Hoboken 2nd Ward council candidate Marla Decker raised $20,225 at her kickoff event yesterday, her campaign said on Thursday.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“I’m thrilled to have the financial and enthusiastic support that is already building for my campaign,” Decker said in a statement today.
“It will enable me to deliver my message of bringing a new and different form of representation–one that focuses on bridge-building and problem-solving to achieve real results–to all the voters of the 2nd Ward.”
Mayor Ravi Bhalla and Council President Emily Jabbour, both of whom have endorsed Decker, introduced her to the crowd of about 75 people at City Bistro last night.
Councilmen Jim Doyle, Phil Cohen, and Joe Quintero were also in attendance, along with former 2nd ward candidate Nora Martínez DiBenedetto, who is now the director of the Hoboken Office of Constituent Services.
Decker, a former president of the Hudson Tea Condo Association and treasurer of the Hoboken Democratic Committee, is looking to unseat Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher, a frequent political adversary of Bhalla.
Fisher was first elected to an open seat as part of then-Mayor Dawn Zimmer’s ticket in 2015 and won a close matchup with Martínez DiBenedetto in 2019, who ran on Bhalla’s ticket, by a margin of about 53-47.
She reported $5,763.13 cash on hand in her April 15th report with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (NJ ELEC), which included a $2,500 loan, and she hosted her own campaign kickoff last month.
As a first time candidate who just announced a month ago, Decker expectedly does not have any ELEC reports filed yet.
If she were honest she would say Ravi is running and funding me to eliminate any dissent on the City Council so he has absolute power to do what he wants unquestioned.
I don’t think that kind of government is good for Hoboken.
As Councilwoman Fisher is known to say “more voices are better.”
Ravi is shooting for the HudCo mayoral model: total control. He’s absolutely the wrong person to give any such blank check to but that’s his singular objective.
Well said, and everyone knows it. And I voted for him. But will not vote for her.
How much of the $20k came from Hoboken residents and how much from outside interests, such as union, developers and cannabis marketers who will be expecting support from Ms. Decker should she get elected? One of the real tragedies of the Bhalla years has been the reversal of some of the pay to play guidance enacted by Zimmer.