HOBOKEN – Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer unveiled an unsurprising but convincing council slate on Wednesday, announcing that she would run with sitting Councilmen-at-Large Ravi Bhalla and David Mello, as well as Jim Doyle, the man she attempted to install last year, until he was blocked by political opponents in court.
Zimmer is running for reelection against state Assemblyman and former Hoboken City Councilman Ruben Ramos, whose slate includes council-at-large candidates Joe Mindak, Laura Miani and Eduardo Gonzalez.
The election will be held on Nov. 5.
In a press release, Zimmer praised the work of Mello and Bhalla and said that she was confident that voters would reward their first four years on the council with a second term.
“Councilmen Ravi Bhalla and David Mello have been with me every step of the way as we restored integrity, fiscal responsibility and accountability to City Hall, putting Hoboken back on the right path,” she said, noting that she became mayor in the wake of a corruption scandal that saw former Mayor Peter Cammarano escorted out of City Hall in handcuffs after less than a week in office.
She said that she chose Doyle because of his work around the city advocating for open space, which she said will be a major priority of her campaign, and for his work on the 2010 deal that kept Hoboken University Medical Center from closing down.
“Doyle has been fighting for years as a private citizen to ensure that our city has the open space it needs and he volunteered to help lead the successful effort to save our Hospital when it was about to close,” she said. “I am excited that he has decided to once again fight for our city.”
Bhalla, a lawyer, said that he was proud of the improvements in the city’s economy since he and Zimmer took office.
“We have put Hoboken on a sound fiscal path and we simply can’t afford to go back,” he said. “Together with Mayor Zimmer, I will continue to work hard to ensure a bright future for the city we all love.”
Mello, a public school teacher in the Bronx, said that would focus on creating more parks in his second term.
“Together, we have improved our parks, encouraged family-friendly and balanced development, and are working to secure additional active open spaces throughout the western neighborhoods of our city that are currently underserved,” he said. – Dean DeChiaro