To the Editor:
I would like thank all the kind citizens of Bayonne, friends and neighbors who attended the Better Bayonne Kickoff Fundraiser at KP Sarelli’s. It is only through you that our message will spread throughout our diverse, resilient, growing community. The time is now to stand up, be strong and be heard. The time is now to sign on to the biggest change ever in Hudson County politics. Imagine this, a city council and mayor, with zero political ties, regular citizens who will truly be accountable, accessible, and truly transparent. The better Bayonne team is the only team that will truly put taxpayer interests first, Bayonne businesses first and put our children first.
I will leave you with this quote from the mayor in his inaugural speech in 2010, “We will reinvent our Broadway shopping district, improving the local shopping experience to compete in today’s economy.” Three years later, ask yourself as a taxpayer or business owner, “How much money has the mayor allocated to reinventing and improving our shopping district?”
We have had five years of broken promises to the taxpayers and the long standing businesses of Broadway. It looks like the only promises that were kept, were to friends and out of state donors of Mayor Smith. When will our millionaire mayor stop giving abatements to billionaires? Is he pricing out our senior citizens, who are on fixed incomes and middle-class taxpayers?
How about giving the citizens of Bayonne an abatement such as a homeowner improvement abatement, in which any homeowner or building owner can update their home or building and not have their taxes revalued for the next five or ten years; or a small business abatement where the City would give the small businesses a tax break therefore investing in the small business. When the business succeeds, the City wins, the taxpayers win and the business wins. Thank you again to the citizens of Bayonne. I will not give up fighting for you and I urge you to join us.
JOHN MILAN SEBIK
Candidate for Councilman At Large