I am very sorry to announce the passing of former City Council President Joseph L. Makowski on Saturday, May 13.  Joe was committed passionately to representing the people of Bayonne.  He was a strong, independent voice on the City Council for sixteen years.  He was a great friend and confidante who gave honest advice to me and other elected officials.  Joe represented the concerns of Bayonne residents to several City Administrations, both during and after his days as an elected official.  He continued the service to the community that began with his father, the late Second Ward Council Member Joseph E. Makowski.  It was a pleasure to take part in the ceremony that named the park at 28th Street and Avenue F after both Joseph E. and Joseph L. Makowski.

In addition to serving on the City Council, Joe was a career civil servant for the former New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services for over twenty-eight years.  He served as Supervisor of Inspections of Child Care Centers, Program Evaluator of Group Homes and Residential Treatment Facilities, Regional Planner, County Service Specialist, and ended his career as Special Assistant to the Division Director.

He was elected to the Bayonne Municipal Council in 1982, 1986, 1990, and 1994.  He served as the Second Ward Council Member and then as a Council Member At-Large.  He was elected Council President in 1994, and served in that position until 1998.  He was a member of the Board of School Estimate, the Military Ocean Terminal Base Re-Use Commission, the Town Center Management Corporation, and the Bayonne Economic Development Corporation.  Joe served as Standard Bearer of the New Era Civic Club, a Director of the Polish American Home, and a member of the St. Cecilia’s Choir of St. John Paul II Roman Catholic Parish.  Council Member Makowski also served on the board of the Bayonne Economic Opportunity Foundation.  He was a member of the Bayonne General Casimir Pulaski Memorial Parade Committee.

On behalf of the City of Bayonne, I would like to offer our condolences to Joe’s wife, Karen, their children, Keith and Lisa, their daughter-in-law Carline, and their grandchildren, Joseph and Jack.