Bayonne Council President Sharon Ashe-Nadrowski promised to bring the Peninsula City back to the people in the wake of high water prices and the involvement of contract killer Sean Caddle with the developers for the Bayonne Urban Partners Renewal project.
Caddle was the political consultant for a super PAC established by former state Senator Ray Lesniak–the Government for the People–to which developer Wasseem Boraie donated $25,000.
Lesniak said that the PAC was to help get Mayor Jimmy Davis re-elected to a third term, but the Lesniak-Caddle-Boraie triumvirate could turn out to be a noose around the Bayonne leader’s neck when voters cast ballots in the upcoming election.
The super PAC suspended operations after Caddle, who was paid $2,500 by Government for the People in December, pleaded guilty to a 2014 murder-for-hire scheme that claimed the life of Jersey City politico Michael Galdieri during a video appearance in federal court on January 25.
Boraie is one of the developers for the Bayonne Urban Partners Renewal project, which had a redevelopment agreement approved by the city council in 2015 and a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) deal agreed to in 2017.
The proposed redevelopment at the former Military Ocean Terminal at Bayonne (MOTBY) has become a major conflict between mayoral candidates in the May 10 municipal election.
Ashe-Nadrowski is proposing two resolutions that would nullify the redevelopment agreement with Bayonne Partners Urban Renewal, LLC, and list the property for sale through the Request for Proposals (RFP) process.
The corrupt development deal is only one of the issues in contention.
The Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division reinstated a lawsuit against Davis filed by former city employee Stacie Percella, who alleges that she was fired in retaliation for filing a federal lawsuit against the city in 2014, endured hostile environment discrimination related to her actions as a vice president of the local civil service employee’s union, and because she rebuffed sexual overtures from the mayor.
Percella, who worked as deputy registrar of vital statistics before her dismissal in December 2016, has claimed that Davis sent her provocative messages between 2013 and 2015.
The city attempted to dodge having officials give depositions in the case, Hudson County Superior Court Judge Marybeth Rogers ruled that only lawyer Allan Roth may be exempted due to attorney-client privilege.
Percella is a candidate for city council in the Third Ward.
Dr. Mitchell Brown, a physician and attorney with a longtime private practice in midtown on Broadway, is making his second run for mayor in Bayonne.
Brown, who treats geriatric patients, has called for a municipal government that does more to help the oldest, the sickest, and the youngest community members while attracting new, young professionals to help build the tax base.
Brown supports a wide-ranging set of policies that include stronger, more affordable before-and-after-school care for children; for seniors, property tax breaks, “social support,” and improved transportation services; a new community center for teens, higher teacher pay, stricter enforcement of building codes, and the hiring of behavioral health professionals to work alongside police to help “police become more sensitive to emotionally disturbed people.”
He also supports new real estate development, along public transit corridors and on vacant land to attract new residents, but opposes the kind of dirty dealing that betrays public trust in order to gain political advantages.
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