Dear Editor:
I have had the privilege of working with Peter Cammarano on a number of campaigns the last few years in Hoboken, starting with the Menendez re-election effort in 2006, and culminating with the Obama general campaign this year. I am writing to endorse this smart, capable, forward-looking Councilman in his bid to become the next mayor of Hoboken.
I was also privileged this past year as Chairman of the Hoboken Democratic Committee to work with a diverse array of active members of the party to pass our first-ever bylaws, ensuring continued transparency in the Committee’s operations. The leaders of the bylaws effort, all of whom I admire and respect, are supporting a number of different candidates for mayor, and I honor the diversity of opinions.
The range of opinion is easy to understand, too, because (as is not always the case) all of the leading candidates for mayor are smart, tough, committed people who love this mile-square city of ours. Anyone who tells you otherwise, who demonizes any of the candidates seeking the office of mayor, is doing a disservice to their chosen candidate and a disservice to our city.
In this crowded, respectable field, Peter Cammarano stands out as being on the right side of a host of issues and having concrete solutions to Hoboken’s pressing problems. He also stands out as the candidate who truly believes that there is no “old” Hoboken and no “new” Hoboken, only our Hoboken, the one that belongs to all of us. He recognizes that we’re all in this together trying to make this vibrant, diverse and sometimes discordant city realize its true potential as a place of unparalleled safety and quality of life.
Last year, Councilman Cammarano voted to keep control of the municipal budget, rather than backing the City into a corner as the State raises taxes on our residents and now attempts to lay off police and fire personnel in a heavy-handed effort to plug the hole in the budget. He believes in striking a balance between new development and the needs of current residents with regards to infrastructure and traffic, open space and city services: no “develop or die” sentiments here, and no calls for a moratorium on development, either, just thoughtful engagement with the complex issues at hand.
For a detailed look at all of the ways Councilman Cammarano would rein in spending and lower your taxes as Mayor, I urge you to read his answers to the Hoboken Tax Reform Coalition’s questionnaire, posted on his website, www.cammarano09.com. Read those answers and you will be convinced, as I am, that Peter Cammarano has the skills and knowledge, the drive and determination to bring Hoboken the change it needs. Please join me in supporting Peter Cammarano for Mayor.
Sincerely,
Jeff Barnes