Hoboken Ward 5 Councilman Peter Cunningham said his track record regarding the city’s finances speaks for itself, further expressing his desire to continue to serve the Mile Square City, also taking a parting shot at his opponent in the process.Â
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At the event hosted at Anthony David’s. where a few dozen residents stopped by throughout the evening, City Council President Ravi Bhalla and Mayor Dawn Zimmer expressed their confidence in Cunningham as a candidate. Zimmer was elected to the council with Cunningham in 2007.
She also hosted a fundraiser for Cunningham and four of the other council candidates she has previously endorsed at Arthur’s Steakhouse last week.
Cunningham said that he is happy to have helped introduce a flood pump in his ward and has other infrastructure plans prepared for the future.
Speaking with Hudson County View, Cunningham said his top achievements for the city are keeping finances stable and making sure the Hoboken University Medical Center remained open.
Cunningham’s opponent, Eduardo Gonzalez, has recently opposed the incumbent on issues such how the BASF property was acquired. However, the councilman said Gonzalez is in no position to talk about the city’s finances.
When reached by Hudson County View, Gonzalez scoffed at Cunningham for saying he was unfit to handle the city’s budgetary matters.
“The two major boards that I have served on, the Elysian Charter School and the Hoboken Housing Authority, did not have the luxury of taxing their way out of tough situations,” he said, again stressing his platform of cooperation and compromise.
“Under his watch on the city council, the tax levy went up over 65 percent. The bond rating did go up under his term, but they have been spending on a credit card … so on top of property taxes, every resident owes an additional $3,000 due to bonding.”
Other officials on hand included former Senate Majority Leader Bernie Kenny, who currently resides in the 5th Ward, and Hoboken Councilman-at-large David Mello.