The Hoboken Girl Team 
The next Mayor of Hoboken will be decided in a runoff election this December. After the results from Election Day 2025 did not see one specific candidate receiving majority of the total votes, the top two candidates — Councilwoman Emily Jabbour and Councilman Dr. Michael Russo — will be voted on again by residents on December 2nd, 2025. Here’s more about each runoff candidate from The Hoboken Girl’s previous conversation with all of Hoboken’s Mayoral contenders.
Emily Jabbour
The Hoboken Girl: How long have you lived in Hoboken?
Emily Jabbour: 17 years
HG: What is your background/experience in how it relates to local politics, and why are you running for mayor?
EJ: For the past 8 years, I have had the honor to serve the city as a Councilperson-at-Large. I got into politics after Mayor Dawn Zimmer – the first female Mayor of Hoboken – suggested that I consider running for office. I came to meet Mayor Zimmer after founding the Hudson County Chapter of Moms Demand Action, having witnessed an active shooter drill at my daughter’s Pre-K program and feeling compelled to take action. By training, I am a social worker and have spent my 19-year career serving the Administration for Children and Families, part of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. I feel that my candidacy for Mayor is a progression of my existing commitment and track record serving the people of Hoboken in big and small ways – whether that’s advocating for safe streets as part of Vision Zero, supporting additional police officers to keep Hoboken safe, or addressing every day issues like potholes and trash to keep our city a desirable place to live, work, and play.
Read More: New Jersey 2025 Gubernatorial Election Results
HG: What endorsement for your candidacy are you most proud of and why?
EJ: I am most proud of the 5,684 votes that I received in the 2021 election for my re-election to the City Council from constituents, small business owners, and senior citizens – all are my neighbors in our Mile Square. These votes are my highest endorsement.
HG: We know Hoboken’s municipal elections are non-partisan, but considering that federal politics often make their way into local politics these days, what political party are you currently registered with (if any)?
EJ: I am a registered Democrat. But I understand, clearly, that not every national issue is a local one. I have been a Councilperson for every Hoboken resident, irrespective of their political leanings, and will do the same as Mayor. My priority is always the people of Hoboken.
HG: What are your top three priorities for your first year in office and what will you do in your first 100 days?
EJ: My top 3 priorities are: public safety, quality of life issues, and responsiveness of City Hall. We need to ensure Hoboken is safe, that Hoboken is accessible, and that Hoboken is fair. In the first 100 days, I will stand up a functional ticketing system that is app based that allows residents to make reports to City Hall, convene a working group on homelessness that includes Hudson County, move forward on the renovation of the Multi Service Center (124 Grand), and begin meetings with the Councilmembers to take on the budget challenges ahead.
HG: Please respond to residents’ criticism of the recent budget that was approved, which included both a tax increase for residents and cuts to operating expenses and salary line items.
EJ: I think the biggest challenge when it comes to talking with residents about the annual budget is that residents don’t feel like they see their tax dollars at work – they see potholes, litter, and broken trashcans. As Mayor, I will focus on these small details that can add up to make residents feel like their tax dollars are being spent in ways that improve their daily lives. This year, the Administration proposed a budget that came in with a 6.5% increase; the City Council approved a final budget that came in at just over 4% by taking more funds from the city surplus. This strategy has been employed for many years and it is not sustainable, and further, may harm the strong credit rating of the city (A++) if too much of the surplus is used to plug budget gaps.
HG: With the increasing number of children being enrolled in Hoboken schools each year, what are your thoughts on accommodating this population, such as the construction of new schools to address population growth and repairing aging school facilities?
EJ: The growth in the population of children in the city is a good thing – thriving schools are a great signal for a strong community. That comes with challenges, however, as our school facilities are aging and nearly filled to capacity. We, as a community, need to work together to identify spaces for new, permanent buildings to accommodate this growing demand, and invest in the renovation of the aging facilities. I will always be in support of both conversations and actions that set our children up for success.
HG: Many residents + would-be residents complain about the high cost of housing in Hoboken. What is your opinion and what do you think can be done?
EJ: We need to protect renters by supporting rent control protections and fighting corporate landlord tactics like using algorithmic software to set prices. As Mayor, I will work with our state legislators to set a definition of “unconscionable rent increases” so that Hoboken can fight back on behalf of all renters getting annual increases well over 10, 15, sometimes 20%. The topic of affordable housing is critical – it impacts the make up and diversity of our community. We need to prioritize investing in workforce housing to help meet the gap of housing for our middle class – our teachers, public safety staff, laborers – so that people can live and work in Hoboken. That’s why I voted to support the proposal to renovate Garage B and expand its use to include workforce and affordable housing.
HG: Even though infrastructure updates are desperately needed, the work to do these improvements is incredibly disruptive for residents and costly for the city. This can even be dangerous, as in the circumstances of contaminated water from a water main break and roadways in and out of the city being closed due to road work. What is your plan to better accommodate the needed repairs while lessening the burden on residents?
EJ: With more development comes increased pressure on our infrastructure – so each time there is a new project approved, we must require that the developer improve the surrounding infrastructure as part of the scope of the project. The aging water main system is an issue no matter how much development is occurring, because they are part of the system that is well over 100 years old. The City has pursued a water main replacement program over the past several years – but more needs to be done to move this replacement forward in a timely way. As Mayor, I would implement a new timeline with more rigorous targets to get more of this replacement done in a more timely way.
HG: Residents complain about the scarcity and high cost of parking. What is your opinion and what, if any, initiatives would you support?
EJ: First, as Mayor I will prioritize the repairs to the midtown garage. It has been incredibly frustrating to hear from residents over and over about the damage to their car due to the melting cement, or the massive amount of bird feces that is present – the City Council passed the bond to do this work in November of 2023 – and it still has not been done. Second, we need to support the addition of at least one more parking garage in the North End of town and ensure that the Garden Street automated garage is updated and brought back online. Adding more garages throughout the city reduces the pressure for street parking. We need to keep those garage parking options affordable and connected to an online or app-based wayfaring system to make it a no brainer for residents and visitors. Finally, street parking has been made even more challenging with the excessive use of the “no parking” signage on any given day thanks to so many construction projects going on throughout the city – we need to do a better job monitoring and managing how we approve this signage so that it isn’t taking up spaces needlessly.
HG: Public transit users are upset by ongoing delays and the increasing cost of service. What is your plan to advocate for your constituents with PATH and NJ Transit?
EJ: I have been actively part of the advocacy efforts for improved PATH services by partnering with Hudson County Complete Streets – including collecting petitions signatures and speaking out at Port Authority Board Meetings on behalf of Hoboken residents. As Mayor, I plan to continue to engage regularly with Port Authority and NJ Transit to better communicate our needs to them, and share back information with residents so that they are always in the know. Also, I hope more residents work with Hudson County Complete Streets on this topic to make our collective voices heard!
HG: Even though traffic fatalities are zero, injuries continue to occur. Many Hoboken parents are concerned about traffic safety near schools. The area around Willow Avenue between 11th Street and 16th Street, near Wallace School, is part of Hoboken’s High Crash Network and Hudson County’s Bicyclist High Injury network, according to both Hoboken’s and Hudson County’s Vision Zero Plans. What is your plan to address this issue and help keep our children safe?
EJ: The success of Vision Zero, with Hoboken not having a single fatality in the past 8 years, cannot be overstated – particularly as other communities and the state of New Jersey at large is seeing more aggressive driving and massive increases. Hoboken is a national model when it comes to pedestrian safety – but we still need to do more. The “near miss” instances must be investigated and treated with similar vigilance so that the infrastructure improvements that ensure safer conditions can be implemented.
HG: Hoboken’s public safety director has said publicly that crime is down in Hoboken, yet the City Council has moved to expand the police force and put special officers in schools, and many residents report not feeling safe. How do you square this?
EJ: Hoboken is a safe city. That said, there are still challenges with respect to our urban setting that can cause residents to feel anxiety that reflect this point in time. The quarterly Community and Public Safety (CAPS) meetings have been a very successful tool for residents to engage with our public safety teams directly and get credible information – and we need to be even more transparent and forthcoming about the information that is shared (to the extent that it does not jeopardize investigations, etc). I voted in support of expanding the number of police officers hired in order to create a dedicated community policing team – the presence of officers in places like Church Square Park and along Washington Street can prevent and deter negative situations from developing.
HG: Many residents raise concerns about the well-being of unhoused individuals in our community. What are your thoughts on the matter, and what, if any, initiatives would you support?
EJ: Hoboken is a compassionate community and there are a number of local non-profits that are doing yeoman work to support the unhoused population. That said, there is not enough being done to meet these needs and there is not enough coordination of services – which results in residents feeling concerned about what’s happening. As a Councilmember, I called for the hiring of social workers as part of our public safety team to do more outreach in the community. As Mayor, I would pull together all of the stakeholders – city social workers, local non-profits, Hoboken Police Department, Hoboken Hospital, Hudson County, Hoboken Library, etc – to identify the gaps in our services and take these gaps head on. One critical component that we are not doing enough to address is mental health – when someone is experiencing a crisis, they often are directed to Hoboken Hospital, but then discharged after only hours because that’s not the appropriate resource to address their needs. A dedicated mental health crisis intervention team is needed to better address the challenges that are coming to bear in the community of late.
HG: Many residents have expressed hygienic concerns with the amount of dog feces on Hoboken’s sidewalks; would you address this problem, and if so, how? And how do you feel the City of Hoboken has handled it currently?
EJ: As a dog owner myself, I am constantly frustrated by this issue – and as a mom, nothing is worse than having a kid step in poop! It is a super challenging issue because no matter how high you make the fine – and the City Council did double that fine back in 2018 – it is incredibly difficult to catch someone in the act, if only because human nature means that people generally don’t do this unless no one is watching them. As Mayor, I would do an inventory of the existing “adopt a station” program to ensure that the residents who signed up for these stations are actually filling them – and if they are not, we need to step in. The city can also take a more active role partnering with residents who can share camera footage of violators – similar to the recently created Instagram page called Hoboken Poop Patrol. As Mayor, I would also invest in portable power washers that can be used on a regular basis to properly and more thoroughly clean our sidewalks, rather than just pick up litter.
HG: Hoboken residents also expressed concern over a lack of accommodations for the elderly and disabled, particularly the lack of benches, ramps, and handicapped parking spaces. What’s your opinion and what, if any, initiatives would you support?
EJ: At the end of my mom’s life, she was in a wheelchair – so when she would visit with us in Hoboken, I was regularly thinking about the accessibility of our town. The city needs to prioritize doing an inventory of accessibility throughout town – for example, residents often flag for me when the edge of the curb is not in line with the street and it causes a bump or fall because of that gap. While I appreciate that residents take the initiative to flag this concern, I think the city needs to actively examine construction projects that result in this condition – and prioritize upkeep of resources like the truncated domes (bumpy red square pads on corners). Benches are also a vital aspect of the city that must be maintained for senior citizens and people with mobility challenges – we need to commit to investing in benches that are accommodating and can be easily cleaned as part of our regular sanitation activities.
HG: Hoboken is seeing more national chains. How will you support small businesses and preserve local character while staying within legal/zoning constraints? Explain.
EJ: As Mayor, I will make it easier for small businesses to open in Hoboken. The biggest challenge now is that business owners don’t know what to expect, they don’t know how long it will take, and they can’t anticipate all of the hoops to jump through. We need to provide a standardized checklist of all of the forms/documents that one must provide to open a business with the estimated timeline associated with each step of the process. This checklist would come as part of a “welcome wagon” style of outreach promoting Hoboken as a community that loves and supports small businesses as an essential part of our local economy.
HG: There are so many communication tools that are online (as in, social media, newsletters, Nixle, website), but not every resident has access. How are you going to communicate with residents as mayor to ensure access to information?
EJ: As Mayor, I am committed to holding regular town hall meetings throughout the city to sit and meet with residents face-to-face. I think this personal connection is an important way to build community trust in local government. I also would like to see more visiting office hours for City Hall staff throughout the city – for example, visits from the social work team to senior buildings, and meeting with the Transportation Team in neighborhoods concerned about safety. The City has done more in recent years to update its presence on social media – but it can sometimes be confusing because there are multiple different accounts (e.g. cultural affairs, public safety, main city page). I think we need to consolidate this online presence by anchoring it to a city website that is more user friendly and linked directly to the social media pages. Nixle is also a great tool to get the word out – particularly during emergencies such as the recent water main break – but City Hall needs to be more actively engaged in the back and forth of social media – something I have done often over my last 8 years on the City Council.
HG: How will you foster productive collaboration with the City Council while ensuring accountability and transparency?
EJ: As Mayor, I think it is critically important to be more engaged with the City Council so that their decision-making process has the benefit of all of the information that the Administration can bring to bear. We have a shared goal in strengthening our community – we disagree at times on the order of the priorities and the means to get there. Fostering more open dialogue with regular caucus style meetings can help bridge this divide.
HG: Hudson County politics has long faced concerns about pay-to-play and insider influence. What specific reforms will you champion (e.g. contracting rules, campaign finance limits, independent oversight, stronger OPRA compliance)?
EJ: Given the history of politics in Hoboken, I understand this concern. As mentioned previously, implementing changes like a standard checklist for all new businesses ensures a level playing field. At a larger level, I would love to see New Jersey strengthen public finance laws by applying them to the local level and a strengthening of pay-to-play laws for the state. While Hoboken was once able to establish a stricter landscape of pay-to-play laws for our local elections, the state overruled these local laws and instructed us to follow state law.
HG: Who is another local government official you respect + admire?
EJ: Council President Jim Doyle is a true public servant, and a colleague who I deeply admire and respect. Jim had no interest in becoming Council President, but stepped up at a time when leadership was needed on the Council to bring us together in the aftermath of the tragic passing of Councilwoman Jen Giattino. Jim got into local politics because of his strong sense of activism and commitment to public good. When I was first elected in 2017, Jim was my running mate and I have learned so much getting to work alongside him these last 8 years. I also appreciate that Jim is deeply humble and has a great sense of humor – it is always about people for Jim, not politics.
HG: Any other final notes/thoughts for The Hoboken Girl readers about your candidacy, share here:
EJ: Thank you for considering me to be the next Mayor of Hoboken – I hope you will also consider supporting my Council team – 1H: Joe Quintero, 2H: Caitlin Layson, and 3H: Steve Firestone. I feel that they bring the combination of experience and diversity of experiences/viewpoints to strengthen the makeup of the City Council.
Dr. Michael Russo
The Hoboken Girl: How long have you lived in Hoboken?
Michael Russo: I’m Hoboken-born and raised, graduated from Hoboken High School (and its football program), and today my beautiful wife Lisa and I are raising our four children here. Through a twist of fate and irony, my kids get to grow up in the same apartment that I grew up in. I love that life comes full circle that way sometimes.
HG: What is your background/experience in how it relates to local politics, and why are you running for mayor?
MR: I’m the longest-serving member of the Hoboken City Council in modern history; I’ve spent more than 20 years fighting for my neighbors. Whether the issue is flooding, rats in your building, or a looming eviction, I’ve taken literally thousands of phone calls from residents and helped them with countless everyday problems. Those experiences have formed my campaign for Mayor. I’m running to bring a practical, service-first approach to City Hall: restore safety and basic quality of life, expand middle-class housing supply without displacement, finally tackle our parking and traffic nightmare, and make sure residents don’t face exorbitant tax increases when the economy has many at their breaking point.
HG: What endorsement for your candidacy are you most proud of and why?
MR: If you go on my website, russoforhoboken.com, you’ll see endorsement videos from the people who count the most: our neighbors here in Hoboken. Those kind words from people who I’ve had the pleasure of serving over the years mean more than they know. While the screening and endorsement process for many organizations is still ongoing, I’ll also use the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters as an example. Labor endorsements matter because I’m a fighter for the working class. Frankly, when I’m Mayor there will be a lot of housing and other projects that need to be built… and I look forward to getting that done with decent paying union jobs with the highest safety standards and maximum Accountability.
HG: We know Hoboken’s municipal elections are non-partisan… what political party are you currently registered with (if any)?
MR: I am a registered Democrat—and to this day, my values are deeply rooted in what have historically been Democratic values: fighting for working people, keeping the pulse on the ground in your neighborhood, advocating for the environment and park space, and really trying to keep that cost of living down. That said, I’ll be honest: many of my family and friends are Republican, and I still love them. I do not subscribe to either political extreme. I talk all the time with people who deeply disagree with me and they are welcome at the table. That’s what real leadership is. We don’t talk down to anyone, we let them say their piece and then we make decisions and stick to them.
HG: What are your top three priorities for your first year in office and what will you do in your first 100 days?
MR: I am proud to be the first mayoral candidate to release a concrete 100 Day Plan for Hoboken. While my top three priorities generally speaking are expanding working class housing supply, tightening up those quality of life and safety issues, and fixing our parking and traffic nightmare, the Team Russo 100 Day Plan maps out exactly what practical steps I’ll take in the first three months. Some of the highlights include: assigning a permanent parks patrol, ticketing unsafe and noncompliant e-bike delivery drivers without exception, introducing right-to-counsel (RTC) legislation similar to Jersey City’s to protect tenants from unjust evictions, introducing legislation to repeal Sunday parking meter fees that have not brought in the money we were promised, and looking at ways to reduce the overhead of our municipal government without cutting services—like consolidating departments, for example.
HG: Please respond to residents’ criticism of the recent budget that was approved, which included both a tax increase for residents and salary cuts for city employees.
MR: I have almost never voted for a tax increase. When my opponents have supported exorbitant tax increases, I’ve made sure that my no vote was leveraged to bring that number down. What I will say is that the City is staring off of a fiscal cliff. There are two schools of thought about how to fix our multimillion dollar structural deficit; some of my opponents want to raise taxes to infinity and beyond, and I want to expand ratables. We do this by expanding housing supply, by having revenue-generating components in new public projects like parks (and a new pool on the waterfront, which I’d like to build), and more.
I’ll also seek to implement zero-based budgeting with the exception of money already encumbered, prioritize inefficiencies and one-time costs before recurring tax increases, seek grant funding wherever possible, and look to public-private partnerships to sponsor bigger projects so our taxpayers don’t feel the burn.
HG: With the increasing number of children being enrolled in Hoboken schools each year, what are your thoughts on accommodating this population, such as the construction of new schools to address population growth and repairing aging school facilities?
MR: To put the bottom line up top: our population is growing, and we need to expand our schools at some point—but that will require new revenue streams to come into the city and our education system. As a Councilman, I proudly sponsored the legislation that allocated PILOT revenues from a developer project to all of our public schools (Hoboken was the first in the state to do this), and as Mayor I’d continue that course of action. We also need to look at corporate sponsorships to do some of the things I want to do, but our city is so perfectly located, and our community so incredibly talented, that I am confident we can find partners to help cultivate our young talent into a top-notch workforce in the modern economy.
HG: Many residents + would-be residents complain about the high cost of housing in Hoboken. What is your opinion and what do you think can be done?
MR: The average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment in Hoboken is now more than $3,500 a month. That is unsustainable. Part of the reason prices are so high is that we have not had one major project come online in the last 16 years! Now, Hoboken has no shortage of luxury condos; I’ll focus on building back our middle class. When I voted to redevelop Garage B, I made sure that vote was premised upon the residential part being 100% affordable and workforce housing. I’ve advocated to build additional workforce or senior housing on the former PSEG site, and as Third Ward Councilman, and former HHA Commissioner, I’ve led the fight to revitalize the Hoboken Housing Authority without displacing a single resident.
At the same time, Hoboken has its share of bad actors when it comes to building owners and landlords. I’ll relentlessly enforce Project Labor Agreements in any redevelopment agreement, PILOT or no PILOT; I’ll hold law-breaking landlords to account in court, and as I have done for years; and I will personally canvass buildings where tenants are experiencing issues to educate them about lease agreements and tenant rights.
HG: Even though infrastructure updates are desperately needed, the work to do these improvements is incredibly disruptive for residents and costly for the city. This can even be dangerous, as in the circumstances of contaminated water from a water main break and roadways in and out of the city being closed due to road work. What is your plan to better accommodate the needed repairs while lessening the burden on residents?
MR: I think this all comes down to communication, coordination and proactive leadership. Think about that perfect storm we experienced a few months ago: you had construction on Jersey Avenue at the same time as the PATH was having issues…but then we had the added possibility of a prolonged strike by NJ Transit workers. This is why I am in constant communication with our labor organizations. Why would we have major construction when we knew there was the prospect of a shutdown elsewhere? A City Hall that fails to coordinate and display proactive leadership is a City Hall that subjects residents to an exacerbated emergency in one of the busiest small cities in America.
HG: Residents complain about the scarcity and high cost of parking. What is your opinion and what, if any, initiatives would you support?
MR: Parking is objectively one of Hoboken’s biggest nightmares. We all know someone who wanted to meet us here in town, circled the block six times, and then gave up. To do that for a cup of coffee or lunch is insane, and when that happens, our small businesses languish. I’ll expand parking on the periphery of our city, simplify and delineate existing zones and curb space, expand our Hop service to help people get around town without driving, and revise the permit process for parklets so that those decisions are made seasonally and not annually. I’ll enforcethe abuse of loading zones, and in my first 100 days I’ll work to repeal Sunday meter fees, which are yet another unnecessary tax on the people of Hoboken.
HG: Public transit users are upset by ongoing delays and the increasing cost of service. What is your plan to advocate for your constituents with PATH and NJ Transit?
MR: A Hoboken without a working PATH and NJ Transit is like having major arterial blockage. It threatens our economy and our residents’ quality of life. As Mayor I’ll be a relentless advocate: like I mentioned above I’ll always be at the table and my Administration will communicate with every part of our transportation network to make our residents’ lives easier. This is going to be paramount with the World Cup coming up. We do not have room for failure and it’s going to take all hands on deck to handle the influx of people that will be traveling through our city. I expect the next Governor to be a coequal partner in this effort, and they will be hearing from me nonstop!
HG: Even though traffic fatalities are zero, injuries continue to occur. Many Hoboken parents are concerned about traffic safety near schools. The area around Willow Avenue between 11th Street and 16th Street, near Wallace School, is part of Hoboken’s High Crash Network and Hudson County’s Bicyclist High Injury network, according to both Hoboken’s and Hudson County’s Vision Zero Plans. What is your plan to address this issue and help keep our children safe?
MR: My plan is to implement hypertargeted innovation and enforcement near schools, including protected bike lanes where road width permits, mid-street crosswalks (recent changes in the law now make this easier to implement), simpler signage, and more. Most importantly, I’ll have a dedicated liaison in my office that has a strong relationship with the Board of Education, because we cannot afford to operate in silos.
HG: Hoboken’s public safety director has said publicly that crime is down in Hoboken, yet the City Council has moved to expand the police force and put special officers in schools, and many residents report not feeling safe. How do you square this?
MR: Close your eyes and really ask yourself if you feel more safe in Hoboken than you did five years ago. Part of the reason the answer is “no” for most people is that a lot of these quality of life issues go unenforced. We have e-bike drivers on our sidewalks, we have mental health outbursts in public, and we have violent crime incidents that beg for more constant patrolling, particularly in places that are frequented by families and students.
I accept that our police department has reported a slight decrease in violent crime. Nevertheless, assaults, catcalling, public defecation, and complete disregard for traffic safety are all problems we have to deal with. These have all been reported in the last year and it’s not infrequent. These are basic quality of life issues—and even if they are not all able to be classified as “violent crimes,” that doesn’t mean that it’s not lawbreaking, and it doesn’t mean that our residents don’t have the right to feel concerned about it. In my first 100 days I will ramp up enforcement of the laws we actually have on the books, and I’ll install a permanent parks patrol. It’s a start to getting where we need to be.
HG: Many residents raise concerns about the well-being of unhoused individuals in our community. What are your thoughts on the matter, and what, if any, initiatives would you support?
MR: A Mayor Russo will never punish someone for not having a home. This is about dignity and a path to betterment. I’ll expand the Hoboken Shelter and services by creating a new facility in the northwest part of the city, and it will be full of decent living arrangements for transient individuals. We will seek every funding path possible for job training, drug and alcohol programs, and covering security deposits in order to get those individuals into stable housing. This is not novel; this is just expanding on the phenomenal work the shelter already does. At the same time, we will not allow public drug use and we will not allow encampments to remain and expand. Our job is to take care of everyone in Hoboken for the betterment of our entire community. That’s what we will do.
HG: Many residents have expressed hygienic concerns with the amount of dog feces on Hoboken’s sidewalks; would you address this problem, and if so, how? And how do you feel the City of Hoboken has handled it currently?
MR: I talked about this in one of my recent town halls, but there used to be a time in Hoboken where people who left animal waste on the sidewalks would get called out by name. This is a quality-of-life issue. I’ll partner with community advocates to expand the availability of waste bags around the city at the same time as I ramp up enforcement. The enforcement component is important here, but even more basic is fostering a community where people really don’t feel great about being the type of person to casually do something like that. At the end of the day, it’s a choice.
HG: Hoboken residents also expressed concern over a lack of accommodations for the elderly and disabled, particularly the lack of benches, ramps, and handicapped parking spaces. What’s your opinion and what, if any, initiatives would you support?
MR: Compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act is incredibly important to me. One of my biggest supporters, for example, lives on Jackson Street, and her son is a wheelchair user… she’s told me there have been times where he needed to leave the sidewalk and go into the street because the deterioration was so bad. In my first 100 days I’ll begin an ADA audit citywide. We have to remember that this is the law, and our government’s responsibility is to make sure that anything public is accessible to every single resident. That is non-negotiable.
HG: Hoboken is seeing more national chains. How will you support small businesses and preserve local character while staying within legal/zoning constraints? Explain.
MR: I’ve spent years talking to small business owners. A great example of this is one of my running mates, Pete Keeling, who’s running for an At-Large seat on the City Council. He tried to open a shop in Hoboken but the red tape was too much. Now he’s up in the Heights. City Hall does not do enough to help small entrepreneurs open businesses. We still have paper forms that go unprocessed for months. We have business owners that are paying their lease for eight months before they’re allowed to open their doors! Imagine eight months of rent and payroll in Hoboken and you don’t have a dollar in sales. Who can last under those conditions? It should come as no surprise, then, that we have large chain stores next to vacant storefronts on Washington Street, because only those businesses with a massive, off-the-bat cash advantage can survive long enough to really make it here. I don’t call that a fair environment. When I’m Mayor, we’ll digitize critical processes, and I’ll dedicate resources to expediting that opening process. I am the only candidate in this race with experience owning a brick-and-mortar business in Hoboken and I feel that pain. It’s time for this headache to end.
HG: There are so many communication tools that are online (as in, social media, newsletters, Nixle, website), but not every resident has access. How are you going to communicate with residents as mayor to ensure access to information?
MR: In addition to socials, for years I’ve communicated by hosting open office hours, through text, and via my email list. My website has had my personal cell phone number on it for years, and I pride myself on being incredibly responsive. As Mayor, in addition to what I just mentioned, my administration will run a tight ship with regards to Nixle so people are never caught off-guard during an emergency. I’ll also establish proactive lines of communication with large buildings and continue to host roundtables with community groups. Finally, my running mates on Team Russo—Nicole, Pete, Dean, and Ryan—are already experts in listening to their neighbors and bringing up their concerns. We’ll all hit the ground running here, because we’ve all been communicating with our neighbors in some shape or form for years.
HG: How will you foster productive collaboration with the City Council while ensuring accountability and transparency?
MR: One of my biggest complaints about the current administration is that we’ve always started the budget process WAY too late, and so by the time it comes to negotiations and amendments everyone is scrambling to pass temporary appropriations. When you play “hurry up and wait,” you forego the ability to scrutinize things as well as you’d otherwise be able to. I will start constructing the next fiscal year’s budget in my first month as Mayor.
HG: Hudson County politics has long faced concerns about pay-to-play and insider influence. What specific reforms will you champion (e.g. contracting rules, campaign finance limits, independent oversight, stronger OPRA compliance)?
MR: Right now OPRA requests take too long to fulfill. This is a function of limited manpower combined with an ever-increasing volume of requests. A lot of these requests are generated by artificial intelligence, and I believe that our municipal government has a responsibility to respond in-kind, because at the end of the day our residents deserve to know what’s going on in a timely manner. I’ll explore the use of AI to assist our City Clerk’s office with OPRA requests as other municipalities have done, while still leaving second-round review and manual redaction to our qualified professionals.
HG: Who is another local government official you respect & admire?
MR: Our City Clerk, James Farina, is a Hoboken legend…and I can think of few who love this city more. Some may remember this, but in addition to being a phenomenal clerk, Jimmy spent 36 years on our Board of Education. He’s sung in the council chambers for charity, brought awareness to community causes, and has been involved since before I was born. But what I love most about Jimmy is his demeanor. In a world that’s politically crazy, he is the most friendly, neutral, professional person. And I think we need that now more than ever.
HG: Any other final notes/thoughts for The Hoboken Girl readers about your candidacy, share here:
MR: Hoboken in my blood, and I am proud to be from here. I’ve spent my life caring for my neighbors… as a physical therapist, 20+ year councilman, 10 year HHA commissioner, PAL coach, Eagle Scout, and more. This campaign is about our government fulfilling its promise to make people’s lives easier: from public safety to being able to afford a place to live, from solving insane traffic congestion to tightening up our recreation processes. If you want a Mayor who’s been listening for decades, fights for working families, enforces the law fairly, and gets things done with clear accountability: I’d be honored to have your vote. That being said, a Mayor can’t do this alone; they need teammates on the City Council who support them. That’s why I’m running with a full slate of Council candidates who come to the table with fresh ideas. Team Russo and their ballot positions are: Michael Russo for Mayor (1-G), Nicole Magaña (9-H), Pete Keeling (10-H), and Dean Murray (11-H) for Council At-Large , and Ryan Cunningham (7-I) for the 6th Ward Council seat. Please visit russoforhoboken.com to read my policy proposals, including my FULL 100 Day Plan, and remember to vote by November 4th. Together with your support, we can finally fix Hoboken’s issues and restore its promise as a place where people can build their futures. Thank you!
See More: 5 Montclair Locals to Watch This November
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