Many people were upset when Mayor Wilda Diaz backtracked on her promise to only serve for 2 terms. Despite many people who showed dissatisfaction when she sought a third term, she was still able to succeed in getting reelected. There were many people who came in on her coattails. Those who ran for council seats before and couldn’t get elected were successful when they teamed up with her when she ran for reelection for mayor. 

If her team approached you or you approached her about running on her ticket, the bottom line is that you all agreed to run together and got in. In 2010, only two of the three candidates Diaz backed got in for a council seat. Then in 2012 she backed three candidates who ran against her for mayor to get seats as freeholders. None got in. In 2014, a special election had to be held between two candidates for a council seat and the candidate she had backed lost. The biggest lost of candidates she backed was in 2018 when all three of her Board of Education candidates lost and all three of her council candidates lost as well. In 2018 there was a special question on the ballot specifically for Perth Amboy stating that candidates running for mayor and council must receive 50%+1 of the votes to be declared a winner. If not, a runoff election between the two top candidates must be held. Because no candidate of the 5 running for mayor and the 8 candidates for council received required percentage of votes, there had to be a runoff.

Because of the determination of those who did not want to see Mayor Diaz reelected, it paid off just because of this new ruling or she would have had a fourth term. The General Election held November 4, 2020 had Diaz and her team winning when all the votes were counted. But here is the irony. A lot of the candidates who ran against her for mayor, especially one who constantly attacked her, did not actually say in words they supported her, but said they could not support the candidate running against her in the runoff (actually telling people to vote for her). Although they will probably disagree with my assessment, they could have told people to write in the somebody’s name. We have an acquaintance who used to live in town, but now lives out-of-state who actually told us that Helmin Caba will be victorious. That person also stated whom Helmin Caba would pick for certain important positions in the city. Let’s see if that former resident hits the Trifecta!

We wish the best for Wilda Diaz and Helmin Caba. Each person that comes into office brand new should learn from their predecessors: the good and the bad. Any project that your predecessor had that was good for the town, when that project is completed, you should make sure that you invite them back to take credit for it. I remember during Mayor Diaz’s first term, there was the grand opening for Best Buy/Geek Squad. Because Joe Vas was mayor and he was the one who brought those two companies in, they invited Vas to the ribbon cutting ceremony, but unfortunately, he could not make it. Under Diaz, the administration brought in the companies that are under the Duke Realty companies, although some people are not happy because of the PILOTS that came in under those projects. Home Depot recently opened up a warehouse, and three more warehouses are opening up in 2021. Yes, Mayor Diaz has flaws as did her predecessors – some more grave than others. Sometimes people can be their own worst enemies and maybe not follow the best advice. As was said in previous editorials, the people who sometimes are your best advisors are the ones who give you constructive criticism and not expect anything in return.

I came across a copy of the transition teams in 2008. You’d be surprised what people were on these committees. Some of these people never received any kind of political favors or given any city jobs. They just wanted to help Diaz and the citizens of the city as a whole to get from under a heavy financial  burden. We congratulate Helmin Caba for overcoming the hurdle of becoming a mayor when there were others on the council almost three times as long as he was and couldn’t grasp that brass ring. Because of the short period of time, you have to make a transition to mayor, you will be given extra honeymoon time. 

You know what challenges you have ahead, and the citizens will take you to task as they have taken every administration and they don’t hold back. As they say: “The buck stops here.” Now, you have a whole city to answer to and as they say: “You can’t satisfy everyone.” But we are all in this together. C.M.