Dear Editor:
It was rather surreal to read First Ward Councilwoman Theresa Castellano’s latest rant against Councilman Bhalla, accusing him of nepotism because of the mayor’s appointment of his brother to the Library Board, an unpaid, voluntary community board.
Perhaps Councilwoman Castellano has not checked the definition of the word “nepotism”. It is “favoritism based on kinship.” Councilwoman Castellano offers no evidence of favoritism based on kinship and displays complete ignorance of the qualifications of Amar Bhalla. She simply presumes that it must be nepotism since they are related.
If Councilwoman Castellano applied this same standard to her own family as she applies to Councilman Bhalla, we see the utter hypocrisy of her feigned outrage towards Councilman Bhalla. Has Councilwoman Castellano forgotten that her husband and cousins are Hoboken police officers? Or that another cousin, former Mayor Anthony Russo, appointed his son, Nicholas Russo, to the Library Board in 1999? Or that Mayor Russo’s wife, Michele, was appointed to the Parking Authority in 1997? Or that Mayor Russo hired his brother-in-law, George DeStefano, to the finance department and later as CFO? Where is the councilwoman’s outrage over the hiring and appointments of her many family members to various positions of influence for well over a decade?
Please do not insult the intelligence of voters, Councilwoman Castellano. If you have legitimate criticisms of your council colleagues in the spirit of bringing our community forward, please let us know. But criticizing Councilman Bhalla over a mayoral appointment to the Library Board is like the pot calling the kettle black. I would hope that next time you conduct some due diligence and review the qualifications of Councilman Bhalla’s brother prior to launching offensive personal attacks against him, his family and the administration.
Sincerely,
David Parker