About Ron Bautista

My name is Ron Bautista and I’m a community organizer and cycling advocate passionate about building a better Hoboken. Hoboken has been my home for nearly 20 years now and, just like yourself, I know there’s work that needs to be done in order for this city to thrive. There’s been a disconnect between elected leaders and the people they serve, but I want to be the mayor that unites that gap. Politics is what empowers us to find solutions to make our schools better, our housing more affordable, and our transportation systems safer and more accessible. Hoboken is great but there’s room for improvement. There is a serious need for more traffic free options and working closely with engineers to fix our infrastructure. While Hoboken may only be a mile square city, there’s so much opportunity in the space available to make it easier for people to live a more active life. I want to implement programs where street art and community gardens are prioritized for residents to appreciate and to help attract those outside of Hoboken — only giving us an economic boost as we have seen with neighboring cities like Jersey City. I also want to promote innovative entrepreneurial projects that would help build stronger local leaders in business, nonprofit, and government. Hoboken is filled with small businesses and who better to help grow that than someone who had to help their parents’ cleaning business to help pay for my college tuition. I had to do that without any loans because I was an undocumented immigrant at the time and wasn’t eligible. But I put my accounting and marketing degree to work and learned how to think like an entrepreneur in order for my family’s business to be successful. I’ve also worked for the Department of New York State, where I got hands-on experience in urban policy, mobility and economic development. I worked as an mobility and engagement advisor for the Staten Island Economic Development Corporation where I worked on providing strategic and organizational support to community partners in the economic development process of Staten Island’s West Shore. I pushed for traffic-free options for the west shore, express lanes for buses or shuttles and now those plans are being implemented. I now know the in’s and out’s of bootstrapping initiatives and want to bring that know-how to Hoboken to help make it better. Every professional experience has led to running for mayor. Hoboken is so centrally located, filled with historic value, and the residents are what make this city what it is. We are living in the age of innovation and technology where anything is possible, let’s think outside the box. I want to take the time to listen to each of your thoughts and concerns, even if we don’t agree, so that together we can build a more people-friendly city.

Hoboken 2030 - UN-Habitat's Urban Agenda

Presented a video proposal of Hoboken, joining the world’s leading urban thinkers, advocates, policymakers and officials at the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III). In the contest by Next City, our video was among the 4 finalists to be presented at the conference (out of 200 applicants), together with Bhubaneswar (India), Nairobi (Kenya), and Seattle (Washington).

Core Team Member

Bike Hoboken October 2015 – Present Promote equal rights and responsibilities for pedestrians/bicyclists/drivers. Collaborate with city governments to drive adoption of transformative mobility strategies. Identify and working with influencers and decision-makers to communicate efficient use of limited road space.

Diversity Deputy Chair

New Leaders Council (NLC-NJ) August 2016 – June 2017 Together with Diversity Chair, work across chapter teams to assess programmatic needs that support diversity issues. Develop initiatives and communications strategies to promote diversity, with a particular focus on recruitment, institute training, and alumni engagement.

Board Member

Hoboken Public Library Foundation March 2015 – April 2017 Working to provide long term, stable support for the Hoboken Public Library; an evolving community hub of educational and cultural initiatives.

Mobility Advisor, Staten Island Economic Development Corp.

Greener by Design – Environmental Asset Management™ company May 2016 – October 2016 Provide strategic and organizational support to enlist and engage community partners in the economic development process of Staten Island’s West Shore. Delivers recommendations for transit-oriented development, such as comparisons between Bus Rapid Transit and a Light Rail Transit, for Staten Island’s West Shore.

Digital Advisor, On Camera Analyst

Univision Communications Inc. – Leading media company serving US Latinos November 2015 – November 2016 Plan and write scripts for a weekly TV segment targeting the Latino audience in the New York Tri-State area. Host the 1-minute TV segment providing innovative solutions through the use of mobile devices. Collaborate with reporters for news video clips in regards to technology.

Marketing Instructor

NYC Dept. of Small Business Services – Helping businesses start, operate, and expand Teach courses on Social Media Fundamentals, Mercadotecnia 101, Marketing 101, and Advanced Social Media & E-commerce Strategies. Connects students to other SBS services, including the Business Solutions suite of services and additional business education courses. Provides periodic feedback on and updates to the Business Solutions course structure, curriculum, and materials.

Public Relations / Account Management

Grupo Parada – A boutique marketing and public relations agency May 2011 – May 2016 Manage all aspects of public relations campaigns, from the initial campaign pitch, to campaign setup, execution, review and reporting for institutions like: – New York State Department of State – HETS (consortium of 30 member universities) – Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship Facilitate client’s interdepartmental collaboration towards meeting project expectations. Adapt client strategies to reflect and ensure culturally competent marketing campaigns.

Executive Director

Organización Juventud Ecuatoriana – 501(c)(3) focused on promoting higher education New York, NY Managed and expanded the Ecuadorian Scholars Fund program, providing scholarships once a year for 5 college students from the NYC Tri-State area. Established leadership and team-building workshops, as well as community service hours, as requirements for scholarship applicants to be considered. Recruited 30 college students from NY and NJ to volunteer in developing workshops that promoted higher education, as well as events celebrating Ecuadorian heritage.