Mayoral hopeful Jason O'Donnell fills out ticket with third ward candidate announcement

Matt Klimansky 

BAYONNE -- Matt Klimansky, an Army veteran and former Board of Education trustee, announced he will run for the city's third ward council seat, rounding out mayoral hopeful Jason O'Donnell's ticket.

The 41-year-old joins Kevin Kuhl, Dan Ward, Sharma Montgomery and Melissa Enriquez-Rada on O'Donnell's ticket for the municipal election on May 8.

"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 said in a statement.

A lifelong resident of Bayonne, Klimansky was a sergeant in the New Jersey Army National Guard and was a field artilleryman and a military police officer.

He served 18 months of active duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and received a number of awards including the Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal and an Overseas Service Ribbon.

He previously served as a trustee on the city Board of Education from Sept. 2010 to July 2011. He is also an assistant scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 25 of St. Vincent's de Paul, of which he has been a member for 27 years.

"Matt is a lifelong Bayonne resident and an Army veteran who has always put our community first to try and make it better," O'Donnell said in a statement. "He will continue to be a tremendous public servant and we are very happy to welcome him to our team."

Klimansky will face Gary La Pelusa, Sr., the incumbent councilman on Mayor Jimmy Davis' slate, who has held elected office in City Hall for the past four mayoral administrations. He announced his reelection bid in January.

Each candidate will now have to submit a nominating petition to the city clerk's office by the March 5 deadline.

Mayoral and at-large candidates must obtain 360 valid signatures, first ward council candidates need 124 signatures, second ward nominees will require 113 signatures and third ward candidates must submit 123 signatures, according to city clerk Robert Sloan.