ARMY VETERAN, COMMUNITY VOLUNTEER AND LIFELONG BAYONNE RESIDENT KLIMANSKY IS 3rd WARD COUNCIL CANDIDATE

BAYONNE – Following an event last night at the Chandelier on Broadway in Bayonne attended by 400 people, mayoral candidate Jason O’Donnell today announced Matt Klimansky will be his running mate for the 3rd Ward Council seat.  Klimansky is the final member of the O’Donnell Team, joining Kevin Kuhl, Dan Ward, Sharma Montgomery and Melissa Enriquez-Rada on O’Donnell’s ticket for the May 8th Election in Bayonne.

“I grew up in this city, my wife and I are raising our daughter in this city, and we love our city,” said Klimansky.  “I have spent enough time with Jason O’Donnell to know that he is the right choice to be our next mayor and I am looking forward to walking door to door, street by street and block by block with him and the rest of our team to speak with our neighbors and lay out our vision for the city we all love so much.  I’ve been fortunate enough in my life to give back to my country and my community and now I am looking forward to having the opportunity to serve on our City Council.  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.”

“Over these last weeks and months, we have had the great opportunity to be invited into senior complex meeting rooms, Town Hall meetings and directly into people’s homes to speak with our neighbors throughout the city,” said O’Donnell.  “Whether it’s a dozen people in someone’s house or 400 people at the Chandelier last night, people throughout the city have the same concerns about crime, garbage in our streets, tax breaks for rich out of town developers that rob our future and lawsuits against the mayor and the city we all end up paying for.  Last night’s event shows the tremendous levels of support we have for our campaign to bring the character and commitment so many are demanding for Bayonne’s future and we are lucky to add someone like Matt Klimansky to our team.  Matt is a lifelong Bayonne resident and an Army veteran who has always put our community first to try and make it better.  He will continue to be a tremendous public servant and we are very happy to welcome him to our team.”

Matthew Klimansky is a lifelong resident of Bayonne, who married his high-school sweetheart, Lee Allison.  They have a 13-year old daughter, Madison. He is a graduate of Bayonne High School and received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice from New Jersey City University.  Matt has worked at AllianceBernstein as a Business Continuity Manager for 17 years. Matthew was a Sergeant in the New Jersey Army National Guard and has served as both a Field Artilleryman and a Military Police Officer.  He served 18 months of active duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as a Squad Leader and has received the Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal and an Overseas Service Ribbon.  Matt served as a Trustee on the Bayonne Board of Education and is an Assistant Scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 25 of St. Vincent’s de Paul, of which he has been a member for 27 years.  He is on the committee for Eagle Advancement for the Northern New Jersey Boy Scout Council, Trustee for the Bayonne Scout Endowment, Trustee for the Bayonne Community Mental Health Center and a member of the American Legion Post 19.  Matt is also an Eagle Scout.