A larger vision of Jersey City 

At-large council candidates debate at forum

In what many see as a hotly contested race for control of the City Council, eight candidates are seeking to fill three at-large seats. (At-large seats represent the entire city, while the other six seats on the council are ward seats). Incumbents Rolando Lavarro, Joyce Watterman and Daniel Rivera are runningmates of Mayor Steven Fulop. Michael Winds, Esmeralda Trinidad and Esther Wintner are on a slate headed by mayoral hopeful Bill Matsikoudis.

Sean Connors and Brian Lane are running as independents.

In a forum hosted by BITE (Black Interest Team Enterprise) earlier this month, seven of the eight candidates responded to questions about some of the most significant issues. Nearly all agreed that changes needed to be made to some programs, such as in affordable housing and the city’s approach to policing. In some cases they disagreed on how to curb crime and make level the playing field for residents living in the poorer neighborhoods.

Rolando Lavarro

After unsuccessfully seeking a Ward A council seat in 2009, Lavarro won an at-large seat in a special election in 2011. He was the first Asian-American in the history of Jersey City to serve on the municipal council. He won his second term as an at-large candidate on the 2013 ticket headed by Steven Fulop.

Prior to serving on the City Council, Lavarro was the director of Constituent Services for Assemblyman (now State Senator) Robert Gordon in New Jersey’s 38th District, and was an aide to Councilwoman Mary Donnelly in Jersey City’s Ward B.

Daniel Rivera

Rivera, a former clinical coordinator of Research Projects at both Newark’s Beth Israel Medical Center and St. Barnabas Health Care, won his seat on the council in 2013 on the Fulop ticket and is seeking his second four-year term. In the past he has served as president, coach, umpire and safety director for Jersey City’s Roberto Clemente Little League and has also served as the assistant director for District 7 Little League for the past seven years.

Joyce Watterman

Watterman is also seeking her second term. She is the founder of The H.O.P.E Summer Program for children. She has served as a volunteer at Rahway State Prison for over 20 years and Clinton State Prison for eight years.

Along with her husband, the Reverend James Watterman, she founded the Continuous Flow Christian Center in Jersey City. She has organized and serves as the current president of the Women’s Political Caucus, Hudson County Chapter. In addition to her volunteer and political activism, she also serves as a zone leader of Bergen Community United, is an active member of the NAACP, and also is a chaplain for the Hudson County Sheriff’s Department.

Esmeralda Trinidad

Born in the Dominican Republic, Esmeralda came to Jersey City at the age of 10. Dominicans make up one of the largest ethnic groups in the city, and if elected, she would be the first Dominican to serve on the City Council. A Democratic committee woman from Ward F, she served as vice chair of the Jersey City Democratic Organization from 2010 to 2014.

Esther Wintner

Wintner, formerly director of activist group Civic JC, has been a staunch critic of the Fulop Administration. She ran unsuccessfully for the Ward B City Council seat in 2010 and 2013. She is employed in the finance industry and has often questioned issues involving the budget. She is also a strong advocate for transparency in government.

Michael A. Winds

Winds has worked as a classroom teacher for over 15 years, served as the principal of Abraham Lincoln High School, and is currently the director of the Division “A” schools for the Jersey City Board of Education. An avid golfer, Winds is a proponent of Jersey City’s diverse youth recreational opportunities. He was twice nominated to contend for Hudson County Teacher of the Year, and received the Dr. Charles Epps Sr. Educator’s Appreciation Award. This year he served as the grand marshal of the African American Freedom Parade.

Sean Connors

Connors was rumored to be considering a run for mayor this year. He has previously served as a state assemblyman. A one-time ally of former Mayor Jerramiah Healy, Connors switched sides and ran with Fulop in Ward D in 2013, losing to Michael Yun.

Since 2013, Connors, a Jersey City police detective and former Board of Education trustee, has been very active in community events in Jersey City and reportedly has strong support from the North Bergen Democrat Party.

Brian Lane

Lane is a Hudson County sheriff’s officer. He previously ran for council in a 2011 special election. A minister at Full Will of God Christian Ministries in Ward F, Lane is an outspoken critic of Gov. Christopher Christie, who raided funds from the state’s various Urban Enterprise Zones and imposed other cuts in state aid on Jersey City.
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