HCDO & Stack Dump on Honest Government

Folks, pay attention.

Yesterday politickernj.com broke the news:  the Hoboken Democratic Party (HDP)  led by  Chairman Ravi Bhalla and Honorary Chair Mayor Dawn Zimmer was BOOTED from running on the Hoboken Democratic Organization (HCDO) ticket.

Then whose slate of candidates will run on the HCDO line?

Michelle Russo's.

And how did the HSCDO explain this unceremonious dumping of the Mayor's allies  from the county line?

HCDO Chairman Mark Smith told a big-ass whopper... blamed Bhalla, the Dem machine's new whipping-boy, for submitting the HPD slate 'after' Michelle Russo AND missing the deadline.

Believe that? 

Here's what politicker nj.com said about that:

No.  Bhalla submitted his slate  in a timely fashion and before Russo's.  But Smith has so little respect for our Mayor and for Bhalla that he couldn't be bothered with a less transparent fiction.

What happened?

State Senator Brian Stack and Hudson County Democratic Organization Chairman Mark Smith made a 'backroom' deal... you can read the detaisl here at politickernj... but the bottom line is that Ruben Ramos,   candidate for State Assembly,  will now be running on the same line as Russo-allies, instead of Zimmer supporters.

Think about it.

The FBI surveillance tape showing Russo accepting a 5K bribe from informant Solomon Dwek as well as admitting to conduct as an HHA commissioner which violates HUD regulatory guidelines was released  9 days ago.  The revelation that his dad has been illegally drawing health benefits on the taxpayer's dime (surely Mike Russo knew) was broken by MSV on March 14- less than 1 month ago. And remember those 4 million missing quarters which Russo, Chairman of the Revenue and Finance Committee first called  a "mistake".  And then there's the $300K + debt to Hoboken taxpayers owed by Russo Sr.

Now we know that honesty and good, progressive governance are not the metrics that the HCDO cares about.  Or Stack.

It's whatever the Russo clan brings to the table.  You figure it out.

Furthermore,  neither man had bothered to return calls, texts or emails from Hoboken's first female and first Jewish mayor in history.  And now THIS, without even a courtesy call.

The message is loud and clear.

And just in case Zimmer didn't hear it,  she received a bullying phone call from State Senator Stack  yesterday in response  to the politickernj.com piece.   

During the call he threatened her politically.   No surprise from the man who threw his ex-wife under the bus when  FOX news discovered she was using a city car for personal errands. Remember the quote- he was "disgusted by her". One can only imagine how she felt about him.

Ladies, take note.  Hudson County has a glass ceiling.  Inside the Boy's Club.

Mayor Zimmer's letter is printed in full below.

 Perfect Together: left to right, State Senator Brian Stack, 3rd Ward City Councilman Mike 'Video-Star' Russo, and HCDO Chairman Mark Smith strike a pose

For he's a jolly good fellow.
For he's a jolly good fellow.
For he's a jolly good fellow!
Which nobody can deny.
Which nobody can deny.
Which nobody can deny.
For he's a jolly good fellow.
Which nobody can deny.

Hoboken Mayor Zimmer Responds to Call from Senator Stack

Yesterday, I received an extremely troubling telephone call from Union City Mayor Brian Stack, who is also Hoboken's State Senator.  Senator/Mayor Stack, who over the past year has almost never returned my phone calls relating to important governmental matters like our hospital, was calling to threaten me politically.  Apparently, Mayor Stack was angry that Politickernj.com had reported on the backroom deal through which he and Hudson County Democratic Party Chairman Mark Smith agreed to try to turn over the Hoboken Democratic Party to the Russo family.  This occurred just one week after an FBI surveillance tape revealed that Councilman Michael Russo had agreed to accept illegal campaign contributions while offering to expedite development projects. 

Mayor Stack, who has a history of interfering in Hoboken politics by funneling large sums of money into the campaigns of the developer friendly candidates who do his bidding, threatened to get involved in Hoboken politics once again if I continued to tell the truth about the shady deal that was struck at the expense of the honest Democrats of Hoboken.  In this case, the Hoboken candidates who Mayor Stack would presumably support are Councilman Russo and his allies.  This is the same group that recently voted down anti-wheeling legislation that would have stopped out of town developers and politicos like Mayor Stack from interfering in Hoboken elections for their own personal gain. 

I was particularly disappointed by the brazen and inappropriate behavior of our party leaders, who are better described perhaps as "political bosses."  Sadly, their actions put machine politics over the important ideals of the Democratic Party that I proudly support.  In fact, last Friday during a breakfast gathering, I had the pleasure of hearing Senator Menendez speak directly from the front lines regarding our Country’s budget negotiations.  During his briefing he highlighted the fact that while the debate may appear on the surface to be about money, it is really about our commitment to women’s issues, senior and children’s issues, environmental issues and other core Democratic values.   His talk sparked a commitment in me to work as hard as I can to support him on women's and environmental issues in particular.


It is ironic, that as the only woman among Hudson County's 12 Mayors, the leaders of our County party have elected not to give me the respect that has always been accorded by the party to Hudson County Mayors.  I don't know whether my gender was a factor in Mayor Stack and Chairman Smith's decision to treat me differently than other Mayors have always been treated, but their behavior has been both odd and disconcerting, to say the least.   Mayor Smith did not tell the truth about the reason for his endorsement of the Russo family slate, as the politickernj.com article makes clear.  Instead he chose to launch personal attacks against Hoboken's Democratic Party Chair Ravi Bhalla. Mayor Stack's threatening phone call to me makes it clear that he, like Chairman Smith, has something to fear from the truth.  The dishonesty and old time machine politics is a discredit to our Party and does not help advance the ideals that our party represents. 

I am determined to work with the true Democrats of Hoboken to take our local party back to its core values and end, once and for all, the cancer of machine politics that is trying to keep our City from moving forward.

Thank you for listening.


Mayor Dawn Zimmer