Dear Editor:
Tuesday, May 12th, represents an historic opportunity for Hoboken to elect Dawn Zimmer for Mayor and Carol Marsh, Dave Mello, and Ravi Bhalla for City Council. As a slate we have both deep community ties and the independence to make the changes that Hoboken needs.
As a member of the Hoboken City Council from 2001 to 2005, Carol Marsh was a strong advocate for reform. She opposed gimmicks like borrowing against the municipal garage because she understood that their use was short sighted and irresponsible.
Ravi Bhalla has served Hoboken as an attorney for the City’s vital rent control board, and as a Second Ward committeeman. He represented Carol Marsh when the city of Hoboken took her to court in their attempt to force her to vote for the sale of the municipal garage, and he publicly argued against ill conceived contracts at the Board of Ed. He stands for the kind of public service and professionalism that Hoboken needs.
Dave Mello has advocated for active park space and against redevelopment zones that don’t embrace the smart growth principles and community needs that have been ignored by our City Council, Hoboken’s redevelopment agency, for too long.
Much of Hoboken is facing financial hardships and city hall is no exception, but we are a community and we can and must face the future as a community. We need to be honest about the state of our City’s finances and do everything we can to keep our government spending under control so that our residents can plan their own futures.
The City Council is Hoboken’s legislative branch and its Redevelopment Agency. We urge you to carefully consider who best will represent the future of Hoboken. If elected, we, the Change That Works slate will help create a reform majority on our City Council for the first time in Hoboken’s history. In that capacity, we pledge to institute a rigorous and public budgeting process which will ensure the health and safety of our residents while cutting out the wasteful spending and financial mismanagement that has caused our current fiscal crisis. We will work closely with the mayor and other members of the city council to improve the quality of services that City Hall provides and the quality of life for our residents.
On May 12, please vote for Dawn Zimmer for Mayor (7A), and Carol Marsh (9B), Ravi S. Bhalla (10B), and Dave Mello (11B) for City Council. We need your help in facing the challenges that lie ahead.
Sincerely,
Carol Marsh
Ravi S. Bhalla
David Mello