Bayonne’s O’Donnell rounds out council slate with Klimansky in the 3rd Ward

Former Bayonne Assemblyman and mayoral hopeful Jason O’Donnell has rounded out his five-person council slate with U.S. Army veteran Matt Klimansky running in the 3rd Ward. 

By John Heinis/Hudson County View

“I have spent enough time with Jason O’Donnell to know that he is the right choice to be our next mayor and I am looking forward to walking door to door, street by street and block by block with him and the rest of our team to speak with our neighbors and lay out our vision for the city we all love so much,” Klimansky said in a statement.

“I’ve been fortunate enough in my life to give back to my country and my community and now I am looking forward to having the opportunity to serve on our City Council. I believe that if you see a problem then you need to work to fix it and I can’t sit back and watch the current Administration and the current Council continue to give away our city’s future with tax breaks to rich developers that will hurt my family and every other taxpayer in Bayonne for years to come.”

Klimansky is a lifelong resident of Bayonne, a graduate of Bayonne High School, and received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice from New Jersey City University.

Additionally, he has worked at AllianceBernstein as a business continuity manager for 17 years and Klimansky was also a sergeant in the New Jersey Army National Guard and has served as both a field artilleryman and a military police officer.

Furthermore, he served 18 months of active duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as a Squad Leader and has received the Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal and an Overseas Service Ribbon.

“Over these last weeks and months, we have had the great opportunity to be invited into senior complex meeting rooms, Town Hall meetings and directly into people’s homes to speak with our neighbors throughout the city,” O’Donnell added.

“Whether it’s a dozen people in someone’s house or 400 people at the Chandelier last night, people throughout the city have the same concerns about crime, garbage in our streets, tax breaks for rich out of town developers that rob our future and lawsuits against the mayor and the city we all end up paying for. Last night’s event shows the tremendous levels of support we have for our campaign to bring the character and commitment so many are demanding for Bayonne’s future and we are lucky to add someone like Matt Klimansky to our team.”

O’Donnell will also be running with Sharma Montgomery in the 1st Ward, Kevin Kuhl in the 2nd Ward, while Dan Ward and Melissa Enriquez-Rada are seeking the two at-large council seats.

The Bayonne municipal elections are on May 8th.