Although Washington Flores isn’t a household name in Bayonne, this might change as he seeks election for the 3rd Ward Bayonne City Council seat – vacated by Councilman Vincent Lo Re who is seeking re-election as an at-large candidate on May 9.
Flores is walking every street, knocking on every door and talking to everyone he can as part of his campaign.
Flores, running on a ticket with mayoral hopeful Vincent Militello, is in a three-way race that pits him against Michael Pierson (on Mayor Joseph Doria’s ticket) and independent Gary LaPelusa.
Flores – a graduate of Marist High School – has lived in Bayonne for six years and has his own small trucking firm based in Jersey City. It is his experience as a businessman that he wants to bring to the city council.
“I want to run the city like a business,” he said, noting that prior to owning his own business, he had managed Airflight Electric on Hook Road in Bayonne. “I believe I have something to offer.”
Flores: Gateway to the community is a mess
Although he has never run for office previously, Flores said he believes he has a feel for the 3rd Ward and its concerns.
“I’m very concerned about this ward,” he said. “This is the gateway to the community, and yet the first things you see when you come into town off the [New Jersey] Turnpike are empty gas stations, litter and unpaved streets.”
Flores believes the 3rd Ward’s business district has been neglected while the central part of the city has received most of the attention of the city, something he intends to change when elected.
“We need to revitalize our business district,” he said.
Over and over, Flores said people tell him the big issue in this election is the high taxes, a matter that he believes needs to be addressed in various ways – but most importantly by cutting back on perks he believes city workers enjoy.
“We need to cut waste,” he said. “City workers should not have cars paid for by taxpayers to go home in. The city should not have no-show jobs.”
He said as he walks through the streets talking to people, he hears the same thing: There has to be a change in city hall.
Many of the issues other people tell him about, Flores struggles with himself such as trying to buy a house in Bayonne.
“While people might be able to swing the mortgage, the taxes are often too much for them to handle,” he said.
Flores is also concerned about development, saying that plans to bring in more residential homes aren’t the answer because they will cost as much as they bring in with increased services.
“We need to see office space and businesses that do not bring in more school children,” he said.
This is particularly true of the former Military Ocean Terminal, where he said redevelopment has been “way too slow” and the planned development inappropriate.
“We need office space and hotels, good ratables that will add no additional cost for education and will require very little police and fire services,” he said.
A former high school football player, Flores said he is concerned about the youth in the city, saying that the city needs to do more to get kids off the streets. Many kids are hanging out because they lack a better place to go. He said he can help raise his voice on the council to address the needs of kids in the 3rd Ward.
“I’ve seen them out on 38th Street and near my house on 44th Street until 10 or 11 at night,” he said. “We need a place for kids to go.”
Bored kids, Flores said, leads to other problems from crime to litter, and that by giving kids better options, the city will be cleaner and safer as a result.
“Those on the council today may not understand the needs of kids and those into their 20s, but I do,” he said. “We also don’t have cops walking the beat the way they used to.”
Flores is his own man
While Flores believes he can work with others on the city council to help address some of the needs of the city, he also said, “I’m not a ‘yes man’ to anyone. I have my own ideas, my own point of view, and I will vote in the best interest of the 3rd Ward.”
In campaigning, Flores said people are looking for a change. “They want to see fresh faces in government,” he said.
As a councilman, he would also seek to make certain that the city got the most for the taxes paid on all levels.
“We need to make sure we get our fair share,” he said, referring to taxes paid to the county.
In some ways, Flores is living up to the old adage about putting his money where his mouth is, in that he moved to Bayonne because it is a good place to live and raise a family, and by running for office, he is seeking to keep it a good place to live.