Thirty-eight-and-a-half years, 3 Mayors (George Otlowski Sr., Joe Vas, Wilda Diaz), I’m sure Perth Amboy City Clerk Elaine Jasko could write a book on all of her experiences under 3 administrations.

Oh, how the City has changed! I don’t know when they started to film City Council Meetings, but someone told me that at the Board of Education Meetings, hardly anyone showed up until they started filming them.

Jasko probably has many memories: some good and some bad, of the many people who came to the meetings to speak. You could never tell what she thought of them, because she always showed each of them respect, even though in some cases it was not reciprocated. Some of the residents she probably did enjoy were the late Richard Piatkowski and Peter Book. With Peter Book, you never knew what he was going to say, but you knew that he was going to leave everyone smiling. 

Outside of City Hall, as you can see in her letter, she was a champion for Breast Cancer Awareness, especially after she survived a bout herself. I remember the first time Perth Amboy had the Breast Cancer Awareness Walk, which was partnered with Susan G. Komen for the Cure in 2009. It was so exciting to see all the people who participated. The City Clerk’s Office was filled with Pink T-shirts, goodie bags, caps, etc. For this being the first time for this event, I think they were shocked at the amount of participants and sponsors. Besides local residents, there were out-of-towners, out-of-staters, and people from other countries. Many runners and walkers were there sporting T-shirts in memory of those that they lost to cancer or of cancer survivors. A good number of the participants were cancer survivors themselves. Not only were the people from City Hall involved, but, they brought many of their relatives to the event. 

One year, Jasko was featured on a billboard from the neck down in a pink T-shirt as a breast cancer survivor. 

I remember that former B.A. Greg Fehrenbach and former Law Director Mark Blunda ran in the race, along with their spouses and remember they live out of town. There were running teams that also participated.

I know Elaine was a big part of making this first time City  event a huge success. 

After Superstorm Sandy hit, the Waterfront was damaged certain guidelines made future runs difficult to take place. 

In 2013, there was the Shades of Pink Benefit at Seabra’s Armory chaired by Junel Hutchinson and Diane Rappoport who at the time both worked at Alameda. This was to benefit Mary’s Place by the Sea.

Hutchinson was a breast cancer survivor herself. In 2015, Elaine Jasko decided that she also wanted to help that organization because of the great work they do in helping women and their families who were going through the struggle of cancer. Elaine Jasko and Raquel Roche, her co-chair decided to have the first ever evening Pink Ribbon Gala in 2015. Elaine successfully recruited me to be a part of that committee and she wisely had on board Junel and Diane. No one could have imagined how successful the first year of that gala would be.

Last year was a little bit tough because there was an election and many people running for office. It took a lot out of everyone, but Elaine was determined that the 2017 gala would take place.

One thing about Elaine is when she wants something done and she needs your participation, it’s hard to say no. When it’s necessary for her to be a tough cookie, she will be. If it’s in her power at all to help any organization or individual to be of support when their fighting cancer, she will do it. 

I think it’s because of the support system she had that makes her so willing to help others.

If you ever had the pleasure of going into Elaine’s office at City Hall, you would smile from ear to ear, being surrounded by pink everywhere. She had many gifts of love that were pink given to her. I have no idea where she’s going to put it all when she leaves, but I know she’ll find a place for everything.

In Jasko’s letter, she says she’s ready for palm trees and pina coladas. I’m adding peace, pleasure, and partying. It’s a great feeling to know you can finally do what you want and when you want to do it. I’m sure she’ll miss a lot of her coworkers, but not punching that clock. C.M.