UNION CITY – On Tuesday, Frank Scarafile and the Vision 4 Union City ticket filed their petitions to run for office in Union City this May. The newly announced slate includes: Carlos Lopez, a Union City resident and entrepreneur; Olga Garcia, who works for the Welfare Department of Social Services in Jersey City; Mark Pikunich, a corrections officer for the NJ State DOC and lifelong resident of Union City; and Julio Fernandez, a UPS worker with a degree in business administration from Jersey City State College.
Scarafile, a lifelong resident of Union City, is currently the superintendent of schools in Little Ferry. His father, Frank Scarafile Sr., served as Union City’s deputy chief of police under the late Mayor William V. Musto. His wife, Soraya Castillo, is a 24-year special education teacher in the Union City School system. Scarafile’s daughters attend the Union City public schools.
The spokesman for the group, Armando Hernandez, said the group is running on a platform based on stabilizing taxes, affordable housing, and bringing jobs back to Union City. The group promises to bring 20,000 jobs to the people of Union City within the four years of their first term.
Scarafile was arrested with five others late last year for allegedly handing out flyers that Mayor Brian Stack claims appeared to be forged with his signature. Scarafile and the others involved in the incident have filed a counterclaim against the city and the Police Department. The matter has not yet been adjudicated. Scarafile called the arrest “political retaliation.”
Hernandez said, “It’s a wonderful privilege in a democracy to have a choice and right to voice your opinion.”
In Union City’s form of government, residents vote for five commissioners who then choose a mayor from among themselves.
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