Former Bayonne Mayor Richard Rutkowski has endorsed Jason O’Donnell for the May 8th municipal election due to his “proven his tremendous dedication to our community through the years.”
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“I am endorsing Jason O’Donnell today because he has proven his tremendous dedication to our community through the years and I know his only concern is Bayonne’s future,†Rutkowski said in a statement.
“His commitment to public service has included serving as a Captain in the Bayonne Fire Department, representing us in New Jersey’s General Assembly and becoming the first Director of Municipal Services in our city’s history, where he fought to consolidate three key city agencies into one department to save the taxpayers money. Jason has never left our city and he and his wife, Kerry, are raising three children of their own in town.”
O’Donnell was happy to accept the endorsement and also quick to elaborate on Rutkowski’s final point, noting that Davis moved to Rahway for 15 years.
“While Jimmy Davis packed up and moved to Rahway for fifteen years before becoming mayor of our city, Richard Rutkowski was a hands-on mayor who loved Bayonne so much he never left,†added O’Donnell. “His leadership wasn’t just limited to City Hall it extended to all three wards of our city, and that is the type of mayor I intend to be if elected.”
“I value Rutkowski’s support and over the next three weeks leading up to May 8th we will also be highlighting the fact that under Mayor Davis’s direction he and his team have given out 40 multi-million dollar tax breaks to their rich developer friends and left us all vulnerable to millions in legal fees because of his sexual harassment lawsuit.”
O’Donnell has repeatedly gone after Davis for his administration regularly approving tax breaks for new developments and also taken aim at the incumbent for a “sexting” lawsuit alleging the mayor abused his office.
Davis has countered by saying his administration has decreased the city’s debt by $6 million dollars and has denied the accusations in the aforementioned lawsuit.
