Former Bayonne Board of Education Trustee Michael Alonso, who has been off the board since the end of 2020, is seeking a comeback this fall when he takes on three incumbents running on the historically successful “Together We Can” banner.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Alonso, who was elected to a three-year term in 2017, sought re-election in 2020 but lost decisively, coming in seventh place in a nine-person field in the midst of controversy over “racial charged comments” on Facebook about George Floyd.
He also attempted to run again last year, but came in a distant fourth place to that version of the Together We Can team: Trustees Lisa Burke and Miram Bechay, who ran alongside Angela Sanniola.
This time around, that slate consists of President Jodi Casais, Trustee Pamela Sclafane, and Melissa Godesky-Rodriguez.
Sclafane was appointed to the board in December 2020 before getting elected with Casais and Godesky-Rodriguez in November 2021.
Dating back to when Alonso sought re-election, the Together We Can slate has won 12 of the past 13 school board seats contested in the Peninsula City.
He will try his hand again in the non-partisan November 5th race when four candidates are seeking three, three-year terms.