Dear Editor:
When Dawn Zimmer was sworn in as Acting Mayor over the summer, I was hopeful that Hoboken would finally settle down and get on track. Dawn had made a lot of specific promises that resonated with taxpayers like me, including a promise to deliver a budget by mid-August and cut our astronomically high property taxes. Granted, the circumstances under which she took the corner office at City Hall were extraordinary, but when you cut through it, she actually became mayor only three weeks after she was prepared to become mayor in the first place.
And what happened to those promises made by candidate Zimmer? As a homeowner and taxpayer, I wanted to know, and so I did a little digging to find out. The promise of a budget before the end of summer is now long gone, as summer turns to autumn, the leaves begin to fall, and still, we have no budget. And the tax cut? As far as I can tell, Acting Mayor Zimmer has not mentioned it at all in her current campaign. In fact, I learned that she recently pushed through a $55 million “temporary” budget that would have the city well on its way to spending even more than last year, and she said that a formal budget would not be ready until after the election. My guess is that instead of a tax cut, we might even have a tax increase coming our way.
This is one of the reasons why after giving Dawn a chance to take the reins and show what she could do I have decided to vote for Beth Mason for Mayor. Beth has been a budget hawk since she was elected to the City Council two years ago. If you have ever watched Council meetings on Channel 78, you will see Beth going over each and every line item to make sure our money is being spent wisely and sparingly. Beth has voted against every tax increase that has come before her; she is the only mayoral candidate to do so. In fact, when Mayor Roberts presented one of his outsized budgets last spring, Councilwoman Mason voted no, while Councilwoman Zimmer abstained.
I have absolutely nothing against Dawn Zimmer personally. We have friends in common, and she seems to be a genuinely nice person, but I am concerned that as an elected official she is not fulfilling the promises that she made, to solve our city’s fiscal crisis. Our budget is still out of control, and our taxes are still high. This is one of the reasons why I am voting for Beth Mason for Mayor. Beth has stood up for the taxpayers for her entire public life and will continue to fight for us when she becomes Mayor. She will roll up her sleeves and get our city back on the right track.
Yours truly,
Randy Brummette