Dear Editor:
I have lived in Hoboken for my entire life and witnessed some pretty disturbing behavior by the Zimmer Administration, but this week’s Hoboken Housing Authority meeting may be the worst yet. The voices of hundreds of residents were ignored and the mayor attempted to further the divide our community by pitting police officers against residents who were voicing their displeasure with the mayor’s administration. It was a planned peaceful demonstration, but Mayor Zimmer’s administration brought in the K-9 unit and outside law enforcement to create a hostile environment. This was done for the purpose of blaming and exploiting the residents when the ugly vitriol was fueled by her majority on the HHA Board.
Our mayor enjoys holding press conferences, which are carefully crafted and scripted by the renowned political consultant on the city payroll, and appearing on Cake Boss. Yet, few who witness the Dawn Zimmer on television have to opportunity to bear witness to the real Dawn Zimmer. The viewers don’t see the side of the mayor who runs a government that not only promotes bullying and intimidation, but she encourages and participates in aiding and abetting this conduct.
Four years ago, two of Dawn Zimmer’s staunchest political supporters began to author daily blogs that attack those who disagree with the mayor. Some people dismissed it as simply being hardnosed politics that is typical in Hudson County. They are wrong. These blogs are fueled by hate and express the disdain that the mayor and her supporters have for certain members of our community. The other night this hate spilled over into the HHA meeting where two of the mayor’s supporters were escorted out of the meeting by police.
Some people were surprised by what transpired at the HHA meeting, but many of us were not. There are certain groups of people that are not welcome in Dawn Zimmer’s Hoboken, namely born and raised residents, the poor and elderly. Yesterday it was the HHA residents having their civil rights trampled on and tomorrow it will be you.
The “us vs. them” mentality that exists here destroys communities. Hoboken has always been a densely populated, urban city, I have been told our charm is our diversity, over the years we have lived side by side with many different ethnicities, religions, backgrounds, now you come here and you will not accept us.
Zimmer strategy has been divide and conquer, you are not dividing us. You are uniting us.
Theresa Castellano
1st Ward Councilwoman