Holy Hoboken!
GA has fantastic news... a diverse group of Hoboken citizens from all political factions have stepped forward to join the the Bhalla Transition!
Yep, supporters of all mayoral candidates, and 4 out of 5 mayoral candidates themselves, have enthusiastically lent their support to making a better Hoboken under Mayor-elect Bhalla.
As of yesterday's press release, there were 134 volunteers, but sources tell GA that at least 2 more have since added their names... and counting.
Here's a quote from the Mayor-elect:
“Being able to draw on the experiences and recommendations of so many Hoboken residents who are dedicating their time because they care deeply about our city’s future will help me hit the ground running. Our city is coming together as we all put Hoboken first. When I announced the formation of our Transition Team, I noted that the residents of Hoboken were the city’s ‘greatest untapped resource’. I am pleased to see so many Hoboken residents have come forward to volunteer their time and energies to help move our city forward.”
So, what exactly are these policy committees doing?
Each committee is charged with preparing at least 3 substantive recommendations for implementation in 2018. (Props to volunteer Phil Cohen who has taken on the role of Transition Team Chair.)
As of the time of the press release, Councilwoman-elect Emily Jabbour's Education Transition Committee had the most volunteers (22), followed by Chris O’Connor/Liz Ndoye's Arts & Culture Transition Committee (21). But, all of the committees are still being populated as we speak.
So, here are the Committee Chairs and volunteers current to yesterday's press release. C'mon, won't you join?
Assemblywoman Annette Chapparo Chair – Constituent Services (8 volunteers)
Susan Archer
Dan Drobnis
Rachel Hodes
Elaine Lippman
Corinne Mullen
Patricia Waiters
Claudette Zaccardi
Wei-Han Zhou
Councilman Michael DeFusco – Economic Development (9 volunteers)
Seth Anagnostis
Brian Battaglia
Daniel Cocoziello
Philip Lamparello
Jonathan Metsch
Ryan Peene
Peggy Randall
Grant Sahog
Dianna Vecchio
Karen Nason – Small Business Development (5 volunteers)
Aaron Boucher
Theresa Castellano
Shawn McGarr
Donna Olah-Reiken
Dominic Rivera
Councilwoman-elect Emily Jabbour – Education (22 volunteers)
Sharyn Angley
Monika Belur
Nicole Cammarota
Peter Chu
Sheillah Dallara
Namibia Donadio
Jennifer Evans
Christina Gonzalez
Mark Gutkowski
Jennifer Johnson
Chetali Khanna
Emily Kohl
Tom Kluepfel
Rose Marie Markle
Ailene McGuirk
Theresa Minutillo
Laura Siegel
Irene Sobolov
Melanie Tekirian
Joanna Weintraub
Krista Werbeck
Shana Wright
Coucilwoman-elect Vanessa Falco – Affordable Housing (10 volunteers)
Anne Marie Schrieber
James Burke
Scott D’Aloise
Cheryl Fallick
Eduardo Gonzalez
Edward Hindin
Walter Johnson
Brian Morrison
Niall Murray
La-Trenda Ross
Chris O’Connor & Liz Ndoye – Arts & Culture (21 volunteers)
Doug Botnick
Ralph Capasso
Craig Dale
Tim Daly
Robert Foster
Lauren Fowler
Karen Fung
Sarah Weber Gallo
David Gavant
Rob Harari
Jennifer Hartshorn
Leah Healey
Dinesh Khosla
Roy Kinzer
Diana London
Ricardo Roig
Barbara Simon
Mickey Singh
Issa Sow
David Tornabene
Jean-Paul Picard
Jonathan Otto & Stewart Mader – Infrastructure (12 volunteers)
Seth Abrams
Marty Anderson
Nicholas Borg
Dr. Miguel Cunha
Barry Grossman
Mark Longo
Marc Kunesch
Nathan Lichtenstein
Frank Magaletta
Andrea Rizvi
Agan Singh
Richard Weinstein
Freeholder Anthony Romano – Public Safety (6 volunteers)
Louis Casciano
Michael Costello
Michelle Mazurkiewicz
Thomas Molta
Vita Syers
Richard Tremitiedi
John Carey – Rebuild by Design (7 volunteers)
Alan Blumberg
Carter Craft
Anne Lockwood
Damian DiBenedetto
Raakhee Mirchandani
Michael Watson
Ciro Scalera
Mayor David Roberts – Quality of Life (5 volunteers)
Christina Andersen
Grace Bale
John Gregorio
Randy Minniear
Nilesh Patel
Ron Bautista – Transportation and Parking (9 volunteers)
Christine Adair
Nora DeBenedetto
Mitchell Fagen
Steven Firestone
Andrew Impastato
Christopher Jarrett
Peter Kim
Edmond Lo
Timothy Staub
Angelo Valente – Drug Abuse Prevention (4 volunteers)
Jaclyn Cherubini
Paula Nevoso
Debra Pelto
Melissa Popkoski
Folks, the city is beginning to heal from a bruising 4 month election. Aside from a handful of "resistance" miscreants and sore losers, the rest of us are on the path to great things to come.
Stay tuned to tonight's City Council meeting. It is important to see how our elected officials are able to work together in the best interest of their constituents- us.
GA is cautiously optimistic this council can surmount their own personal feelings and govern like adults. Let's see.
Like all cities Hoboken is in a constant state of transition.
ReplyDeleteThe strength of Hoboken's community is in the willingness of good people to extend themselves to do good things for OUR city.
This spring 600 Hobokeners of every shape, size and political point of view came together to literally get their hands dirty and participate in a city wide clean up to improve the place we all chose to live. It is that kind of involvement that makes me optimistic that the spirt of community continues to grow and improve.
Really smart approach for a guy who isn't "executive material." Crowd-sourcing but with finite objectives so it doesn't just drift. Creates a sense of ownership and collaboration. The team of rivals aspect isn't too shabby either. Pretty impressive start.
ReplyDeleteQuestion. , what are Angelo Valente's qualifications for Drug abuse prevention ? I couldn't find anything online. I didn't even know there was such committe in Hoboken or would have jumped to offer whatever I could help with .
ReplyDeleteI deal with the infectious complications of drug use .. HIV , Hep B ,C , endocarditis, bacteremias .. etc
Well you know about it now. PLEASE reach out. You have until Friday to join forces, but only need to send them an email.
DeleteFrom the article in the reporter.
"According to Bhalla's spokesperson Rob Horowitz, those who are interested in joining Bhalla's transition team have until Friday, Dec. 8 to contact Cohen via email at philiphcohen@gmail.com and identify their area of interest and the committee on which they are interested in serving."
Angelo Valente is the (longtime) Executive Director of the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey. Please join his committee. Contact Phil, or I can send your name in (let me know).
Deletehmm, wonder if everyone on the affordable housing committee will play nicely together...
ReplyDeleteDoubtful - one of those people is just going to be a non-stop pain in the ass until they find a way to ride the gravy train (which should never be allowed).
Delete