2 seek to unseat Paterson 4th Ward councilwoman
PATERSON – The landscape of the troubled 4th Ward has changed dramatically since Ruby Cotton was elected to represent the area on the City Council in 2012.
Gone are the numerous vacant lots and abandoned buildings that haunted 4th Ward neighborhoods back then. In their place have risen new multistory apartment buildings.
“I remember we had one whole block where there were only three families living,” Cotton said of the stretch of 12th Avenue between Carroll and Auburn streets.
But the transition from blight to development hasn’t solved the 4th Ward’s biggest problems – such as poverty and crime – and now the area faces new challenges, from overcrowding to inadequate parking.
In running for a fourth term on the City Council, Cotton faces two challengers – Kimmeshia Rogers-Jones and Justin Rucker – who praise the incumbent’s personality but say they would do a better job representing the 4th Ward.
“She’s a very humble person, and I respect her a great deal,” Rucker said of Cotton.
“Mrs. Cotton has a kind heart, and she cares about the people,” RogersJones said. “But these last 12 years have been the Cotton era in the 4th Ward, and we haven’t done well in the Cotton era.”
All three candidates say the district needs better enforcement of the city laws currently on the books, but they cited different priorities for crackdowns. Cotton said illegal apartments in basements and attics ought to be targeted, Rogers-Jones said authorities need to stop the loitering on 4th Ward sidewalks, and Rucker mentioned the district’s illegal dumping problems.
Cotton chuckled when told her opponents questioned her leadership.
“You can’t find anyone better than me,” the incumbent said. “I’m not one of those council people you only see once every four years,” Cotton added, referring to Paterson’s election cycle. “You see Ruby Cotton out there all the time.”
Cotton won by about 420 votes in 2012, 140 in 2016, and 667 in 2020, in an election held less than a month after her husband, former Councilman Ed Cotton, died in the COVID-19 outbreak.
Challenger Justin Rucker
Rucker was one of Cotton’s rivals in 2020 but suspended his campaign after her husband’s death.
He said the 4th Ward hasn’t gotten the services it needs, including street repairs, affordable housing and recreation facilities. Rucker said he would like to see the city transform the old unemployment office on Broadway into a recreation center.
He also said the city ought to force developers to invest more in Paterson, suggesting such arrangements be made as part of the negotiations for tax abatements.
The challenger also said he thinks relations between residents and Paterson cops have improved since the state took over the Police Department in March 2023. “I think they’re moving in the right direction, but there’s more work to be done,” Rucker said.
Challenger Kimmeshia Rogers-Jones
Rogers-Jones said she thinks the Police Department’s neighborhood stabilization effort on Broadway – where addicted drug users once were a routine part of the tableau – has been a “BandAid.” She said the problems simply have shifted to nearby streets.
“What’s happening there has helped Broadway, but it hasn’t helped the rest of the 4th Ward,” Rogers-Jones said.
She said the 4th Ward needs a strong representative who will hold other public officials accountable. She said she contacts Mayor Andre Sayegh three or four times a month with questions and complaints.
“We have to speak up,” she said. “We have to say what we like and what we don’t like.”
Cotton said a big part of her job is helping 4th Ward residents navigate the government bureaucracy to get such services as food stamps, unemployment insurance and mortgage assistance.
“I was a community person way before I became a politician,” the incumbent said. “I know about community service.”
Cotton said one of her biggest accomplishments in office was the enactment of the hotspot ordinance about nine years ago, a city law that required businesses in high-crime areas to shut down at midnight.
She also said she thinks the state-appointed officer in charge of the Paterson Police Department, Isa Abbassi, has done a good job addressing the city’s problems.
“We still don’t have enough police officers,” Cotton said. “We need about 50 more.”
“Mrs. Cotton has a kind heart, and she cares about the people. But these last 12 years have been the Cotton era in the 4th Ward, and we haven’t done well in the Cotton era.”
Kimmeshia Rogers-Jones
Challenger to incumbent Ruby Cotton for the Paterson 4th Ward council seat