In a letter to the editor, former Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer says Councilwoman-at-Large Emily Jabbour is the right mayoral candidate to the city back “to a responsible and ethical path.”
Dear Editor,
I am writing to express my enthusiastic support for Councilwoman Emily Jabbour in Hoboken’s Mayoral runoff on Tuesday December 2nd.
I was elected Mayor of Hoboken in 2009 during a tumultuous time.
Hoboken’s finances had been taken over by the State of New Jersey due to years of irresponsible budgeting. Two of the three Mayors immediately preceding me, Peter Cammarano and Anthony Russo (Mike Russo’s father) were jailed for taking bribes.
Hoboken’s voters wanted change. They wanted honest, fiscally responsible, transparent and accountable governance. They wanted to put the ethos of “you scratch my back, I scratch yours” deposited in the trash bin of history.
I know both candidates in the runoff well, and of the two I am confident that Councilwoman Jabbour is the candidate who will restore Hoboken to an ethical and responsible path.
She will never compromise the interests of Hoboken residents for personal financial gain or political advancement.
While I endorsed Mayor Bhalla to succeed me in 2017, his Administration was not a continuation of my own.
Similarly, Councilwoman Jabbour, who I urged to run for Council in 2017, will chart her own path and I believe will be very different than Mayor Bhalla in important ways.
Mayor Bhalla continued some of my policies like creating new resiliency parks, working to complete Rebuild by Design to protect Hoboken from the next Sandy like storm, and vision zero to make sure Hoboken’s streets are safe for everyone.
I know Councilwoman Jabbour will continue those worthy efforts.
But Mayor Bhalla abandoned my Administration’s commitment to ethical, fiscally responsible, accountable governance.
He engaged in transactional politics, patronage hiring, and irresponsible budget practices that created a large, growing structural deficit. He made major development decisions influenced by his desire to advance his political career beyond Hoboken.
If elected, I am confident that Councilwoman Jabbour will end those irresponsible and improper practices.
I know her to be a woman of integrity, and I have no doubt that her Administration will be defined by her commitment to her community and to public service, not by a desire to enrich herself or advance her career.
While I will not always agree with her, if elected, I am confident Mayor Jabbour’s decisions will always be solely motivated by her honest desire to serve in the best interests of the people of Hoboken.
Hoboken deserves no less.
Thanks for listening
Dawn Zimmer
Hoboken Mayor
2009-2017
here here!
thank you, mayor zimmer
This is great. But it’s about to get even better!
I’m sure by end of day, the Tiffanatrix will do the same rather than permanently besmirching her name and those of her supporters with support for the Soprano State and Dwek and corruptocrats and all that. 5000-7000 word essay on the subject will be in your inbox soon! She’s no sell-out!
Ok, we see the Emily campaign timed this comment litany. After all, there’s so many jobs being lined up under Emily for Ravi’s demented crew: Jason for “Director of Operations” whatever that is.
Then the wife, Rachel who tried to be Hispanic numerous times to claw the Assemblywoman Chapparo’s seat. Failed and failed again. Jonny Cat showed how to trans into a Hispanic woman. Ravi was quite the surgeon there. But a new plumb: it’s Rachel for Chief of Staff under Emily.
Hey, for the Ravi II Administration with Emily, you have to put Jonny Cat on the Hoboken payroll again. He can’t live off all those insider bar deals under Ravi. Crooked must profit off the public again!
Stick is winning no matter how this thing goes. He’s got his goddaughter Layson lined up on City Council to do his bidding however it goes. With Russo winning, she’ll be flipping on her head in seconds. Stick gets Public Safety and who knows what else under Emily or Russo. Good times.
Chief Kenny for Hoboken Business Administrator? Child, please. That’s lunacy. Only one job reward per Terror Flyer.
Does any of this sound “new and improved” or a departure from Ravi Bhalla in any way, Dawn!
Take a walk!
Seems like Mayor Zimmer and Tiffanie Fisher agree that Ravi and Russo are both corrupt throwbacks to Hoboken’s bad old days. But Fisher supports Russo anyway. Even worse, Fisher is telling people she’s endorsing Russo, a guy she herself called corrupt, admitting she cut a corrupt backroom deal with Russo to get Liz Urcheco on the City Council. So what does that make Tiffanie?
I could not be more delighted… for Zimmer the choice was clear.
Dawn dealt personally with Russo family corruption which DOES extend to the son: Councilman Mike Russo allowed his Dad to improperly collect health bennies for years on the public dime (Zimmer kicked him off), “covered up” the theft of MILLIONS of quarters from Hoboken parking meters by his political ally, John Corea (who went to prison for the theft), and while serving as Council VP was caught on FBI surveillance tape accepting a $5K bribe from “developer” Solomon Dwek, (which he never picked up hence was not arrested). What about the $1 sale of his Dad’s million dollar beach house (to him) so the Feds couldn’t liquidate that asset to reimburse Hoboken taxpayers. So much corruption and a leopard doesn’t change its spots.
Emily is an ethical leader, and like Zimmer, she will govern honestly and will put Hoboken first. Zimmer knows Emily has broken with Bhalla and will not cut deals with unsavory characters to raise her own political profile. Zimmer knows all this and has chosen wisely.
Thank you, former Mayor Dawn Zimmer!
Dawn Zimmer, you did a very good job overall. Most of what you did was within some ethical framework. Hoboken desperately needed it. Restoration. Recovery. Respect.
Then you handed Hoboken an ethical nightmare, and worse. You gave us Ravi.
Do I even need to go into that Ravi Terror Flier? Yeah, you know. Everyone knows.
So, as to your Ravi II recommendation here, after 8 years, Emily says pick me I’ll suddenly develop a conscience. She “regrets” trying to impose a $241 million high school on unsuspecting residents. (No, she doesn’t.) Nor does Emily Jabbour regret the ludicrous spending, the big budgets and big tax increases. She’s already indicated these are not a problem for her and her family. So for the rest of Hoboken, it’s too bad. There’s no regret by Emily for all manner of skullduggery and disrespect against Hoboken people. At least Russo doesn’t say he’ll be ethical or even decent. He’s going to go for the $$$ and sell out everything to big developers. Emily would only do it slower, if that.
This situation is all YOUR fault. Hope the Catskills are treating you well.
You lost your Hoboken privileges. Now you’re lasting legacy will be Ravi, Ravi-Russo and Russo. Well done!
He’s back! Listen, since no one and i mean no one really cares or can remember it anymore, what was your thinking when you made the terror flyer? It didn’t really make any sense. Was it a joke? A lot of people think you lost a bet or a drinking game.
So there you were pushing your shopping cart with the wobbly wheel down the street putting flyers on the cars. It’s kind of trivial, but it was a big moment for you. Maybe you could write a book. Suggested titles.
My Terror Flyer Story that Everyone Forgot.
My Terror Flyer and Four and a Half Minutes of Fame.
Terror Flyer: My Night of Quasi-Relevance
I have more if needed.
Who are you accusing? Why are you deflecting? Call HPD!
You big dummy.
https://www.youtube.com/
PS. You got a typo there, flyer-fetishist. You said Ravi-Russo. Looks like it’s Tiffi-Russo. She just endorsed him. Are you going to do another one of your bonkers terror fliers for them? We’ll all be watching for your shopping cart with the wobbly wheel!
Vote for him then!
Oh, are you going to come back and start a new PAC, Politicians in exile for Emily?
You and Stan created Ravi.
Okay Dawn, what about the fact Emily drove getaway car for Ravi
“Bhalla abandoned my Administration’s commitment to ethical, fiscally responsible, accountable governance.
He engaged in transactional politics, patronage hiring, and irresponsible budget practices that created a large, growing structural deficit. He made major development decisions influenced by his desire to advance his political career beyond Hoboken.
If elected, I am confident that Councilwoman Jabbour will end those irresponsible and improper practices.
Or was it 97%? Russo voted 95% YES for Bhalla.
And your point is… ?
Some of us are old enough to remember when Dawn worked directly with criminal convict Frank Raia to attract paid for votes when she ran in a runnoff for the 4th Ward city council seat. Dawn and Frank Raia worked hand in hand in that election to defeat Campos the incumbent. For those who don’t remember Dawn’s partner Frankl Raia was eventually convicted of offering money to voters who let him and his associates submit their vote by mail ballots, almost all housing authority residents whose votes Dawn needed to win in a runnoff.
And let’s not forget that is was Dawn Zimmer who eliminated runnoff elections in Hoboken as soon as she was elected Mayor because runnoffs would decrease her changes of being re-elected. Thankfully Jen Giattino (RIP, you’re missed), Mike DeFusco who pushed for runnoffs to be restored but it was Dawn who advocated for this anti-democratic, “it’s all about me and my election” elimination of runnoffs.
And Dawn, just look at her ELECs, made sure to collect as much money from city vendors as the city law would allow.
She’s not clean, she’s just fairly sophisticated with being dirty. Wanted to win like any politician.
Wow! Thanks for sharing all that great history. I had heard that Raia went to jail for paying people to vote against both Zimmer and rent control in 2013, and that the runoff was eliminated by Hoboken voters in a referendum in 2012 that was strongly supported not only by Zimmer but also by Councilwoman Giattino, Councilman Cunningham and even Tiffanie Fisher. But I guess I heard wrong so thanks for correcting the record.
Thank you so much! Now that I know how sophisticated and anti-democratic Zimmer was I’m definitely gonna cast my vote for Mike Russo even though Councilwoman Fisher and her horse friend have convinced me he’s completely corrupt.
After all, like Zimmer, Jabbour might be “sophisticated’ and that’s way more dangerous than corrupt.
Fishercat, you were either not here or have faulty memory. The original referendum to move Hoboken’s non-partisan elections from the spring to November eliminated the runoff election. That’s what Zimmer wanted, because that’s how she won her election for mayor. The city council voted to restore the runoffs, but Zimmer vetoed the measure. It took the voters petition and referendum to restore the runoffs in 2018, which Zimmer still opposed. https://www.nj.com/hudson/2018/10/voters_in_hoboken_to_decide_whether_runoffs_should.html
Runoffs were low turnout elections rife with vote buying- a uniquely Hoboken epidemic- which is why Dawn and her grassroots Reform movement ran a successful petition campaign to get rid of them. Back in the bad old days. runoffs were “bought” which is why corruption fans (you?) fought to get them back, and ultimately did… only nowadays with social media, and the internet, it is much harder to cheat!
Are you mad at Dawn because she blew the whistle on grifting, and brought the FBI into Hoboken, lol
Actually, the residents in Hoboken voted in droves to bring BACK runoffs after noting that the trend was to have mayor’s with less and less public support. Imagine, if we hadn’t brought back runoffs right now we’d be preparing for a 27% Mayor Jabbour and her 9% council slate.
Oh please. We would not have Dawn Zimmer had it not been for her long-term association with convicted felon Frank “Pupie” Raia, who delivered the absentee ballots she needed to win her first election to the city council. Her opponent had the larger vote count in the machines, but once Raia’s corrupt machine delivered the absentee ballots he was known to collect from unsuspecting people or paid associates, she beat her opponent by a small margin. The feds caught up with Raia a few years later and he served time for election fraud. Zimmer’s association with corrupt men in Hudson county continued with her association with Leo Pellegrini, her Director of “everything” in city hall during her tenure, whom she would make “acting mayor” when she left town. When Pellegrini was first accused of embezzlement, she wrote a letter fiercely defending him, but he eventually was found guilty of stealing thousands of dollars from a children’s soccer fund. It is high hypocrisy on Zimmer’s part to accuse anyone of corruption when she played in the same mud pit with all of them, and owes her political profile to at least one of them.
I am an Emily supporter, but here’s the truth about Dawn Zimmer. She’s not as clean as she projects:
1. She was first elected in active coordination with convicted vote by mail felon Frank Rai when she first ran for City Council. This is the truth.
2. She more than anyone brought us Leo Pelligrini because he was perceived as giving her old Hoboken credibility. He was corrupt under her nose while she was Mayor (she did not know) and then went ahead and publicly defended his after her was let go without knowing the facts. Defender and enabler of a convicted felon who headed a city department because of her. This is the truth
3. As soon as she left office, she left Hoboken and had not lived here for years. This is the truth
4. She has lost touch with Hoboken. Hoboken Democrats rejected overwhelmingly her strong written endorsement of Tammy Murphy over Andy Kim who is a real reformer fighting a broken Democratic Party. This is the truth.
Again I am an Emily supporter, but Dawn is not perfect, she does not live her, and does not have her finger on the pulse. Emily she be looking forward not backwards.
Thank you so so much for the valuable Zimmer history lesson. You’ve totally convinced me not to vote for Zimmer in this election.
Like you I will be voting for Emily.
Councilwoman Fisher’s compelling history lesson about Mike Russo’s long personal history of corruption persuaded me not to even consider voting for him.
Before I read her email, I was a Russo voter because I thought it was unfair to hold Mike responsible for being the son of a crook. Thanks to Councilwoman Fisher I learned about all the corrupt things Michael himself had done.
So thank you both!
Emily’s biggest weakness is being associated with Ravi and his goons, while Ravi’s only strength in 2017 was being associated with Dawn and her Administration’s accomplishments.
Eight years out of office and Dawn’s endorsement still has value while Ravi’s endorsement would be such poison that nobody wanted it.
That is the truth.
This is comical and enraging at the same time! To bring my DEAD father into this race is so low! But it shows who they are! Desperate times call for desperate measures! I’m so proud of my brother Mike! He ran a campaign that was issue based no smoke and mirrors! Just facts! They ran on besmirching my family’s name. It effects not just my brother but my children my brothers children my other brothers children. Dawn, we all know the backroom deals you made! No one said anything! Emily we all know exactly who you are, in many ways! Keep hitting below the belt! “They go low, we go high!” That’s a fact!
bro you were gonna go to prison too
ur dad took the fall for you and your mom. enjoy your “medical” retirement
grifters gonna grift
The hysteria on this thread is Russo damage control. You guys are really rattled.
Zimmer is a beloved figure in Hoboken– her Reform movement “cleaned up” City Hall corruption, for which she was hated by all right people. Mike Russo hated Dawn for publishing the F.B.I. surveillance transcript of him accepting a $5K bribe on the City of Hoboken website- for all of Hoboken to see him bragging about “owning the City Council!” He hated Dawn for kicking his Dad off the City of Hoboken health insurance, which he was no longer eligible to collect. Mike and his council allies were locked in a battle royale with Dawn and Reform that lasted until she declined to run for a 3rd term.
So try with all your might to dirty up Dawn and the power of this endorsement. Like this comment section really matters to the vast majority of voters.
Dawn did a lot of good and had a great legacy. But she made a fatal error. She handed the baton to Ravi who took corruption to a level that even Russo had to admire.
Now Dawn wants to do it again with another Ravi 2.0 rubber-stamper, Emily Jabbour.
This is not an endorsement of Russo. This is stated reality of what Dawn did to Hoboken out the door on her way to the Catskills. Of course, the Carmelo lawsuit had a lot to do with that but Ravi’s been a terrible mayor and Hoboken is paying an awful price. Emily, no.
This is like the same five people yelling at each other. Moving zero votes either way. Dawn was nice enough I guess, but clearly out of her depth. She left us with Ravi, who she admits turned out sour. Why would Emily be any different, I don’t know.
Are you one of the 5? Or 6th?
Are you one of the five?
Zimmer gave us Ravi over Jen, that led to Ravi’s 8 years of overspending, poor management and tax increases.
Emily NEVER once strongly objected
Oh and where was Emily when Dawn was fighting with Ravi over the easements with Jersey City