Rahway Democrats clash over water, spending, and each other

An NAACP candidates forum laid bare the fault lines in a city council primary that is anything but friendly

Candidates and officials gather for a photo following the Rahway NAACP candidates forum at the Rahway Public Library on Monday. (The Central Jerseyan)

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Chris Howell | May 19, 2026

Rahway residents packed the Public Library on Monday night for the only candidates’ forum before the June 2 Democratic primary. It was the last and only chance for voters to hear the candidates speak directly in a forum before Primary Day.

The room filled fast. Latecomers stood along the back wall. The crowd made the air warm, and some people fanned themselves with event pamphlets.

Mayor Raymond Giacobbe and two Republicans, mayoral challenger Casey Granieri and council candidate Alan Levy, attended and spoke. But the main event was the four-way Democratic race for three at-large council seats.

Seeking re-election are Council President Jeffrey Brooks, Vice President Jeremy Mojica, and at-large councilmember Joanna Miles. Their only challenger is Andrew Garcia Phillips, a former journalist and local civic leader.

The Rahway NAACP organized the forum and billed it as a civil, community-minded conversation. It was not always that.

Sharp exchanges broke out over city spending, government transparency, and, above all, the future of Rahway’s water supply, an issue that hung over nearly every exchange of the night.

DON’T LET AN ALGORITHM DECIDE YOUR NEWS

The question of what to do with the Rahway Water Utility surfaced repeatedly before landing front and center during the audience question period.

The three incumbents were notably split.

Brooks said the city could benefit from “a responsible private operator.” He noted that none of Rahway’s neighbors — Westfield, Linden, Union, Clark — draw from the Rahway River. All rely on reservoir water or private utilities instead.

“Privatization is such a charged word,” he said. He added that whatever direction the city takes, “if we have it our way, the choice will be yours.”

Miles declined to take a firm stance. She said she doesn’t know enough yet to decide. But she suggested that selling the utility could protect residents if something goes wrong with the river, pointing to aging pipes and the cost of maintaining a system that serves only Rahway’s roughly 36,000 residents.

Mojica defended the studies the city commissioned as responsible governance. “How do we find these things out? You have to hire the right professionals,” he said. He also blamed upstream communities, not Rahway, for the salt and runoff that affect the river’s water quality.

A view of the Rahway River with the city water tower rising above the tree line. The image illustrates reporting on the Rahway City Council’s consideration of a bid process that could lead to the sale of the city’s public water utility.

Garcia Phillips was the only candidate to take a clear position.

“We should not sell our water utility,” he said. He argued the city should pursue grants that are only available to public utilities. He cited figures suggesting private water rates in New Jersey run about 60% higher than public utility rates. Levy cited a similar figure.

Mayor Giacobbe, speaking during closing remarks, gave the most detailed account of where things stand. He outlined a three-step process. The council already voted in February to seek a valuation and solicit bids. If bids come in, the council votes to accept or reject them. Only then does the question go to a public referendum.

“It is not our decision. It is your decision,” the mayor said.

He also disclosed something new. The city’s due diligence process revealed that Rahway owned cell towers worth around $6.5 million, which the city has since sold. Giacobbe offered the sale as evidence that the study more than paid for itself.

The Central Jerseyan previously reported on the Rahway water utility study. That reporting was cited by name during Monday’s forum.

Another pointed moment came when Pastor Marti Robinson, who helped to moderate the event, asked whether any candidate could provide a cost estimate for two proposed projects: a new amphitheater to be named after state Assemblyman and former Rahway Mayor James Kennedy, planned near Hamilton Stage, and the creation of East Cherry Street Park.

No incumbent immediately stepped to the microphone.

Garcia Phillips filled the silence. “I think that’s a no,” he said to applause.

He pointed to a bond ordinance passed by the council earlier this year, which authorized $2.75 million in borrowing to acquire two properties on Hamilton Street, including the former St. Mark’s Church site, for the proposed amphitheater. No design has been finalized, and no construction budget has been made public. Garcia Phillips argued the spending was emblematic of a larger problem.

“The lack of asking questions leads to problems,” he said, tying the amphitheater to what he described as a pattern from the library’s budget struggles to the water utility study of the council failing to scrutinize administration proposals.

Mojica said the James Kennedy Amphitheater is a joint project with Union County and is still in its early stages.

“There is nothing hidden about this project,” he said.

Brooks called Garcia Phillips’s claims “speculative”.

Giacobbe provided the most specific figures of the night in his closing remarks. He said the county will cover 100% of the property acquisition cost through its open space trust fund and has committed to paying 50% of construction costs. He estimated the total project at roughly $20 million, with the city’s share coming to about $5 million, approximately 25% of the total. He described the figures as approximate but said the county commitment is confirmed. The Cherry Street park project, he added, is being funded through a federal grant with minimal city contribution.

The forum’s most pointed moment came during closing statements.

Mojica turned directly to the challengers.

“The people who are running against us are not serious people,” he said. The crowd reacted loudly.

He kept going.

“We’ve got more experience to run rings around all you guys. We’re proof positive.”

He also said the incumbents had been personally attacked throughout the campaign and alleged that opponents had followed council members to their cars in the City Hall parking lot.

Brooks, in his own closing, alluded to a recent dispute on social media. He said he would not engage that way going forward and alleged that his family had been targeted.

“Even your family is attacked,” he said. “It happens.”

Garcia Phillips, who spoke before Mojica, had already drawn his own contrast. He pointed to the incumbents’ near-unanimous voting record and asked them, “If you all vote the same all the time, then why do we need all three of you?”

He also made an unusual direct appeal to voters. He asked supporters to cast just one of their three available votes for him, rather than filling all three slots, to give him the best chance of winning a seat.

“Vote for only Andrew,” he said.

Levy brought the most unpredictable energy of the evening.

During the public safety discussion, he twice asked the crowd to raise their hands if they had felt bullied by the local government. Each time, roughly half a dozen people raised their hands. The second poll set off a tense back-and-forth with an audience member, and moderators issued several warnings before moving on.

Earlier, Giacobbe had briefly interrupted Levy’s opening statement, which drew rebukes from the audience.

Levy also referenced his ongoing civil lawsuit against the city and the ACLU’s pending motion to join it. And in his closing, he said he was surprised to hear Democrats open to privatization at all. “I’m a Republican,” he said. “I support free market capitalism. Selling a utility to a private interest is not free market capitalism.”

After the forum, Levy told The Central Jerseyan, “I think it was a great opportunity to get different messages out on behalf of people. I’m glad that everybody had a chance to reveal themselves for exactly who they are.”

Granieri, the Republican mayoral candidate, pushed back on any suggestion that he is a MAGA Republican. He offered again to cut his salary or forgo it entirely in his first year.

“I work for you,” he said.

Not everything was tense.

When the topic of dog waste bag dispensers in the city came up, Mojica turned to Giacobbe mid-forum and asked whether the city could afford more.

“I think we can afford it,” the mayor said, getting applause.

Brooks then read an email confirming new dispensers were already being installed on Main Street.

Garcia Phillips raised the closure of Rahway Dance Theater, a Black-owned, woman-owned business that had been in Rahway for about 30 years before relocating to Westfield. He said the council was unaware that the business had been struggling with its landlord for months before it left.

“Nothing has been done since to make sure that we don’t lose more,” he said.

NAACP branch president Cynthia Goodman called the evening a success despite the friction.

“It was very challenging this evening, but once we set the ground rules and what the forum is, it was a very successful event,” she said. “The fact that we have the community here in such great volumes. It was well worth the evening.”

Brooks kept it short after the forum.

“I think it went well,” he said. “People were informed.”

The June 2 primary is open only to registered Democrats. Three at-large council seats are on the ballot. Voters may cast up to three votes.

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Correction: A previous version of this article said the city sold its water towers. It, in fact, sold two cell towers.