A Businesswoman On City Council

Councilwoman-at-large Carol Marsh knows how to can tomatoes, raise chickens and—even—how to butcher a lamb.

Born outside of Philadelphia, Marsh lived in the small town of Coeur D'Alene, Idaho for six weeks, before moving to Spokane. 

Because her mother didn't like the public schools in Coeur D'Alene, Marsh finished school in Spokane. Afterwards, she enrolled in Douglass College (which is part of Rutgers University), but left the college after her father's death. 

"My father died and I fell apart at the seams," Marsh said. "I found that I was better at working." 

Marsh enrolled in computer school. The 54-year-old councilwoman is currently studying to be a librarian at Rutgers (part-time). 

"I have to go to work," she said, "I figured you should learn something you can do until you're 80." 

Before she was laid off in 2001, Marsh spent 14 years working for Goldman Sachs, four years of which of which she served as Vice President of Technology at Goldman Sachs.  

In 1987, Marsh decided to make Hoboken her new home. She was living in Paterson, from which she commuted to Manhattan every day, parking her car in Hoboken on the way.

She even remembers the day she knew she'd stay here.

One summer night, Marsh came back from downtown Manhattan. It was still light out, and there were people everywhere. 

"Everybody was out," Marsh said. "And I thought: this is where I'm going to live for the rest of my life. And that was it."

Marsh said that her first friend in Hoboken was the guy who worked in the lot where she parked her car every day. "We're still friends to this day," she said. 

When her then-fiance, now-husband, from Brooklyn asked her where they were going to live, Marsh answered: "what do you mean where are we going to live? I live in Hoboken."

In 2001 she was elected Councilwoman-at-Large under the Roberts administration. Going into politics fit perfectly with her family history, in which local politics play an important role, Marsh said. 

Her grandfather was a civil rights attorney in the South and her mother as part of the League of Women voters helped organize a group of people who were going to lose their homes, Marsh said. 

"I come from one of those families," Marsh said, "where this is what you do."

When asked about what she finds most important, Marsh—who lives in the second ward—lists the necessity for an honest budget (City Council passed a budget last week, after this interview took place) and open space. Because children grow up in apartments here, Marsh said, open space and a lot of trees are much needed.

"They used to call me councilwoman tree hugger," Marsh said. 

Although she ran under the mayor's ticket in 2001 together with then-Councilmen Ruben Ramos Jr. (now Assemblyman) and Anthony Soares (now president of the Zoning Board), she publicly distanced herself from the administration. Marsh said she didn't agree with the administration's choices and "gimmicks."

In 2005, Marsh decided to run for mayor herself, which she said was "an uphill battle." Her campaign was managed by Michael Lenz, who is currently the Fourth Ward Councilman.

A New York Times article from that time described Marsh as Roberts' "harshest critic."

"Ms. Marsh has positioned herself as the voice of what people here call the 'New Hoboken,'" stated the article, published on May 8, 2005. Marsh lost the election. 

Then, a couple of years later, Marsh received a phone call from County Executive Tom DeGise, asking her to run for General Assembly, against former council colleague Ramos.

"It was a stretch for me," Marsh said about that election. "It was a controversial thing to do." She ultimately lost the elections to Ramos.

After a tumultuous political career, largely played out in the public eye, returning to City Council after all these years came as a bit of a shock to Marsh. In 2008 there were some rumors of Marsh would be running for Mayor in 2009. "I never say never," she said in an interview with PolitickerNJ in 2008. But she added that she'd rather support (now) Mayor Dawn Zimmer than run herself, adding: "Dawn and I share the same vision for Hoboken."

When Marsh told Zimmer she was available to help in any way possible, "the word candidate came up," Marsh said. "and I said 'no!'" In May 2009, Marsh was re-elected as councilwoman-at-large. (Zimmer lost the election to former mayor Peter Cammarano.)

"I was sworn in as council person," Marsh said, "and the rest is crazy history."

This is the seventh in a series of interviews with Hoboken City Council members. David Mello, Michael Lenz , Ravinder Bhalla, Beth Mason, Michael Russo and Theresa Castellano sat down with Patch earlier.