The Jersey Journal

Harrison Mayor Raymond McDonough has died today after suffering a massive heart attack at his Town Hall office, county Freeholder Al Cifelli has confirmed.


Town officials are in shock, according to a number of Hudson County officials. McDonough met with town officials this morning and they then went to lunch, according to Paul Swibinski, founder of Vision Media, a media and consulting firm, which has the pulse of the Hudson County Democratic Party.
The mayor went back to his Town Hall office and collapsed, said Swibinski. Town Hall was open today, despite the Lincoln birthday holiday, but was closed after McDonough's death.

"Today we lost the best mayor," Councilman Victor Villalta said. "Today Harrison is crying. He gave his life for the town of Harrison."

A town worker, Jim Geddes, had tears in his eyes as he put the American flag in front of Town Hall at half staff this afternoon.
"He was a good guy," said Geddes, who has worked for the Department of Public Works for 17 years. "He gave me a job."

After the town offices were closed, Geddes decided to pay tribute to McDonough by lowering the flag.

Van Golemis, co-owner of the Tops Diner in Harrison, was "stunned" when he heard the news.
"I can't believed this happened," said Golemis, 38, who added that McDonough was a "6-day-a-week" customer.

Golemis said it wasn't strange to see McDonough at the diner at 5:30 in the morning.

"He lived and breathed Harrison," Golemis said. "All he cared about was making Harrison better. ... He worked all the time."


A lifelong Harrison resident, McDonough was first elected mayor in 1995 after serving for 17 years on the Town Council.
"Ray McDonough was a great friend to so many of us throughout Hudson County and an extremely strong advocate for the town of Harrison," said Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto, D-Secaucus. "He always stood up for the middle class and working men and women and had a great deal of integrity and compassion.

"He will be greatly missed and I would like to extend my deepest condolences to his family and the town of Harrison."

A Democrat, McDonough recently made headlines by supporting Republican Gov. Chris Christie for re-election. He continued to support him after news of the so-called Bridgegate scandal broke.

McDonough told The Jersey Journal last month that he reached out to Christie's office before endorsing him last January, not the other way around. And he expressed doubt Christie would even consider strong-arming him to get his support.

"What? For 3,000 votes?" McDonough said.

The mayor said he opted to support Christie over Buono because Christie's administration came through on promises to build a new PATH station in Harrison.

John Golemis, also a co-owner of Tops Diner, said McDonough and "his wife are amazing people." Golemis added that the mayor was "such a warm gentleman."