As long anticipated, 3rd Ward Councilman Michael Russo, who last year was considering running for mayor himself, has decided to endorse Councilwoman Beth Mason in the May 12 mayoral race. The endorsement has been suspected for some time, especially since Mason recently worked with Russo on voting to continue a tax abatement agreement for the moderate income Church Towers building (where Russo’s family and neighbors live).
Below is Russo’s letter about why she should be mayor instead of her opponents (two of whom are also on the council). What do you think? Comment below!
“Dear Friend and Neighbor,
“I would like to take this opportunity to announce my support for Beth Mason and the entire ‘Mason Team for Hoboken’ in the upcoming election on Tuesday May 12. This team has the character, professionalism, and dedication to help fix the last eight years of mismanagement and fiscal irresponsibility that have plagued Hoboken.
“I have worked closely with each of the three City Council members running for Mayor, and I can tell you that Beth is by far the most qualified to be our next Mayor. She has stood up for the hardworking people of Hoboken by fighting to uncover how your hard earned money is being spent. For almost 25 years, Beth has called Hoboken home. And for many of those years she has worked tirelessly to help make Hoboken a better place for all its residents.
“Beth represents a philosophical and generational change from the ways of the Roberts/Cammarano Administration, which always put politics before the people. Long before the state monitor uncovered the many layers of wasteful spending by the Roberts team, Beth called for Hoboken to hire a forensic auditor and restructuring firm. Roberts and Cammarano fought Beth every step of the way to keep you from knowing how your money was being spent. In the end the truth came to light in the form of an 84 percent municipal tax increase.
“No matter how Peter Cammarano spins and twists the facts, he and Roberts are responsible for the highest property tax increase in Hoboken’s history. And Dawn Zimmer did not even have the courage of her conviction to vote on one of the most vital issue facing our city, the 2009 budget. She abstained, instead of making a decision and standing by her conviction. That is exactly what occurred in the mayor’s office over the last years. Our new mayor must stand strong and not act indecisively.
“As your 3rd Ward Councilman I am asking you to vote for Beth. She is the right leader at this critical moment in our city and I am confident she will help deliver a brighter tomorrow. The Mason Team will lower taxes, eliminate wasteful spending, ensure responsible development, and return Hoboken to the people. These are the changes we need to keep Hoboken affordable for people from all walks of life. Your support is vital and there has never been a more important moment for us to stand together.
“On Tuesday May 12 please join me and vote for the entire Mason Team for One Hoboken. Mason 9A, Addeo 5B, Morales II 6B, Pasquale 7B
“Sincerely,
Michael
Councilman Michael S. Russo”
You did it too!!! Ha ha ha! (Just teasing there)
-assume stupidity of the audience: 'Russo Civic is just a charitable organization'
-throw out the letters 'HCDO' at all turns. But how does this supposed connection, the HCDO has contributed zero to Zimmer's campaign in 2009, actually affect Hoboken? Whereas we know how the Russo faction has mired the Hoboken in inefficieny and corruption. HCDO connect is just a buzzword, Russo connection has a very real implication.
-throw up a smokescreen of 'ism' accusations at any criticism of Mason or her council slate no matter how irrelevant.
Beth's acceptance of their support is a complete about face from her principled stands of the past. To relate sexism to this is ridiculous.
just because beth gets their help doesnt mean anything wrong.
better them then the hcdo.
and to thnk beth will have to listen to anything they say after she uses their help to win the election is sexist.
Also he notes that now beth is running in a citywide election so she needs to bond with machines to win. well thats what she accused zimmer of and now she is doing it, and her machine was founded by people who ended up in jail for stealing form hoboken.
phililp, please answer about that!
here are some more questions for you:
1) how come on 411 you criticized the reporters letters policy of not accepting negative letters the last week before the election, but you seem ok that 411 does not ever accept negative letters about beth, 52 weeks a year? now THAT is censorship.
and how come now 411 is refusing to accept negative letters about any candidate, suddenly its ok when 411 does it.?
2) yes we know beth spent a lot of money suing a bunch of times before she ran for mayor. but that tells us nothing about how she would manage hoboken if she was in the top job, and her behavior in the last few months shows us how she would govern.
by leaving people out
by pandering to ex-cons to win office, doing the wrong thing, not working with perceived competitors, and being anything but transparent. how about some answers to questions?
3. yes you are right phil, she may win. she may be ahead of the polls (russos are good at delivering votes). but is that how beth wants to win?
is that how you want her to win?
please explain these things so i can feel better. i miss the old beth but when tested suddenly she changes. i shudder how being mayor could affect her...
Beth says in this story: "When people serve their time and are moving forward, we should support that."
So she has no problem working with and probably making a deal to get the endoresement of Hoboken's biggest political machine, that has had three of its former partners go to jail for corruption in Hoboken City Hall.
But she objected last year to Dawn Zimmer taking support from the county's Democratic organization to fight off Chris Campos.
Plus, not all the Russo have served their time. As Kurta pointed out in this thread Michele was implicated by someone during an investigation for allegedly taking towing kickbacks, and never was dealt with for it
I would like Beth or one of her supporters to clear up the apparent hypocrasy.
For someone who claims to be transparent and open she refuses to talk to anyone or answer questions like this no matter how many times they are asked (the reporter story is an exception becasue she'd have looked worse if she didn't answer) but now there is a very important followup: Why are you anything but a liar and a hypocrit for criticizing someone and then doing something much worse?
And how are you still independant?
Her supporters read blogs and she knows what is said of her. As a voter I ask Beth publicly: PLease explain. Explain to me and anyone else who has this question. The response from suporters is always 'well dawns friend is mike lenz who works for the county,' but lenz hasn't done anything illegal and meanwhile this doesnt excuse how you criticize dawn for having accepted democratic help but then allow beth to be beholden to a WORSE machine.
answer the question beth! i am still holding out hope
This shows how Mason is able to work with all segments of town, unlike some others. Vote for Beth!!"
The Russos are not a "segment of town", they are part of the corrupt, self-serving, status-quo insiders that put Hoboken in the awful position it is in today.
Now Hoboken citizens have to make a decision; either Beth has been fooling us and has only been talking about reform and transparency to fool the reform minded taxpayers.
Or Beth has been fooling the Russos and Brian Stack and will clean house as soon as she gets in. The Russos and Brian Stack are not politically stupid, and would not be agreeing to support Beth without iron clad assurances that nothing is going to change.
Like the old saying says; "If there is a scam being perpetrated, and you don't know who the mark is, you are the mark."
If you think Michael's father is not publicly involved with the civic assn anymore, michele is heavily involved and especially in the politics. Wasnt she trying to get herself and Michael both nominated to positions on the Hoboken Democratic Organization a few months ago? That's what I heard. In any case even if MIchael is not his father, his mother is likely very involved in the politics side.
The civic assn has Mason signs in its windows. Thats the support of the whole family. SO the question is, what did Mason have to give up or promise to get their vote? They almost always endorse old Hoboken and wouldnt endorse new hoboken except if they were promised something i would guess.
But I think what peopel are upset about is that Beth complained about Dawn accepting HCDO support last year saying that made her not independent. If beth has now changed her mind and decided you need machine support to win an election, she has to admit that and apologize to Dawn. If she owes the russos favors she is not independent and should explain.
The association has mason signs in its windows. It traditionally supports old timers not someone like beth. in order to get their support what did she have to promise?
THe real thing everyone is upset about is that Beth criticized Zimmer for doing the same thing a year ago, implying she would not sacrifice her independence to win an election. If she is admitting that is not he case then she needs to apologize to bzimmer and admit she will owe favors.
The former owners of what was once Hoboken's only car towing company were sentenced to probation last week for tax evasion, and one of them apparently tried to point a finger at the wife of former Mayor Anthony Russo. In February of 1999, FBI agents and officials from the Internal Revenue Service raided Hoboken Auto Body, the Jackson Street company that had the exclusive rights to tow improperly parked cars in the city.
What the investigators found was tax fraud. The principals of Hoboken Auto Body have admitted to maintaining a "double set of books," one set revealing the cash profits and the other not showing them. According to federal sentencing guidelines, company owner Theresa Pino would have spent more than a year in prison. But because she cooperated with investigators, U.S. District Judge Joel Pisano only sentenced her to two years of probation on Tuesday. And apparently, her cooperation helped bring down former Mayor Anthony Russo - who is now serving jail time – and attempted to implicate his wife, who is not. In an effort to gain leniency for Pino, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ricardo Solano had submitted a memo to the court that detailed Pino's cooperation in the investigation. According to Solano's memo, which was released into the public record Tuesday, Pino informed agents that she allegedly paid Mayor Russo $25,000 a year for the contracts.
But according to that memo, Pino also secretly recorded more than 20 conversations with Michele Russo, the former mayor's wife. At the time, Michele Russo was a commissioner on the Hoboken Parking Authority. (The HPA has since been dissolved, and parking is now handled by a city agency.) According the memo, Michele Russo allegedly attempted to pocket $5 for every car towed to Pino's yard. "As Theresa Pino disclosed to the FBI (and the FBI has been able to corroborate through other means), in 1998, Michelle Russo attempted to extort [Hoboken Auto Body] of $5 for each vehicle [Hoboken Auto Body] towed under its Hoboken Parking Authority contract with the city," said Solano's memo.
Mason accepting the Russo's endorsement publicly, my my. That should at least end once and for all any connection of the word 'Mason' with the word 'reform'.
She must realize she's completely lost the taxpayer vote, and is just trying to claw 100% for the status quo (the finances of this town are just fiiiine!) vote v Cammarano.
We don't need to go backwards, we've already been there. We need new faces and new government that respects its citizens.