HOBOKEN CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATES — In Their Own Words

THIRD WARD

Michael Russo (incumbent—unopposed)

Why do you live in Hoboken?
I was born and have been raised in the City of Hoboken and there is no place I would rather be! I have chosen to stay in the city that I love and grow my family.  I thank GOD everyday for the amazing life I have experienced here and await the delight of watching my Children enjoy the same. Hoboken has always been my home, but now it is not just mine. It is also the home of my wife, Lisa, my daughter, Lia Grace, and shortly the addition of my newborn son. Like my family, Hoboken is in my heart and it is one of my passions!

Why do you want to serve on the Hoboken City Council?
Since I was a young boy both of my parents instilled in me the importance of giving back to the community. A sense of civic responsibility was ever present. It culminated through my youth as an Eagle Scout and grew from there. When I first ran for the City Council it was that sense of civic responsibility that drove me. While Hoboken is a great place to live and raise a family, our city faces many challenges. As your Third Ward Councilman, I have tackled many of them to make Hoboken a great city, but there is more work to be done. I want to continue to work with my neighbors of the Third Ward to finish the job we all started together many years ago!

It’s one thing to have ideas; it’s another to achieve results. If elected, how will you work with your fellow council members to move our city in the right direction?
Getting elected and getting things done are two very different things.  If you want to achieve results, you need help.  That help comes in the form of input that residents give you about what is taking place every single day in the ward, or getting key support from your colleagues on the City Council to address any specific issue.  My entire time on the Council has been about reaching out to various Council Members and Civic Leaders to get the job done regardless of our personal or political views.  My record is proof of that.  Just one of many examples, is the collaborative effort which will add a long awaited two acre park which I have been fighting for at the “Pino Tow Yard”.   In addition to fulfilling a long fought promise, these efforts will provide a public plaza behind the Monroe Arts Center, a new public gym, affordable housing for the forgotten middle class and one of the largest flood detention systems in the entire city.  Without the public input and the collaborative efforts across the proverbial isle, this would never have come to fruition.  Being elected to the City Council is not about my colleagues or myself; it’s about the residents of Hoboken.
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