 |
| Hoboken Mayor Elect Ravi Bhalla |
Rev. Alex Santora, who I rarely agree with on Hoboken politics has some interesting thoughts on the Hoboken election outcome on the NJ.com website where is a guest columnist. His opinion piece is that Ravi Bhalla is a minority mayor who needs to build bridges hits the mark on two major points:
Ravi will have to be his own mayor and build a working coalition:
"The voting results and City Council members do not augur well for Bhalla. And the factions among camps in the city need someone who can bring people together and build coalitions. The verdict on Bhalla is still out. Can he come out of the shadow of Zimmer who put so much on the line to get him elected? Ostensibly, Zimmer and her followers have hooks in Bhalla. I hope he is not her puppet. And the atmosphere is so poisoned that he has to be a healer."The flier has all the makings of a Nixonian stunt:
"I think this flier was in the line of a Nixonian dirty trick. For example, Bhalla ran twice before and his religion hardly registered a blip in the past. The media seemed ready to pounce so some people were getting information out there asap. Word was that a reliable poll right before the election showed a tightening race and Bhalla's wearing of a turban was the perfect way to get people to fight prejudice and give him a boost. I do not believe any of the other candidates engineered this and I think Bhalla was in the dark. Ferrante will do a public service by finding the culprits."
Again, I don't normally agree with Rev. Alex Santora on much, especially continuing the lawless Hoboken St. Patrick's Day Parade in its previous format that led to hundreds hospitalized and rampant debauchery in the past but on this election he makes two insightful points.
Link to full article:
Bhalla a minority mayor who needs to build bridges
