Councilman-at-Large
Mariano Vega, Jr.City Hall, 280 Grove Street
Room 202
Jersey City, NJ 07302
Tel: (201) 547-5268
Fax: (201) 547-4678
email: mariano@jcnj.org
Hilario Nuñez, Council Aide
Tel: (201) 547-5458
email: hnunez@jcnj.org
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Term of office
First elected to council: May 5, 1997
Current term expires: June 30, 2013
Biography
Jersey City Councilman-at-Large Mariano Vega, born in the rain forest of Puerto Rico, has lived in Jersey City for over 55 years. He resides with his wife Sonia Zayas, an occupational therapist, and their three children in the Van Vorst Park historic district of Downtown Jersey City.
Mariano is the director of the Hudson County Department of Parks, Engineering and Planning, where he has been the policy advocate for open green space and park expansion, alternate fuel vehicles, solar and renewable energy, and restoration of the historic Brennan court house.
Mariano worked in higher education for 14 years, providing equal opportunity in higher education for minority students at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and Montclair State University. Mariano has been an adjunct professor of Sociology at Essex County Community College, and has had numerous publications and presented conference papers to national and state organizations.
Equally known and widely respected for his success at reforming New Jersey's second largest welfare agency, Mariano is a formidable policy advocate for poor families, the homeless, the hungry, working families and children with special needs. Mariano succeeded in providing employment opportunities for more than 6,000 former welfare recipients and reduced the welfare roles by 60%.
Well known for his passion for changing the status quo, Mariano has served on the state appointed Jersey City Board of Education for six years, where his peers elected him Chairman of the Board of Education. He is known as a fierce advocate for special education, early childhood education, and a proponent of bringing social services to the schools.
Having served as councilman for the Downtown waterfront (Ward E, from 1997- 2000) and as a Councilman-at-Large (2001-2005), Mariano served as the Council President from 2005-2009. His interest in the arts has won him support among artists, Friends of the Loews Theater, and the Jersey City Museum. As an open green space advocate, Mariano guided the JC Reservoir Alliance toward preserving the reservoir as an open space oasis. He also ushered the East Coast Greenway into the hearts of Jersey City residents. As a former chairman of the Jersey City Economic Development Corporation, Mariano promoted economic development from Downtown to Martin Luther King Drive.
In addition, Mariano served on the Jersey City Medical Center Board of Trustees and the North Jersey Transportation Planning Association.
Mariano received a Master of Arts degree in Human Services in 1977 and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology in 1972, both from Montclair State University.
Mariano founded the international recreation and educational exchange program and sponsored soccer training in Brazil for sixteen inner city children. Furthermore, he hosted a delegation from South America during February 2001.
Mariano is an avid skier and has introduced skiing, through the Vega ski clinic, to many inner city youth. In addition, Mariano is an advanced certified scuba diver, and he enjoys biking, bird watching, photography, and gardening.
Special Projects
Open green space
Special education, early childhood education
Alternate fuel vehicles, solar & renewable energy