The Facts in This Election
I have been incredibly proud to serve Hoboken for the past eight years, first as one of the youngest commissioner on the City’s Zoning Board and for the last four years, as your First Ward Councilman. I’ve always been one to stand up for my beliefs and any injustices in our community -- it’s actually what inspired me to first get involved in local government.
As this election season begins to heat up, it’s troubling to see my opponent relying on a campaign built on a foundation of lies to secure public office… solely for her own personal benefit. Without a track record to run on, she has unfortunately been hard at work attempting to discredit all that we have accomplished over the past four years to compensate for her campaign’s empty cannon.
Now, it’s time to set the record straight and address the real facts of this election.
Affordable Housing:
Working to make Hoboken more affordable was one of my core campaign promises when I first ran for office -- and I am proud to have delivered on that for our city. I secured funding to bring a tenant advocate to Hoboken so we can protect renters from being mistreated by their landlords, I authored a tenant protection law to defend residents whose apartments were undergoing major renovations and just this summer I supported my running mate Councilwoman Vanessa Falco’s legislation that designates a developer’s trust fund to construct more affordable units. My opponent has resorted to blatant fear mongering by lying to residents living in subsidized buildings by saying I want to rid our city of affordable housing. Nothing could be further from the truth and my record speaks for itself. My opponent has been lying to her own neighbors in Marineview Plaza to compensate the fact she has no real record or platform to stand on. You have my word, protecting affordable and middle-income housing in our city is a fight I will never back down from.
My opponent spreading lies on her website.
Her Position in City Hall:
My opponent is a City Hall employee who was promoted to the Office of Constituent Affairs last year, an office I supported bringing to Hoboken. Unsurprisingly, her promotion was perfectly timed to coincide with when the Mayor began putting together a slate of candidates designed to remove independent voices from the City Council. This move was explicitly done to help push the administration’s political agenda. This summer, I asked my opponent to take a voluntary leave of absence from her city hall job given the clear conflict of interest it poses with her simultaneously being a candidate for local office. My opponent even admits it’s illegal to be both a public servant and paid City Hall employee simultaneously in the same municipality, but instead she has decided to take a “wait and see” approach. This begs the question of what inside political deals have already been made in return for my opponent agreeing to run on the mayor’s ticket.
Frankly speaking, she is backed by the status quo political establishment, in addition to the Super PAC. My opponent is working with the former First Ward Councilwoman, a 21-year incumbent I defeated in 2015, and the Mayor who I nearly beat in 2017, to force independent leaders like me out of office. This is everything that’s wrong with politics today -- seeking revenge on an independent candidate who has been unafraid to successfully take on the political establishment four years ago to deliver positive change and real results for Hoboken. As a private sector professional, I am free of any conflict of interest and able to represent the interests of the people of the First Ward alone, not a political agenda.
Supported by a Super PAC
My opponent has accepted nearly $20,000 in dark money from a pro-development political committee. This special interest money is coming directly from real estate giant Mack-Cali with the clear intent on buying influence and swaying our City Council election next Tuesday. They are using this money to fund attack ads and other nefarious campaign techniques, the same tactics we saw used in 2017 to bully and mislead voters. Please, don’t be fooled because we can’t let history repeat itself. Being independent isn’t easy, but I’ve always stood up to the political machine to do what’s right for Hoboken. I won't be bossed or bullied and that’s exactly why they are attacking me.... again.
Instead of taking a stand against dark money, my opponent is trying to accuse me of wrongdoings that are simply not true. She has tried to connect me to dark times in our city’s political history to distract voters from the fact that she is allowing developers to help buy her way into office.
Join me in telling all candidates running for office that these dark money organizations have no business in Hoboken by signing your name on our petition. Together, we can stand up for our city and protect the integrity of our Democratic process.
Our Dog Run:
Of all the lies and dishonest rhetoric my opponent has spread about my legislative accomplishments, claiming I had nothing to do with our downtown dog run strikes a nerve with me. As a dog owner myself, I feel the need to respond to these false allegations because I have always fought to make Hoboken better for all of us, including our pets. During my mayoral campaign in 2017, I was the first person to propose bringing a dog run to the First Ward. While I came up just short in that election, I kept my promise by working with my colleagues on the City Council and the current administration to see this project through. Trying to diminish the work I did with our City and my neighbors to accomplish this is nothing more than a petty and cheap political shot.
The list goes on and on. These baseless accusations are a blatant attempt to silence independent voices and intentionally mislead the public. If you have any questions about where I stand on any of the issues in this election, please feel free to contact me at Mike4Hoboken@yahoo.com or call my cell directly at 646.372.4341.