To the Editor:
There has never been a time in my lifetime that I have seen such enthusiasm, such optimism, and such fresh energy flowing through most citizens in Bayonne. Look around, and you will see more and more people smiling, at ease and optimistic.
Everyone should hold their heads high as we all played our part in a historic election. What we all have seen is a rise in a citizens’ movement. This movement was created, by years and years of politicians taking, creating a culture of elitism, and not giving back to the community that they were elected to serve. This won’t happen anymore in Bayonne. We the people will now be on alert for nepotism, cronyism, and corruption.
As I sat at the Board of Education meeting last night, I looked around me at about 7:30, it was great to see so many people and even our new elected officials in the audience. The engagement and support of the teachers last night was phenomenal. The support and coming together of the community for a purpose is exactly what Bayonne needs. More and more people are no longer scared, fearful, or afraid. They will make the time to show support because we are all in this together. We all have a vested interest in our community.
The comical moment of the evening had to be when Leo Smith mentioned that some of the money for the academy party came from selling scrap metal. Is that for real? The next comical moment came when Mr. Lawson spoke of being bullied on social media. This is reality folks, social media will spread like wildfire and if you are not being honest, it will get out there and it will spread. As they say, “Don’t hate the player, hate the game.” The gig is up Mr. Lawson. It’s funny also that there was still no answer given on the original question of the evening. Who made the decision to direct the funds from the vending machines and the scrap metal selling for the academy party? Did the board make this decision?
It is time now to look ahead and be positive. We should all come together and be respectful of the work and efforts that the past council and mayor have accomplished. We should all say goodbye and give them a round of applause, nothing else would be right, regardless if we disagreed with them or not. Let us all remember the true words that our mayor elect has said, “We will heal our city.” As we all should know, the “we” is all of us.
I was proud to stand tall with my fellow Bayonnians these last couple of months and fight for change. It was truly a tough battle and a challenging experience. We all learned a lot about not only each other but also what we as a community are capable of doing when we come together as one. We all love Bayonne and we will fight tooth and nail for the future of the town we love. God Bless.
JOHN MILAN SEBIK