Outgoing Assemblyman Carmelo Garcia (D-33) will be challenging Hoboken Ward 6 Councilwoman Jen Giattino in the November 3 election, set to kickoff his election campaign early next month.Â
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Garcia, who told Hudson County View he would “focus on the local city council races” in March after getting unceremoniously kicked off the line by the Hudson County Democratic Organization, has posted a public event on Facebook that says he will announce his candidacy on August 5.
The event will take place at 6:30 p.m. in front of the Hoboken Public Library, located at 500 Park Ave.
Giattino, a former council president, is a registered Republican who was elected to the council in May 2011. She worked on Wall Street for over a decade prior to running for office.
Garcia, a Democrat, is a lifelong Hoboken resident who graduated from the Stevens Institute of Technology, and also the former executive director of the Hoboken Housing Authority until being ousted by the board in August.
His campaign kickoff date marks almost exactly one year to the day from when he was fired as executive director of the HHA – an event that caused him to file a lawsuit that is still unresolved as of this writing.
The assemblyman said he would be granting Hudson County View an interview before the campaign kickoff date, but declined to comment beyond that for the time being.
Additionally, Garcia’s allies Ruben Ramos, who use to hold Garcia’s seat in the Assembly, and Eduardo Gonzalez – who was on the HHA board for about five years during Garcia’s tenure as ED – will also be running in Hoboken Wards 4 and 5, respectively.
Ramos is set to clash with Dana Wefer, the chairwoman of the HHA and an arch nemesis of Garcia, as well as incumbent Tim Ochipinti, while Gonzalez awaits a showdown with Peter Cunningham.
 will be challenging Hoboken Ward 6 Councilwoman Jen Giattino in the November 3 election.){kind=link}
Well after the terrible job that was done at the HHA I’m not sure why anyone would support this candidate. Also when he was on the School Board he missed an incredible amount of Board meetings.
Why would anyone vote for this candidate knowing those 2 things??
You think Dana Wefer is better,,smh. She can care less about minorities. She is a joke as well as the mayor.
Do you even know who he is running against? Classic Carmelito supporter
His arrogance and self importance is astounding
So being a leader is arrogant lol, I don’t think so!
Assemblyman Carmelo Garcia record speaks for himself. He has accomplished so much in the Assembly as well as the Hoboken Housing Authority. If you look at what is taking place in the Hoboken Housing Authority now, it is absurd. There is no real leadership under Dana Wefer and she has the nerve to run for City Council in the 4th Ward. I would carefully look at her record which is destructive to the City of Hoboken along with the Mayor’s administration. Garcia has an impressive educational background in addition to public service. Hoboken needs Garcia and the 6th Ward will definitely be in better shape once he is elected. I sure can’t wait to Zimmer and her team are gone, they are simply destroying Hoboken. I am with Team Garcia!
If he is so wonderful why did he wear a wire to record people he met with? I hear that went over real well in Trenton with his colleagues. Maybe that is why Stack dumped him the first chance he got to
You are right though, his record does speak for itself. Absolute disaster. Can you explain why he rarely attended Board of Ed meetings or can you explain all of the budget problems and shadiness that happened while he ran the HHA?
Hoboken does not need to go back to the corrupt ways of the past. Giattino is the best choice in the 6th
Giattino, watch her on the City videos of Council meetings. Can’t debate that she is not dom as a dore-nayl. If you don’t like Garcia write in a candidate rather than having a useless rubber stamp.