By a 5-4 vote, the Hoboken City Council voted to move municipal elections to November.
Moving the elections to November means the council’s term, including Mayor Dawn Zimmer’s, will be extended by six months. The change will be in place for 10 years.
“For me, this is a no-brainer,” said Council President Ravi Bhalla. “We do not live in a community that is acclimated to May elections. If you consolidate elections, it increases participation and decreases fatigue and costs.”
The next election will be in November 2013.
The move puts the municipal candidates on the same ballot as state and federal candidates.
Bhalla joined council members Carol Marsh, David Mello, Peter Cunningham and Jen Giattino in voting the measure into effect.
Council members Theresa Castellano, Tim Occhipinti, Mike Russo and Beth Mason voted against the measure.
Bhalla said the move will decrease costs by consolidating elections, but Castellano said the reality is about extending terms.
Mason echoed the sentiment, saying that if it is not about extending terms, then the council should be willing to give up the extra six months pay.
“This is a power grab. It’s guaranteed some council members their salaries,” she said.
Mason said she wants a referendum on the November ballot to allow Hoboken citizens to vote on the issue.
Occhipinti said he does not feel comfortable extending his own term. He said he was voted in for four years, and should not occupy his seat for longer. He said the elections should “not ride the coattails of the state” by putting the municipal candidates on the same ballot as state candidates.
But Cunningham said he thinks consolidating elections will increase voter turnout. “There are too many elections in Hoboken,” he said, adding that putting them on the same date could eliminate voter fatigue.