The Rahway Branch of NAACP hosted a Meet the Candidates Forum on Thursday at Rahway Public Library, featuring this year’s Democrat and Republican candidates for City Council as well as Board of Education.

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Six City Council ward seats are up for election this fall. In Rahway, elections are held in even-numbered years, alternating between the six City Council ward seats which are up this year, and the three at-large seats and the mayor’s office. All nine seats have been held by Democrats since 2008. Here’s a look at what the ward boundaries look like. 

The City Council portion of the forum lasted a little over an hour, before it shifted to school board candidates, featuring the following candidates:

Ward	Democrat	Republican
1st	Al Montesdeoca	Jeannette Rubio
2nd	Karla Timmons*	Bill Brenner
3rd	Vannie Parson*	Darren Lesinski
4th	David Brown*	Jermaine Caulder
5th	Danni Newbury*	Barbara Czarnecki
6th	Joe Gibilisco*	Casey Granieri

(Asterisk indicates incumbent)

Brennan and Rubio were unable to attend, according to moderators. Editor’s note: Lehrer-Gibilisco Funeral Home is an advertiser on RahwayRising.com.

The event was live streamed and available on the local NAACP’s Facebook page here.

There weren’t many questions specific to development but there was one that asked about the marijuana dispensary at the former Galaxy Diner. When answers differed, like the question on the dispensary, most broke along party lines.

The format featured a one-minute introduction and closing by candidates sandwiched around questions posted from the audience via a moderator:

• What is your position on funding Rahway Public LIbrary, letting the library board be independent of City Council and settling with the union on a contract?

• Please indicate who you’re supporting in this presidential election and why?

• Some people in the community say we have speeding/traffic problems. What do you think about it and how would you mitigate those concerns and/or change the situation?

• There are concerns among citizens about how our contracts and vendor licenses are given to people. There’s been a study in the state that indicates less than 1% of contracts have been awarded to African-American vendors and/or businesses. In Rahway, NAACP has looked at it, what will you do if you’re on council to increase the awarding of contracts to people and women of color.

• What would you like to see done to change the environmental injustice that is taking place in Merck or Reworld, formerly Covanta?
• Do you consider the former Galaxy Diner a good location for a marijuana dispensary?

What is your position on funding Rahway Public Library, letting the library board be independent of City Council and settling with the union on a contract?

Generally, all candidates said they supported the library board, funding the library, and agreed that the facility is a vital community asset. As to whether the library board should be an independent entity, Parson (D-3rd) said she doesn’t think it should be a separate entity.

Lesinski (R-3rd) said the library board should have autonomy but oversight by City Council, while also endorsing a settlement with the union through negotiation.

Czarnecki (R-5th) suggested annual incremental increases for the library as other budgets are increased. The library is paramount in society for both young and old alike, she said. “I don’t see how we can get by without a fully functioning library in the community.”

“We wouldn’t be here today if they didn’t fully fund the library,” Granieri (R-6th) said, suggesting that City Council have some oversight “because they speak for us, we give them our rights, which is a God-given gift, they’re supposed to use them responsibly and transparently – I haven’t seen that yet.”

City Council endorsed a retail marijuana dispensary in May 2023. Do you consider the former Galaxy Diner a good location for a marijuana dispensary?

Lesinski (R-3rd) said the dispensary is one of the reasons why he’s running. It’s not a good location because of its proximity to Roosevelt School and Stein Field. “We don’t need those tax dollars at the expense of our children,” he said.

Czarnecki (R-5th) agreed it’s a “terrible location” for a dispensary, calling it an “injustice” to have another one in town.

Dispensaries draw a lot of traffic, Caulder (D-4th) said, as has been seen in Woodbridge, Linden, and Elizabeth, adding that high-traffic area that close to a school or playground is detrimental.

Gibilisco (D-6th) agreed that it’s too close to schools but also described it as “a dead issue” because it’s not going to be used as a dispensary “last I heard,” though he did not elaborate. The Planning Board approved a site plan application in March and the City Council endorsed its state application in 2023.

Newbury (D-5th) claimed the location would be a wholesale facility and not a retail walk-in facility like the one on Route 1, later clarifying in a Facebook comment that the original project was “intended” to be wholesale. She supports the sale of marijuana because the tax revenue would have offset municipal taxes.

Parson (D-3rd) said she supports the dispensary because of the tax benefit, however, the  location “maybe we can re-evaluate it again, for a different location. “I don’t think we’re 100% on board with it just yet opening as a dispensary in that location,” she said. It’s unclear what recourse the governing body has at this point given the previous approvals.

Timmons (D-2nd) said she supports that location or another not only because of the tax revenue but also the medical necessity for some people. “There’s a lot of other schools on St. Georges and fast food restaurants and such that pulls a lot more traffic.”

“Maybe the location is not the most ideal,” Montesdeoca (D-1st) said, but the most important thing is safety. “They’re very safe, most people go in and pick up and go about their business,” he said.

Closing Statements

In his closing statement, Granieri (R-6th) came out against the dispensary and criticized Payment In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT) agreements. “We don’t need them any more,” he argued. PILOTs are when towns aim to be redeveloped to draw in developers, which was the case in Rahway 20-plus years ago. “Now it’s just a big giveaway,” he said.

“I love this town, it took me in as an outsider,” Montesdeoca (D-1st) said, “Now it’s time for me to give back. I will follow my word for the next four years if you vote for me.”

Likewise, Czarecki (R-5th) said she wants to give back to “this wonderful town” and ensure there are “things going on in town that we can be proud of.”

Timmons (D-2nd) said she grew up in Rahway and has the experience of “old Rahway” as well as “new Rahway” and is “enlightened” to merge the two. “I find it very important to carry the torch of those who came before me.”

Parson (D-3rd) harkened back to the height of the pandemic when “we were there for one another” and recalled people approaching her needing help. “I remind them, just because I’m a Democrat in this town, I serve Republicans and Democrats; it’s a community. We are all here to work together no matter our background,” she said.

Lesinski (R-3rd) said City Council must look beyond downtown and “take a better look” around the town, one of the main reasons why he’s running. Three-quarters of the average tax bill goes to the school board. “We need to get our priorities straightened out in this town, we have to take care of our families in this town, whether White, Black, Hispanic, whoever.”

Brown thanked the mayor for bringing in a new organization, United Way, now located at the former Elizabethtown Gas building on Central Avenue. “That organization will help any person that’s concerned to do something.”

Newbury (D-5th) said she’s delivered results, not just promises, in more than two decades of service. “I’ve focused on real solutions,” she said. “Now we know that property taxes are a concern and that’s why we’ve been strategic on how we allocate our budget by making smart investments in infrastructure and community services.”

Gibilisco (D-6th) said he’s been heartened to see so many people come out to City Council meetings who are concerned about what’s going on. It’s important that everybody be involved, he said, “and we have a good mayor here, he’s doing a great job, and we have a great Council here.”

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