4 Former Competitors Join Bhalla’s Team In Hoboken

HOBOKEN, NJ — One of the largest untapped assets of Hoboken is the intellectual capital of its residents. That’s what Hoboken Mayor-Elect Ravi Bhalla had to say about the Mile Square City as he announced the members of his transition team on Monday.

Bhalla’s transition team includes four of the other candidates in this year’s mayoral election: Michael DeFusco, Anthony Romano, Karen Nason and Ron Bautista. The only mayor candidate in this year’s race not included on the team was Jen Giattino, who currently serves as City Council president.

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

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The transition team is chaired by Phil Cohen, who currently serves on the Zoning Board of Adjustment and has served on the Planning Board. Cohen is the first vice chair of the Hoboken Democratic Party, 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 include:

• 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

According to a statement from Bhalla, each committee chair is charged with preparing at least “three substantive recommendations” for implementation in 2018.

Bhalla said that any Hoboken residents interested in joining the transition team and serving on one of the transition committees can 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. Cohen’s email address is philiphcohen@gmail.com

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Photos: City of Hoboken