Occhipinti's Opportunity

"I will fight tooth and nail for this ward," Fourth Ward Council hopeful Tim Occhipinti said during an interview last week. Occhipinti, 32, moved to Hoboken in 2007, which means he has been living here about as long as Reid Stowe has been at sea.

But that hasn't stopped him from investing himself in the community during that time.

Occhipinti, born in Rockland County, N.Y., handles IT for the Manhattan asset management firm, AllianceBernstein, during the day, but founded Hoboken Volunteers in his free time.

The endeavor helps connect good Samaritans with local organizations in need of help, like the Boys and Girls Club or the Hoboken Homeless Shelter.

Although Occhipinti hails from New York (and attended the same school as City Councilman David Mello), but studied government at the University of Virginia. He fell into IT jobs out of school, but yearned to contribute in the government landscape.

"The closest I got to an IT class [at Virginia] was Technology and Government," Occhipinti said. "I hit 30 years old, and I wanted to take a good look at where I was."

So knowing that Hoboken's at-large council seats were up for grabs in last year's mayoral race, Occhipinti started attending local government meetings, introducing himself, and listening. He did a lot of listening.

"I couldn't even tell you what ward I was in then," he said. "I was trying to figure out who was who."

But the government itself? "I thought it was a three-ring circus. I pride myself in professionalism," he said, and what he saw at the council dais, Occhipinti said, was not professional.

Nonetheless, his independent run at a council seat was ultimately unsuccessful.

Even though he wasn't a supporter of Mayor Dawn Zimmer and has become a critic of her administration at City Council meetings, Occhipinti said he's no obstructionist.

"I respect the mayor and her council majority. I'm going to work with anyone," he said. "If it's good legislation, it doesn't matter who sponsored it. [But] I am not going to be a rubber stamp for the mayor."

If Occhipinti wins the Fourth Ward seat in November, Zimmer loses her 5-person majority on the council.

He has found constituent services in the city to be lacking, an important government responsibility in a town with so many transplants and especially in the Fourth Ward where low-income families on the city's west side feel more and more disconnected from their local government.

"This ward had three different council people in the last three years," Occhipinti said, referencing former ward representatives Chris Campos and Zimmer and current appointed representative Michael Lenz, who is also running for election in November. 

"Government is a slow-moving entity. You need time and consistency to stay with it," he said. He studied government, he said, because he enjoys the history and the merits of democratic system. He marvels at the foresight the Founding Fathers had in its design. "I like our process, the checks and balances," he said. "I always loved politics. I always loved government."

Occhipinti's top three issues that the ward must deal with are lowering taxes, reassessing the Southwest Redevelopment Plan which is encompassed by the Fourth Ward, and providing more service to the Housing Authority residents, like activities for the children."Every piece of legislation I will think about how this effects the people of my ward," he said. That is his first priority, his responsibility to the city is his second, Occhipinti said. 

As far making sure the campaign is clean, he said his side is committed to the "highest standards of integrity.""This will be a clean campaign from anything that I can personally control," he said.

The question of clean campaign leads to another: How does Occhipinti feel about being a fervent supporter of the ? "I supported the candidate that I thought was most qualified to be the mayor at the time," Occhipinti said. When Cammarano got arrested last Summer, Occhipinti said he was as "sad, mad, and disappointed" as the rest of the city, especially having served on Cammarano's Transition Team. Occhipinti was in charge of attending council meetings and taking notes to report back to the mayor.

Now many of those same Cammarano backers he was working with are working with him. Occhipinti said he relies on political veterans like Assemblyman Ruben Ramos, former City Council President Richard Del Bocchio, and former Board of Education member Perry Belfiore to guide him and provide political and historical context. Younger politicos like Rachel Goldberg and Ryan Yacco are also on board, the latter as his campaign manager. So he expects this campaign to be different than the last one; he has the support that was lacking last year.

What makes the Fourth Ward his home, he said, is sitting outside his apartment "in a fold-out chair and talking to my neighbors, having a nice conversation on a summer evening." "I like the old-school aspect of it," Occhipinti said. But he also loves some of the ward's new-school flavor at spots like Northern Soul and Solid Threads.

Before moving to Hoboken, Occhipinti spent nearly 10 years in Hudson County living along Boulevard East, but has made Hoboken his adopted home town. "I look forward to the day I can settle down and raise a family here." In the meantime, the people of the Fourth Ward are interested in whether Occhipinti can raise a constituency here. But for that answer, they'll have to wait at least until November.