Dear Editor:
I’m Mike Lenz and I serve as 4th Ward Councilman. I love the job and am working hard to keep it. The election Nov. 2 offers voters a straight-forward choice: If you think Hoboken was better off under Cammarano, Roberts, and Russo, then vote for my opponent. If you like the direction the city is now going in, vote for me. I’m writing to ask for your support and, if you live in the 4th Ward, your vote this Tuesday. I see many good things happening in Hoboken. We’re working to create a substantial and long overdue southwest park through the redevelopment process, while coordinating with Hudson County to re-route Paterson Avenue and fix the horrendous traffic as well. We’ve changed the Zoning Board from a developer’s rubber stamp to a bulwark against out-of-scale projects and are finally implementing the city’s master plan. We’re fixing flooding with a new Wet Weather Pump, now under construction, and state-of-the-art sensor technology to ensure we solve the problem once and for all. And we’ve reduced the city tax rate by 5 percent this year, and next year’s will drop even more.
My campaign has been clear about these and other successes, talked realistically about the challenges we still face, and been upfront about the fact that Mayor Zimmer and I – far more often than not – are on the same page. We’ve also pledged to run a clean campaign. My opponent has given little credit to those successes, talked mostly about me, and implied progress would be easy if only Zimmer and I would get out of the way. And my opponent has dismissed promises of a clean campaign as “silliness.” I respectfully disagree. Clean campaigns are not silliness. Mayor Dawn Zimmer and her five council allies have been instrumental in finding solutions. And I believe my long record in public life only supports my case for re-election.
I’ve lived in Hoboken for most of my adult life and in the 4th Ward for 15 years. I rebuilt a home on Monroe Street with my wife Laura Keating, and together we are raising our three sons here. When traffic is stalled, we wait. When taxes go up, we pay. When we go to a son’s soccer game, it means a trip across town. When it floods, we get wet. I get some credit for my knowledge of numbers and of getting things done, first earned in a 20-year private sector career in accounting, finance, and real estate. I’m recognized as an expert in municipal finance, earned the hard way in years of public sector employment. And yes, in a long career of fighting to bring political reform to the city of Hoboken, I have made a few enemies, too. If you think having challenged Hoboken’s way of doing business for 20 years counts against me, vote for my opponent. If you think the change Dawn Zimmer is leading is long overdue, please vote this Thursday and send me back to work.
Mike Lenz