City Council Candidate John Allen Named Chief of Staff by Mayor Zimmer and Mayor Elect Bhalla

Mayor Zimmer and Mayor-Elect Bhalla Announce New Chief of Staff:

Mayor Dawn Zimmer announced today that she will appoint John Allen to serve as Chief of Staff effective December 4, 2017.

“In consultation with Mayor-Elect Bhalla, I am appointing John Allen as Chief of Staff,” said Mayor Dawn Zimmer.

John Allen New Chief of Staff for Mayor Zimmer and
Mayor Elect Ravi Bhalla - photo via Facebook

“John will help ensure that there is a smooth transition between administrations and will be a tremendous asset to Mayor Bhalla and the City of Hoboken.” "John has all the right qualities and experience to take on this important role in City Hall,” said Mayor-Elect Ravinder S. Bhalla. 

“I look forward to working with John as my Chief of Staff in 2018.” Mr. Allen is an attorney who specializes in the representation of governmental bodies, including boards of education and municipalities. He serves on the Board of Directors of Easterseals New Jersey, one of the state’s oldest and largest charitable organizations dedicated to empowering individuals with disabilities. He is a graduate of Rutgers University and earned his law degree at Rutgers School of Law. 

Editor's Note: 

There had been some speculation that perhaps former Zimmer Chief of Staff Vijay Chaudhuri would be appointed to be Ravi Bhalla's Chief of Staff but it looks like he is forging ahead with other opportunities. Vijay had previously resigned mid-week to join the Bhalla campaign as manager in late August.

As for John Allen, this is an interesting move for a full time lawyer in an established firm that actually brought in more in government contracts in the prior year than Ravi Bhalla's law firm according to the Michael Defusco campaign. Michael's prior assertions are referenced here with the following link:

In Hoboken DeFusco goes after Bhalla for adding political establishment attorney

We will have to see how this plays out but these appointments usually go to someone more junior and more familiar with the local political landscape then John has exhibited to date at least publicly.

Additional comments from Michael Defusco appear on Hudson County View's latest piece on the hire:

http://hudsoncountyview.com/hobokens-bhalla-selects-recent-running-mate-lawyer-as-his-chief-of-staff/

Hoboken Mayor Elect Ravi Bhalla Unveils His Transition Team

Hoboken Mayor Elect Ravi Bhalla - Credit MSV 

From the Ravi Bhalla Campaign/Transition team:

Mayor-elect of Hoboken Ravi S. Bhalla has unveiled the leadership of his Transition Team. Chaired by Phil Cohen, the transition leadership includes 4 of the other candidates in this year’s mayoral election and two new Council Members, who will serve as chairs of key policy committees, along with other people with expertise in Hoboken government and civic affairs selected for these important transition roles.

Each Committee Chair is charged with preparing at least 3 substantive recommendations for implementation in 2018. Mayor-elect Bhalla encourages any Hoboken residents that are interested in joining the Transition Team and serving on one of the transition committees to send an email to Cohen identifying their area of interest and the committee on which they are interested in serving, which will be provided to the relevant Committee Chairs or Co-Chairs. His email address is philiphcohen@gmail.com.

Based on the recommendations of the Committee Chairs, the Transition Team will assemble a report to be considered by Mayor-elect Bhalla and the members of his Administration. Mayor-elect Bhalla said, “One of the largest untapped assets of Hoboken is the intellectual capital of its residents. I encourage interested residents to participate in this process so our Transition Team can provide the kind of quality recommendations that will better enable us to hit the ground running.”

Bhalla went on to say, “I appreciate the participation of so many of my fellow mayoral candidates. This demonstrates unity in our common interests as a community, and promotes effective governance.”

Phil Cohen - Chairman of Ravi Bhalla Transition Team

Transition Team Chair Phil Cohen has a long history of active involvement in local civic affairs. He currently serves on the Zoning Board of Adjustment and has served on the Planning Board. He is the First Vice Chair of the Hoboken Democratic Party and is a Member of the Board of Trustees of the United Synagogue of Hoboken, the past Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Stevens Cooperative School, and the recipient of the Corporate Leadership Award from the Women's Housing and Economic Development Corporation.

The Committees with their respective Chairs are listed below. Biographical information is available upon request:

• Affordable Housing - Councilwoman-elect Vanessa Falco  
• Arts, Music & Culture - Chris O'Connor & Liz Ndoye  
• Constituent Service – Assemblywoman Annette Chapparo 
• Drug Abuse Prevention – Angelo Valente 
• Economic Development - Councilman Michael DeFusco 
• Education - Councilwoman-elect Emily Jabbour
• Infrastructure – Jon Otto & Stewart Mader
• Public Safety - Freeholder Anthony Romano
• Quality of Life - Mayor David Roberts
• Small Business Development - Karen Nason
• Transportation and Parking - Ron Bautista

The Hoboken Resistance Continues

In 2015 we had a Mayor in Hoboken Dawn Zimmer that was considered a reformer with a long list of accomplishments and had on paper and in practice a 7-2 City Council majority. Things looked bright for Hoboken’s future.

Remember, Remember the 7th of November

Fast forward to 2017 and we have a new Mayor of Hoboken handpicked by Mayor Zimmer that was propelled into office in a highly negative campaign. As a result we now have a 4-3-2 City Council or even a 2-7 split depending on the issue. The Mayor elect Ravi Bhalla, thanks to his negative campaigning and Dawn Zimmer’s botched baton toss has seen a split in reform due to poor decisions and flat out arrogance. Despite abandoning the principles of reform of running positive campaigns, resisting outside PAC money, and showing a lack of transparency at the end of her 2nd term Dawn Zimmer was able to elect her man. However, from where I sit it is a Pyrrhic victory with only a 2-7 City Council to start and so came at a great cost. Ravi Bhalla's biggest challenge will be to build a 5-4 coalition on the City Council but the 6 votes for bonding may turn out elusive. Simply ramming legislation down the City Council's throat will no longer suffice as Zimmer did since 2015. The role of the citizen advocate will be important as well to speak out and ensure good decisions happen going forward.

The reform movement as I once knew it is now dead but the Hoboken Resistance Movement is being reborn and I am assuming the mantle of leadership to just kickstart the new post reform era from those on the outside. I look forward to growing a collaborative group and sharing in the leadership with others who want to ensure Hoboken continues down the right path. 

This site is inspired by the role I once played in Hoboken pre-2009 when government was not working for the citizens of Hoboken. Finances were being improperly handled, PILOTS were being abused, bad hiring decisions were being done in form of patronage and infrastructure was being ignored. 

Join the Hoboken Resistance now and hold our elected officials accountable once again. Please retweet any posts you like from this with the hashtag #HobokenResistance. We must remain vigilant to ensure the progress we have made in the last 8 years does not succumb to fiscal mismanagement and big developer greed or horse trading for political advancement. Hoboken can be great only if our citizenry is informed and engaged.