Vijay says good-bye to City Hall and...

"I want to thank Mayor Dawn Zimmer and Mayor-Elect Ravi Bhalla for giving me the tremendous opportunity to work for the people of Hoboken over the past three years. In City Hall, I got to witness a tenacious fighter for the residents of Hoboken up close every day in Mayor Zimmer as her chief-of-staff. Her drive to do what is right for our City, no matter what, is a lesson for any student of politics that wants to run for public office or work in government. It was an honor to play a part in some of her major accomplishments for the City, including the addition of open space, moving forward the $230 million Rebuild by Design project, and one of my personal favorites, the current project to overhaul our American Legion and include six units of affordable housing for homeless veterans.

I have no doubt that Mayor-Elect Bhalla will continue to be a leader our City can be proud of. I first met Ravi eight years ago when I moved to Hoboken. He encouraged me to get involved, and run for Democratic Committee, much like he did with many residents this year. Since then, I’ve known Ravi to be an inclusive, intelligent, and caring elected official intent on making the best decisions for Hoboken, and above all, an adult in the room when we needed one. When Mayor Zimmer decided not to run for re-election, after a brief reflection, I knew there was one clear path forward - I wanted to do everything possible to ensure Ravi continued our progress as Mayor. The election results restored my faith, that I questioned at times during the campaign, that the majority of Hoboken voters would pick the best candidate because of his/her policy ideas, experience and vision, and not be fooled by candidates selling their soul offering absurd promises like a Hudson River floating pool simply to win votes.

I couldn’t be more proud to have managed the Team Bhalla campaign with Ravi and the three awesome Council candidates who ran with him: Councilman Jim Doyle, Councilwoman-elect Emily Jabbour and John Allen. I know John is an excellent choice to join Mayor-Elect Bhalla’s administration as his chief-of-staff. I observed him first hand on the campaign to be an extremely hard worker who learns fast, has a positive attitude about life, and works well with everyone. John - you don’t need it, but good luck!

I also want to thank Juan Melli and Dan Bryan for helping guide me during the past three years.  Behind the scenes, there were no two people more involved in helping accomplish some of the big projects with Mayor Zimmer in Hoboken over eight years. 

Finally, even though I’ve decided to move on to a new professional opportunity, I look forward to enjoying our City and advocating for important causes as a private resident!"

-Vijay

Thank you Vijay, for your fine service to Hoboken, and for running a winning campaign for Mayor-elect Bhalla! 

-GA