Hoboken 6th Ward Councilwoman Jen Giattino said today that she will be seeking a fourth term this fall, a rare feat in Mile Square City politics as the race currently looks like a three-way dance.
“We need people on the council that will ask questions and not let the administration just do whatever the hell they want. And if I can change someone’s mind once out of every 50 times, that’s better than nothing,” Giattino told HCV over the phone day.
While some of her colleagues indicated they would be seeking re-election shortly after the calendar turned to 2023, despite the non-partisan ward council races not being until November 7th, the 6th Ward representative didn’t feel that was necessary.
Elected in 2011, Giattino ran on a ticket backed by then-Mayor Dawn Zimmer to unseat Angelo “Nino” Giacchi.
Since then, she has defended her seat twice, defeating former Assemblyman Carmelo Garcia, who is now facing federal bribery charges, in 2015, and then Cristen Cricco-Powell and Frank Rosner in 2019.
In 2019, Mayor Ravi Bhalla and his predecessor supported Cricco-Powell. While she lost to Giattino by about 10 percentage points, that came out to 141 votes in a race where only 1,413 votes were cast.
That scenario wasn’t terribly surprising for astute political observers, given that Giattino unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2017, to the dismay of Zimmer and Bhalla, though the latter still ended up winning.
Therefore, Giattino’s remarks about pushing back against the current administration are to be expected.
With the August 24th filing deadline just 15 days away, Team Bhalla has not announced a challenger to Giattino.
Instead, two independents who were unsuccessful in bids for council-at-large in 2021, Ian Rintel and Manny Rivera Soler, have picked up petitions.
Rintel, the owner of Play! Hoboken, announced in May that he was running and indicated he would adhere to a self-imposed $300 contribution limit throughout the campaign.
He said late this evening that while he considers Giattino a friend who has given 12 admirable years of service on the council, he feels that Hoboken should have term limits and that she has recently remained silent on important issues, though didn’t mention specifics.
“In her announcement, the councilwoman said we need people on the council who will ask questions and hold the administration responsible. I couldn’t agree more, but the person doing that is ME, not the councilwoman,” he said.
“Recently, the councilwoman has remained silent on big issues, leaving it to my cartoons to speak up and look out for the Hoboken constituents.”
Giattino is the second longest serving member of the city council behind 3rd Ward representative Mike Russo, who also hasn’t formally announced his candidacy yet.
Editor’s note: This story was updated with a comment from 6th Ward council candidate Ian Rintel.