As I continue to talk to neighbors and reflect on the events in Charlottesville as well as the marches in Boston, I am coming to realize that some may believe my party affiliation defines who I am.  This only makes me more determined to ring every doorbell in Hoboken and meet each of you personally.

Anyone who knows me understands that I am not Donald Trump.  I am not someone else’s words or ideas.  I am me, I have my own principles and my own conscience, and I go my own way in the office I hold, just as I will when I am mayor.

I reject entirely Donald Trump’s mixed message on tolerance and the room he gave hate groups and white supremacists.  It saddens me that the president and his administration didn’t immediately condemn unequivocally the hate and violence that led to Heather Heyer’s death and make it clear that there is no room in our nation for hate groups and racism and bigotry.

As committed as I am against all intolerance, I am just as committed to taking care of people.   It’s really that simple, whether in a significant crisis or in their everyday lives. I believe in making sure the city government  spends its money like its our money—because it IS our money. Mine and yours.  I believe we shouldn’t use some of the one time tricks or sales we’ve used in the past to balance the budget. I believe in developing local business, especially because it can ease the tax burden on homeowners.  When it comes to social issues, I am in step with most of the rest of the people who live in our community.

I want to see diversity in our schools. I worry about the displacement of long time residents who find living here increasingly unaffordable. I believe in civil and women’s rights. I don’t need to have a gun. And I’m concerned about the effects of climate change on our city and our children’s future.  That’s the beginning and the end of it.

Flooding, parking, our water mains, overdevelopment, to name a few— I have the same questions about our city you do, and I want us to find the answers together.  But I won’t be offering pie in the sky solutions to the many serious issues ahead of us as a community.  We must plan our city’s future and prioritize our investments in infrastructure and other important municipal services.

I am eager to speak with every single member of our community who has a concern about the city’s direction and where I would steer it.  I am sure that after that conversation you will know that labeling people might be convenient, especially around election time, but rarely paints a full picture of who they are.