Hoboken 4th Ward Councilman Ruben Ramos hosted a fundraiser at Mike’s Wild Moose Saloon yesterday in honor of mentor and friend Maurice Fitzgibbons, as well as 25 years of public service.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“Ruben is a guy that has a lot of respect, obviously by the crowd here, not only in Hoboken, Ruben is a guy that has a tremendous amount of respect in Hudson County,” began Craig Guy, the Democratic nominee for Hudson County executive.
“So from a selfish standpoint, Craig Guy as Hudson County executive, Ruben has been a friend, some of the other council people in Hoboken have been a friend. And it’s obvious that he brings people together.”
Guy pledged to continue working with Ramos on the intergovernmental level, as well as to do anything he can to help his re-election – which was an easy commitment since he and the councilman are both running unopposed on November 7th.
Ramos became the youngest councilman in Hoboken history when he was elected at 25 years old in 1999 and also served as a state assemblyman between 2008 and 2014 before getting elected to his old council post in 2015, where he has remained since.
Fitzgibbons, who was a longtime freeholder who died unexpectedly at the end of 2011, along with former Mayor Dave Roberts and ex-state Senate Bernie Kenny were all instrumental in him getting his start in the smash mouth world of Mile Square City politics.
“We had friend of ours who passed away some 12 years ago and he was an integral part of our group and Maurice Fitzgibbons was a great friend, had a great political mind and Maurice, Ruben, Bernie, and myself, and a group of others, we all thought … wouldn’t it be nice, Tony [Soares] as well, we’d give Maurice a little shoutout,” Roberts said.
The 100 or so people on hand were happy to give a standing ovation on that note.
Kenny recalled that in 1999, Fitzgibbons and Roberts had settled on Ramos as their 4th Ward council pick and he was the last one to sign off, impressed by his gentle, kind demeanor.
“He added a major lift to the ticket we were forming in 1999 and [Councilman] Michael Russo is here … I’m glad Michael’s here because what we were doing is opposing Michael’s father,” he said to some laughter.
“I have to say that, I’ve got to put it out there. That Michael’s here speaks to a very important thing in politics, which is that everybody must stay together as friends, not matter what happens in the political realm because there comes another day.”
During his remarks, Ramos reflected on how it’s a shame that Fitzgibbons, “one of our partners in crime,” has already been gone for 12 years and who knows what would have changed if he was still here.
“Politics is politics, and politics can become family. We won our election in May of ’99, I was diagnosed with cancer in November of ’99, and Dave and Bernie, they drove me and my wife, then my girlfriend, to every doctor’s appointment, every single one of my chemo treatments,” he recalled.
“Maurice was always calling to check in: ‘How’s Ruben doing? How’s Ruben doing?” to Dave when he drove me and Bernie when he drove me … That’s the hardest part, probably, of our lives. Good people like Bernie, like Dave, and Maurice, my mom, my wife, my dad, to see it through – after that meeting with Bernie he said ‘welcome to the cesspool kid.'”
The crowd on hand was diverse, drawing whispers that Ramos could be a mayoral contender in 2025.
Other fellow electeds such as Assemblywoman Annette Chaparro, Hudson County Commissioner Chair Anthony Romano (D-5), 1st Ward Councilman Mike DeFusco, and 6th Ward Councilwoman Jen Giattino on hand.
All four candidates for the board of education: President Sharyn Angley, Trustee Chetali Khanna, and former Trustee Sheila Dallara, collectively the “Moms for Progress” team, and independent perennial candidate Pat Waiters.
Also from the education sector were HoLa Board President Nicole Cammarota, Hoboken Charter Board member Lauren Calmas, and Elysian Charter Board member Eduardo Gonzalez.
Raising some eyebrows were some blasts from the past in former Councilman Chris Campos, ex-Assemblyman Carmelo Garcia, and Frank Raia, who has previously served on the North Hudson Sewerage Commission.
Campos was found guilty of a car loan scheme in July 2017, Garcia is facing federal charges for an alleged large-scale bribery scheme out of Newark, and Raia, who like Ramos, unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2013, ended up getting convicted on vote-by-mail fraud related to that race.
Additionally, 1st Ward council candidate Paul Presinzano, former 6th Ward Councilman Nino Giacchi, Jude Fitzgibbons, Maurice’s brother, and Hudson County GOP Executive Director Pavel Sokolov showed face as well.
Soares, another former councilman, served as the emcee for the event.