Charlie Kratovil announces campaign for New Brunswick mayor

Community organizer Charlie Kratovil announced his campaign for Mayor of New Brunswick on Sunday. Kratovil is a Rutgers alumni and the founder of the local “New Brunswick Today” website.

Doris Elliot and Yeni Mendez-Romero will be running for City Council alongside Kratovil, under the slogan “Power to the People.”

In a speech to attendees, Kratovil detailed his involvement in local issues, including exposing false parking tickets and stopping the development of data centers in the city through a public demonstration last month.

“We sent a message that the era of putting profits over people is over,” Kratovil said in a speech to attendees. “It is time for a change, and we are hoping to deliver that change.”

Kratovil told WRSU he hopes students engage with local political issues that affect the community on and off campus.

“If you use your voice now to make their lives better, that’s going to improve the next generation of Rutgers students and lives for everybody who calls this city home,” Kratovil said.

Elliot discussed her perspective as a mother and former school bus driver in New Brunswick, calling for greater accountability from local government and police. Elliot said she was partly inspired to run after the killing of Deborah Terrell, also a school bus driver, by the New Brunswick Police Department.

“We have seen too much violence. We have lost too many lives,” Elliot said in a speech. “Our families deserve safety. Our streets deserve balance. And our children deserve to grow up without fear.”

Mendez-Romero gave her speech in English and Spanish, saying she is a New Brunswick native and business owner, and hopes to improve education and create more community programs for young people, including opportunities for Rutgers students to engage with the neighborhood.

“Between students and New Brunswick, I think there needs to be more programs,” Mendez Romero told WRSU. “We should allow Rutgers to be a part of New Brunswick, because they’re in our town and it’s going to give our students so many opportunities.”

Charlie Kratovil (left), Doris Elliot (center), and Yani Mendez-Romero announce their campaigns (Photo: Andrew Hawthorne)

All three candidates expressed the need for affordability, grassroots empowerment, and government transparency in order to create a difference in the city.

“It is time for representation. It is time for community. It is time for change,” Mendez-Romero said in a speech.

Sanchi Sharma, a sophomore at Rutgers, introduced the candidates at the event. She said she began working with Kratovil after he personally heard out her concerns regarding the needs of homeless people in New Brunswick. Sharma is a volunteer for the Power to the People campaign.

Sharma also called for her classmates to spend more time in the city of New Brunswick and engage with the community. 

“There’s a whole city out here,” Sharma told WRSU. “A lot of the issues you study about – whether it be issues relating to police brutality or how immigration is being treated these days – they are actually happening in New Brunswick.”

The campaign announcement took place at the historic Edwin Elberson House, and began with a performance by a local mariachi band. New Brunswick restaurant and venue Cinco de Mayo provided food for attendees.

Attendees were invited to see the headquarters of the Power to the People campaign and sign up to volunteer.

The current mayor of New Brunswick, James Cahill, has been in office since 1991. Kratovil will be challenging him for the Democratic nomination in the primary on June 2. The voter registration deadline for the primary elections in New Jersey is May 12.

Story by Keya Raval and Andrew Hawthorne