HOBOKEN – -Freeholder Anthony Romano announced his candidacy for mayor of Hoboken Tuesday morning, June 27 at his campaign headquarters at 331 Washington St.
“I am pleased and honored to announce my candidacy for the esteemed office of mayor of the city of Hoboken,” said Romano before press and a few supporters, including former Councilwoman Theresa Castellano, Kearny Mayor Al Santos, and some county workers.
Romano, a former Hoboken police officer, a third generation Hobokenite and current Hudson County freeholder, said, “I am deeply committed to Hoboken… I believe the mayor should be a link between the city and the people…The mayor should be the one with the skills to bring everyone together… This isn’t about me. It is about all of you.”
Romano said he was surprised when Mayor Dawn Zimmer announced last week she would not run in the municipal election in November. Still, he and his team had discussed a mayoral run for a few months.
Romano is also up for reelection for freeholder in November. Regarding running for two offices at once, he said, “In time we will decide with the campaign staff and others what road we will take in that area.”
Freeholder is a part time job. In that position, Romano represents a county freeholder district representing Hoboken and Jersey City Heights. Mayor of Hoboken is a full-time job. He would not be allowed to hold both positions if he won both.
Regarding his opponents, he said, “Whenever I run for any office, you have to give 100 percent. I recognize and respect each opponent that’s in the race. They are all well qualified and I just have to do my best and stay focused on the people that matter, and that’s the people the city of Hoboken has. I have to go out there and prove to them earn their trust and then everything will fall into place.”
The freeholders decide on the county budget (which affects the county portion of local property taxes), personnel, and matters related to county facilities such as the jail, parks, and county roads.
In response to Romano’s announcement, Councilman and mayoral candidate Michael DeFusco issued a press release. DeFusco may share a base with Romano as they had both recently planned to oppose Zimmer for her re-election bid when she was still running.
“Today we saw a freeholder testing the waters with an announcement that sounded more like an exploratory committee than a legitimate bid for mayor,” he said. “He spoke about commitment, yet proposes to run for both offices at the same time, expecting the people to wait while he decides which suits him best. That’s not leadership; it’s duplicity and hypocrisy. Every resident of Hoboken should be offended by his level of entitlement.”
He added that he was “emboldened” to continue campaigning to “eliminate the political divides of the past for a unified and progressive future.”
And speaking of divides…
Zimmer ally Councilwoman Jennifer Giattino had also scheduled a press conference for Tuesday night, 7:30, likely to announce her mayoral bid. But Zimmer has already endorsed Councilman Ravi Bhalla. Zimmer’s council allies Tiffanie Fisher and Peter Cunningham have already said that the city’s pro-Zimmer base needs to have a discussion about who should run, despite the mayor’s pick.
The mayor’s press conference was scheduled so quickly last week that her allies didn’t get the chance to have much of a say in whom her base would endorse.
Now they are debating whether Giattino or Bhalla should run. Giattino is a registered Republican, and fiscal conservativism could affect city issues such as the always hotly debated rent control ordinance. While Bhalla has a longer record of political involvement, that means he has more positives and negatives that can be examined during a campaign (see this past week’s cover story in the Hoboken Reporter regarding these issues).
In a town full of busy post-college grads and commuters, only a few politicians such as Zimmer have townwide name recognition, meaning the field is wide open. Who else will run? What will happen next? Keep following hudsonreporter.com for more.
