7/23/21

Submitted by Caroline Pozycki-Torres

PERTH AMBOY – Bienvenido “BJ” Torres Jr will be publicly sworn in as a Councilman in Perth Amboy on Friday, July 23 at 3pm at City Hall. Torres has been serving the City of Perth Amboy since January 2021. His swearing in ceremony was postponed until now because of the pandemic. He was elected in Dec 2020, winning a hotly contested runoff election.

Since elected, BJ Torres has been advancing progressive change, successfully lobbying the Council members to unanimously vote to eliminate the city Bike Registration Ordinance, after the Perth Amboy bike incident captured on video and viewed by millions across the country. BJ also helped to facilitate the city’s first Pride Flag Raising and lobbied the Council to move to zoom meetings and uphold the mask mandate. He was the sole Councilmember to vote no on a local ban on marijuana businesses and has been attending educational offerings of the League of Municipalities to learn about the industry and advance local marijuana policies.