Dear Friends and Neighbors -
I have so many emotions tied to our recent election and it took a little while for me to be able to put them into words. Mostly I am proud of and have no regrets having worked with and supported some of the best people I could ever meet and I am disappointed that Team Giattino team lost. I am angry about the dishonest politics that were employed during the campaign against Jen Giattino to try to ruin her reputation, and my eyes well up with tears every time I think about it (and I am not a crier…). The relief that it is over is palpable. And as time has passed, hope has snuck back in that our way forward in Hoboken is a good one. One thing that has not changed throughout is that I remain committed to doing what I can as 2nd Ward Councilwoman to ensure that it is.
First and foremost, I am so proud to have supported Team Giattino. Jen Giattino is an amazing leader in our community and she sets the bar for what public service in Hoboken should be. Simply put. And I believe that most who know her would agree. On a scale of 1-10, she is a 12 which puts me at a 5 on a good day on this scale. It is because of her I will strive to be a better public servant and you can hold me to this.
She and her entire team worked so hard and conducted their campaign with the highest level of dignity - in the face of adversity, her resolve to keep her head high and looking forward was inspiring and reflected what a true leader is. My pride extends to the rest of her team too - Jim Aibel I have known since we served on the zoning board together and he is one of the best public servants in our community. Jason Ellis and Sal Starace, both people I did not know well, but I feel so lucky to have met them and their amazing, supporting families and I know they will continue to do great things in our community. And all Team Giattino supporters I cannot say enough good things about – as many have said, when you walk into a room of Giattino supporters, you feel good to be there. I am so lucky to have been in the room with them.
Jen Giattino did not deserve, nor did anyone in Hoboken, the false, divisive and systematic attacks by Team Bhalla and our current Mayor Zimmer. A line was crossed whether you’ve been for Reform or plain decency in Hoboken elections - what we saw from them wasn’t just politics, it was dishonesty. They clearly felt comfortable using lies to malign Jen as an enemy our entire community should fear and attempt to ruin her reputation as a public servant, all for their own political gain. If you didn’t see it for yourself, you can see the attachment which is a montage of their campaign advertisements. Using all their tools including the mayor’s extensive list of email addresses, during the first 90% of their campaign they crafted hate and Trump as a primary theme of our local election and then during the last 10% they sent four letters and fliers that basically depicted Jen as Trump, including one that showed a picture of Jen on a Make America Great hat.
The Jen Giattino I know is a kind person who has done the most for our community in her time on the council and through her involvement in many community efforts prior to running for elected office including as a volunteer for the Hoboken Homeless Shelter and the founder of the LOTS program employed at many of our schools (lunches for homeless people). Jen’s actions have always spoken louder than her words.
Specifically in response to the false statements in the Team Bhalla / Mayor Zimmer literature:
- She has publicly said she supports climate change, she is the only council member who composts to reduce her carbon footprint (which even Mayor Zimmer does not do), and she has consistently supported Rebuild for Design with the mayor against the risks of Climate Change. For those unaware, her family’s home was destroyed during Hurricane Sandy.
- She publicly criticized the President’s remarks in Charlottesville. At her core she is anti-discrimination of any kind. Ironically, the only person that Jen ever had ejected from a council meeting was someone who was denigrating Ravi.
- She has been a long time contributor to the Hoboken Family Planning clinic which provides much needed service to those most vulnerable in our community.
- Jen received over 90% of her contributions from Hoboken, and just 1% from Todd Christie, someone she has known for over 20 years, long before Chris Christie became our Governor (by comparison proving out what Ravi told us in the beginning of the race, the majority of his support came from the Sikh community outside of Hoboken).
But even knowing all of this, Team Bhalla and Mayor Zimmer sent out campaign mailers and simply smeared Jen Giattino in our community for their own gain knowing full well that what they wrote was a lie. It wasn’t right and congratulating their victory would mean condoning their actions which I can’t.
With Jen's liberal and seemingly Democratic views I often asked her why she just wasn’t a Democrat. I am a Bernie Sanders Democrat who also happens to be Chair of the Democratic Party in Hoboken. Her response each time I asked was not too dissimilar from most (including over 40% in Hoboken that are not affiliated with any party) she just never defined herself by party politics. She entered this race, this non-partisan race, thinking about Hoboken and our local issues and feeling confident that she would always fight for or against issues that mattered to Hoboken, irrespective of the source. This is why, in my capacity as a resident and 2nd Ward Councilperson, having nothing to do with party politics or my role in the Democratic Party, I could easily support her.
All this being said, as I look forward, I actually am hopeful. We have an opportunity to continue with all of the progress we have made in the last eight years, but can now think about some areas a little differently, and a little better – like everyday quality of life concerns, displacement and getting development right. Since I was elected in 2015, not because of just me but because of our entire City Council, we have worked well together often reaching 9-0 votes. I’m confident the new City Council will continue to and will do the right thing for Hoboken in supporting our next mayor and what is best for Hoboken. The tone will be set from the top and I want to believe Mayor Elect Bhalla when he says he wants to work together and unify our community. I will continue to be an independent thinker and remain indifferent where good ideas come from in order to best see Hoboken move forward. You have my commitment on this. And you also have my commitment to improve my score from 5 on the constituent service scale.
Thank you for listening to me for those who made it this far. I keep wondering “what would this campaign have looked like if Jen was a registered Democrat?”. Would we have seen all those anti-Trump fliers filled with hate as the core theme? Would hate have been even a topic in the election? I think the spirit of our community took a hit in this election, but I am confident that together, and only together, we will heal.
Hoboken City Council, 2nd Ward
Engage. Inform. Advocate.
“More Voices are Better”
