YOUNITY TEAM VOWS TO END STACK STRANGLEHOLD ON UNION CITY
Days of City Run For Politicians Only Will End
“This building symbolizes what’s wrong with Union City,� said Scarafile. “This is an insider deal controlled by Mayor Brian Stack and his minions. "
YOUNITY FOR UNION CITY
People Caring About Their Community
P.O. Box 3 Union City, NJ 07087
Call 201-805-9727 March 15, 2006
Thom Ammirato
973-403-7836

YOUNITY TEAM VOWS TO END STACK STRANGLEHOLD ON UNION CITY
Days of City Run For Politicians Only Will End

Union City -- Standing in front of a building that is symbolic of what Union City has become, -- “a city run by a handful of politicians for the politicians,� the grass roots group known as Younity, unveiled its five candidates for the May 9 City Commission race.

Frank Scarafile, leader of the group, said that the widely reported insider deal at 1501 Palisades Avenue, which inflated the cost of the building by $1 million before it was sold to the state School Construction Corporation -- is an example of what is wrong with Union City and why a change of government is needed.

“This building symbolizes what’s wrong with Union City,� said Scarafile. “This is an insider deal controlled by Mayor Brian Stack and his minions."

Scarafile and his team Frank M. Alonso, Ernestine "Tina" Yandolino, Julio Fernandez, and Dierdre Berry said they are committed to turn control of the city back to the people and create a more responsive government.

City residents, he said are “fed up with the deteriorating conditions of our roads and parks. They are fed up with the lack of recreational facilities for our children. They are fed up with a school board they have no control over. And more importantly, they are fed up with a city that works only for the interests of the politicians, not the people.�

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THE YOUNITY AGENDA

The Younity group is advocating better recreation for children, controls on development and solutions to the parking and traffic problems facing the city. Tops on the Younity agenda is to create an elected school board, not one controlled by the mayor,� said Scarafile. He noted that Stack has turned the Board of Education into an “employment agency for his friends,� and noted that the mayor has created some 190 jobs in the school district for his political cronies at a cost of $10 million to taxpayers.

“The mayor is stealing money from school children to pay for jobs for his friends,� said Scarafile, the school superintendent in Little Ferry. “With an elected school board answerable to the voters, our children will get a better education.�

Recreation for children in the city is sorely lacking, said Fernandez, a father of three boys. “Kids are doing nothing but hanging out on street corners where they will only get in trouble. We will use resources to provide recreation for children.�

Yandolino, a former Union City Commissioner, said the city’s haphazard development needs to be brought under control. “The mayor gives out building permits and allows zoning changes with no thought of the impact on residential neighborhoods. We need a rational redevelopment plan, not one based on political favoritism.�

Parking says Berry, is a nightmare in most neighborhoods. “Parking problems are an extension of the mayor’s irrational development policies,� she said. “People in this city spend half their lives moving their cars and trying to find a place to park.�

Alonso, the former deputy Republican Municipal chair in Union City says a truly independent commission – one free from control of the mayor – will give allow the city to entertain more diverse solutions to problems. “Right now, most of the commissioners are puppets and the mayor pulls their strings. Union City needs commissioners who are unafraid to express ideas about how to solve problems.�

Scarafile promised that his team will produce a more responsive government. “We will be the voice of the people who -- right now – have no voice in how their city is governed.�

The Younity Team

Frank Scarafile is a long-time city resident who graduated Emerson High School in 1977. He earned a BA in history in 1981 from Rutgers University and a Master’s degree from Jersey City Sate in 1988. He was a teacher, a principal and a school administrator. Currently, he is the Superintendent of Schools in Little Ferry, where he has succeeded in increasing education opportunities for children. Frank was also a coach for boys and girls basketball teams at the high school and college level.

Frank M. Alonso former deputy Republican Municipal chair in Union City, currently employed as a District mgr for the GAP co. and its' subsidiary Banana Republic. Frank is married with his first child on the way. He is a lifelong resident of Union City. Frank has worked in the retail industry most of his adult life and has also served on the Hudson County Board of Taxation.

Ernestine "Tina" Yandolino Tina is a former Union City Commissioner elected in 1998 and served until 2002. Tina was in charge of the Department of Public Works and was honored with an award for recycling. She became the Recycling coordinator at the Board of Education in Union City in 1999. Tina worked as the head of the finance department of a major NYC travel agency for 17 yrs before coming to work in Union City where she served a s the personal secretary to Mayor William V Musto from 1974-1982.

Julio Fernandez a 20 year employee at United Parcel Service, Julio was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in Hoboken graduating from Hoboken High School. Julio has lived in Union City for the past 20 years and has been involved in many civic events. Julio has three sons.

Dierdre Vetter Berry Born in Jersey City and raised in West New York, Deirdre graduated from Memorial High School in 1967. She worked in Household Finance Co in Union City until 1972 when she began working in the film industry with TVC Laboratories until 1977. When her grandfather, Rudy Vetter, passed away in 1977, she went to work for the family business, Vetter Glass, Inc in West New York, where she worked since.