Home

Mark Smith had the chance to interact with Bayonne's Jewish community throughout his youth, as well as a 25-year career in the Police Department, and then vied for that community's support as a candidate for mayor this fall. After winning the intense five-person race in November, Smith now serves Bayonne's Jews along with the rest of the peninsula city's diverse population in his most prestigious role yet.

Smith rose through the ranks from patrolman all the way up to deputy chief in the Police Department, receiving a number of citations for valor and honor. A graduate of Saint Peter's College in Jersey City, he also earned a master's degree in Human Resources and Development from Seton Hall University.

An active member of Saint Henry's Roman Catholic Church in Bayonne, Smith has also managed to develop a number of longstanding relationships with the city's Jewish families and organizations. He took some time with Jewish Life this month to discuss those relationships and his successful mayoral campaign.

As a lifelong resident of Bayonne, what has been your impression of the city's Jewish community?

"Bayonne is a very diverse community with strong Italian, Irish, and Polish Americans as well as a large Jewish population. What always made Bayonne unique is that many of us may come from different backgrounds, but we all wanted the same things: a safe neighborhood, clean streets, and good schools for our children.

"Although some Jews have left their Bayonne homes in recent years, a large number of them are still here. You can't help but interact with different groups, and Jews in Bayonne are active, upstanding citizens like so many other people in the city. My children are involved in the gymnastics program at the Jewish Community Center and are also part of the swimming team at the JCC."

Who are some of the Jews in Bayonne that you have developed the closest relationships with?

"Rabbi Gordon Gladstone (from Temple Beth Am) has been a very good friend for a number of years. No matter when the city has called upon him, he would show up and take care of it. After 9/11, when the calls went out to various congregations throughout Bayonne, he was right there at the scene."

"(Executive Director) Ellen Goldberg is a dear friend of mine at the JCC. On the street I live on, Dr. Ruth Preminger is a woman well into her 80s, and she still wants to be involved. That's how so many people are in Bayonne."

In a competitive mayoral race with five candidates to choose from, how did you reach out to each and every constituency in Bayonne, including the Jewish community?

"We targeted on what's important. If you would talk to anyone in the street and ask them what they wanted, it was lowering taxes, keeping the community safe, and giving your children a quality education. We campaigned on a theme of changing Bayonne, and it wasn't about Mark Smith. It was about the city of Bayonne as a collective, with Christians, Muslims, Jews, and everyone else pulling together through tough times."

The Jersey City public school system takes Holocaust education very seriously and even sent a group of non-Jewish students to Poland to see the remnants of destruction firsthand. Do you have any similar plans for Bayonne's schools?

"I applaud it and I wish I had the financial resources to do that; hopefully we can eventually stress Holocaust education like Jersey City does. We in Bayonne have a tremendous Holocaust program in early October every year, with speakers outside of the City Hall Council Chambers and a capacity crowd."

How have your interactions been with Hudson County's Jewish politicians, such as Jersey City Councilman Steven Fulop as well as Hoboken Council Members Beth Mason and Dawn Zimmer?

"I have not had the opportunity to meet with Mason or Zimmer. Fulop is a very gracious fellow who reached out to me immediately when I ran for mayor; I had very nice conversations with him throughout the course of the campaign."