Kristen Zadroga-Hart Announces Candidacy For Jersey City Council

JERSEY CITY, NJ —Kristen Zadroga-Hart, an educator and lifelong resident of Ward A, announced Tuesday that she is running in the Nov. 2 Jersey City Council elections to represent her home ward. Zadroga-Hart made the announcement on social media and through a press release.

"I know the opportunities and challenges facing families on the south side of town. I am running to represent the will of the people, not the wishes of a chosen few.," Zadroga-Hart said in the release. "I will be an independent voice on the council, fighting for what matters most to my Jersey City neighbors, and more specifically, my fellow Ward A residents."

According to Taptinto.net, Zadroga-Hart has been a Jersey City Public Schools educator for more than 27 years and is currently the athletic director at McNair Academic High School. She was an executive board member for the Jersey City Education Association, a board member for the Jersey City Recreation Foundation and was named a Jersey City Woman of Action and a Jersey City Public Schools Teacher of the Year.

Zadroga-Hart said she recently was part of the group that fought to repeal the unfair water tax and she called on the city council to "refund the money we are owed."

In the press release announcing her candidacy, Zadroga-Hart said that if elected to the city council, she would prioritize youth by expanding vocational training and recreational opportunities in the city, fight for infrastructure improvements to roads and public transportation and address crime and violence with innovative community programs, job training, social services and affordable housing.

"Lack of transparency from city hall, slashing funding to recreation, a rise in violent crimes, crumbling infrastructure and lifelong residents being priced out of their homes have all been factors in my decision to run for office at this time," said Zadroga-Hart, who ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for state assembly in the 31st District in 2017.

According to Tapinto.net, Zadroga-Hart is the daughter of a Jersey City educator and a Teamster, she attended St. Dominic Academy and played soccer at the University of Nebraska, from which she received a bachelor's in psychology. She also received her certification as a teacher of the handicapped from the New Jersey City University.

"As an educator, a mentor, a coach, a former union leader, parent of three and wife of a Jersey City firefighter, I know that every hardworking family deserves a representative who will fight for them," Zadroga-Hart said. " I will bring a strong record of advocacy for public education, public safety and infrastructure improvements to City Hall."