The Trenton Times published the following article on April 17, 2013. To read the full article, click here.
Trenton businessman Paul Perez announces run for mayor
By Emily Brill/Times of Trenton
on April 17, 2013 at 2:55 PMTRENTON — Businessman Paul Perez said today that he will run for mayor, making him the fifth declared candidate in the May 2014 election.
Perez, 50, who returned to his native Trenton in November after more than 30 years away, said he will make an official announcement on the steps of City Hall on Friday.
“I believe I’m the right person to come here to solve the issues regarding out-of-control crime,” Perez said. “Make me the mayor today, and tomorrow you will have 105 police officers back on duty.”
Perez said he dropped out of Trenton Central High School in 1980, served in the U.S. Army for 20 years, worked as a special agent with the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command and spent three years as a division director of the National Science Foundation. He and now runs a consulting business out of his Trenton home
Perez said his years of managerial and executive experience make him uniquely qualified to be mayor. He said he believes the biggest issue facing Trenton is crime.
“We need to do a better job of what we’re doing with our money and prioritizing what’s best for our city,” Perez said. “The priority should always be public safety.”
Though the election is more than a year away, several candidates have said they are running: entrepreneur Patrick Hall, Mercer County Deputy Clerk Walker Worthy, former Police Director James Golden and former public works director Eric Jackson, who finished third in the 2010 mayoral election.
Mayor Tony Mack, who faces a trial this summer on federal corruption charges, has not officially said whether he will run again. But at a sparsely attended town hall meeting yesterday he spoke of being “re-elected overwhelmingly.”
Contact Emily Brill at (609) 989-5731 or ebrill@njtimes.com.