If teacher Susan Colacurcio felt nervous at the Feb. 12 fundraiser for West New York Mayor Felix Roque, she had every right to be.
Roque introduced her as yet another new candidate being added to the ticket of commissioners he will be running with in May. In West New York’s form of government, five commissioners run for office, then choose one from among themselves as mayor. The position is paid and part-time.
Unlike previous announcements that were done in the township chambers in Town Hall before a mostly local crowd, this announcement came in front of a litany of politically powerful people from county, state, and federal levels.
A comprehensive science teacher in West New York Memorial High School, Colacurcio has a significant history in public service, and is best known locally for “MoMs,” or My Outreach Mission, a program out of the Franciscan Community Development Group in Fairview, which she co-founded in 2006 and for which she once served as executive director.
This program, she once said, helps “put the humanitarian back in the human,” and performs volunteer work throughout the year, including helping out at soup kitchens, orphanages, the Bowery Mission Transitional Center in New York City (the largest facility for the homeless in New York), and food and clothing drives.
But Colacurcio, like the group, does her charitable work in the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi: quietly and away from recognition.
So being singled out at the fundraiser should have shaken her, but apparently didn’t.
“She is very popular in West New York,” Roque said during a recent telephone interview. “She has a heart of gold and brings that sense of service to our ticket. She is very well liked in our community.”
More importantly, Colacurcio ties in many of the old political factions that had divided West New York in the past, with family ties to former Mayor Anthony DeFino – a popular and powerful mayor until the mid-1990s.
Although a teacher in West New York since 1976, Colacurcio also does work for Christ Church Community Development Corporation of Bergen County in housing and human services. She is a member of the board of directors for the North Hudson Community Action Corporation that provides services to people in Jersey City, West New York, Union City, North Bergen, Secaucus, and Hoboken.
She is a graduate of New Jersey City University with a master in Environmental Science from Montclair University. She earned a fellowship from Columbia University in environmental work, and received a masters from Ramapo College for work with brain and technology issues. She has also been involved with a number of other programs at various colleges and universities over the last four decades.
In 2007, she received Bank of America Local Heroes distinction, and was recognized by New Jersey Monthly Magazine in 2008 for its Seeds of Hope distinction. She has received honors and awards for teaching and volunteer work from numerous organizations and foundations.
But after all these honors, her appearance at Roque’s fundraiser marked her first stumbling steps into politics. So it is little wonder that she mistakenly thanked Commissioner Rubin Vargas – who was not among the dignitaries and had, in fact, resigned last month.
“She got a bit of ribbing for that,” said one of the local political observers at the event. “But she’s so well liked, nobody wanted to rub it in.”
Colacurcio is seen as a huge feather in Roque’s political cap, tapping into a part of the community with a candidate who is known for helping others. Roque said her Italian American heritage helps give representation to an important part of the community.
“But she has so much heart, it gives us heart,” he said, noting that his campaign will continue to focus on West New York as a good place to live and raise a family. “This is a place that people can live, work, or run a business.”
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.