy for beating Marsh remains the same – contrast her ticket with Roberts and point out the inconsistencies.
“Four years ago she ran with us, using the $500,000,” Kenny said. “She needed these campaign contributions to match the war chest Mayor [Anthony] Russo had raised.”
While Kenny said the Roberts ticket raised almost as much for this election as in 2001, this was matched by the combined campaigns of the other candidates. In total, Russo, Raia and Marsh together raised about as much as the Roberts ticket did.
Bickering in North Hudson
The conflict between mayors in various towns in North Hudson prompted the trustees of the North Hudson Community Action Corporation to act, said one of the trustees in response to last week’s column depicting the turmoil.
Trustees said NHCAC, which had been overseen for years by the North Hudson Council of Mayors, had fallen prey to political bickering between various mayors over whom would replace former Executive Director Michael Leggerio, who died earlier this year.
Some mayors sought to put Tom Calvanico, former executive director for the Hudson County Improvement Authority, in Leggerio’s post, prompting protests from others mayors who did not want the one-time ally of former County Executive Robert Janiszewski to take the post. Trustees said the dispute left the post vacant.
“We acted when no one else would,” one trustee said. “We were afraid we would lose funding if we didn’t put someone in his place.”
The trustees named Michael Shabab to the post when Leggerio’s second-in-command declined the job. Shabab was third in command.
But Shabab is not a resident of Union City or even Hudson County, and this prompted North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco to oppose Shabab. Other mayors such as Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner were apparently willing to go along with Shabab until the residency issue emerged.
But the NHCAC has other problems such as the $1.2 million annuity that is rumored to be awarded to Leggerio’s family as part of the lucrative financial arrangement that had paid Leggerio between $170,000 to $185,000 as an annual salary.
Meanwhile, former NHCAC Executive Director Nick Masterelli called to set the record straight about his role in the organization during the 1970s.
“It was reported that [Union City Mayor William] Musto appointed me,” Masterelli said. “That’s not true. I was appointed by all the mayors at that time. But I did give the job to Leggerio when I had to leave in 1978.”
Masterelli was required under state law to give up the post when he became the Democratic candidate for the United States House of Representatives in the 9th District. Masterelli eventually lost the bid, and moved onto work in the Jersey City administration of then Mayor Thomas X. Smith.
While Masterelli said the Leggerio’s salary may have surprised the mayors, he said the job had grown significantly during the last several decades, and the mayors simply hadn’t paid any attention to the responsibilities of the job.