In Hoboken, Mayor Ravi Bhalla is running unopposed, with seven filing to challenge his three-person council at large slate, the city clerk’s office said.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
In total, Team Bhalla filed 4,342 petition signatures: 1,261 for Bhalla, Councilwoman-at-Large Emily Jabbour filed 1,128; Councilman-at-Large Jim Doyle submitted 953, and first time candidate Joe Quintero filed 1,000.
All citywide candidates needed to submit at least 431 valid petitions of nomination.
“We are pleased with the strong support we received from the Hoboken voters that we asked to sign our petition. It was a good start to the thousands of one-one-one conversations we will have with residents between now and Election Day,” Bhalla said in a statement.
Doyle was not initially expected to seek a third term, but hopped on the ticket after Dini Ajmani dropped out after just a few days earlier this month.
Team Bhalla will face a head-to-head challenge from a ticket that consists of Cheryl Fallick, Sheila Brennan, and Paul Presinzano, who were assisted by Councilwomen Tiffanie Fisher and Jen Giattino in collecting petitions.
The team submitted approximately 700 signatures a piece, according to the city clerk’s office.
Fallick and Brennan sit on the city’s Rent Leveling and Stabilization Board, while Fallick is recognized as being one of the city’s top housing advocates.
Brennan and Presinzano have never sought a council seat before, while Fallick ran in the 6th Ward back in 2003.
Other independent challengers include perennial candidate Pat Waiters, who is also running for a board of education seat, along with three first time candidates in Manny Rivera, Cindy Wiegand, and Ian Rintel.
Rivera could have trouble making the ballot with 454 signatures submitted, while Wiegand and Rintel dropped off 519 and 509, respectively.
Wiegand is a Hoboken Charter School parent who works for NBC, while Rintel owns Play! Hoboken, which announced last week that they would soon be setting aside hours for fully vaccinated patrons only.
Our Lady of Grace Church Church Rev. Alexander Santora had been highly critical of Team Bhalla recently, who was particularly annoyed with dogs barking at Church Square Park – which is across from the church – early in the morning.
While he picked up petitions of nomination, he did not submit any today, the clerk’s office noted.
Hoboken’s non-partisan municipal elections are on November 2nd.