Greg V Racelis
I am sure that when Filipinos started settling down in
Jersey City they would have seen signs RACELIS all over the city. Indeed, it
was also a sign that we could succeed in agency businesses like Real Estate. If
you want to find Jersey City driving in the Garden State, you will know you are
in the right place when you start spotting Racelis signs.
It is against this background that I was amazed later when Greg joined the Jersey City Government
even after becoming good at real estate & independently wealthy. I first
thought it might be a step down for him, but I discovered the answer we worked
together. He proved that Human Resources are more valuable and stable than the
Real Estate business. A single person is greater than any personal property and
he knows that because he started as an Accountant. He was the link, the contact
man. He spent many hours, and I am sure even his off- time, serving the needs
of the Filipino people. The voice of
you who at times are reluctant to take issue with city hall and conduit to
city. I guarantee that this retirement is not the last time we will hear about
him. It will be another great beginning, a great day for Jersey City as he is
ready to help the Filipino-American community in even more ways. This is
therefore just culmination of a great public servant called civil service.
Greg Racelis was one of the prime movers of the Rizal monument project in
Jersey City. The monument is one of ou
visible landmark Now might be the time to plan a monument for Greg to
commemorate everything he has done for the Filipino Community. It would be a
daunting project, as Greg could be a victim of his greatness. He was so
good in his real estate job that we may not be able to find any open real
estate in the city big enough for a giant statue of this young man.
What we are celebrating tonight is not his final retirement. Most of the guest
will be talking about what he has done.
I would like to focus on what he would continue to do. He will now
be working closely with the Mayor. As a great political student, he will
be learning from his mentor, the first African-American Mayor of Jersey City.
He will be pounding the roads and with his passion and determination
it will be another successful contribution to the city.
No need to have Philippines Chambers of Commerce, Racelis will do. He has been
a welcome wagon for many of the Filipino newcomers in this city we know call
our bagong bayan.
I pride myself as an early oldtimer in Jersey City. My first time here, the
famous Mayor Hague was still alive, a man I would like to connect with the
first Filipino in Jersey City. Hague was a boxing enthusiast and he ruled the
city like one. He loved boxing so much that during his first term, he supported
a New Jersey boxer by name Johnny Buff, who later became the US boxing Champion
in the 1920s. The mayor went to New York City to watch his favorite son defend
his title. Johnny Buff however was so soundly beaten that night that the Mayor
left his ringside seat because he could not stand to watch the boxer getting up
from the mat. The new Champion happened to be Pancho Villa, the greatest
Filipino boxer of all time. I’m glad that I was not working for the city
at that time to receive Mayor wrath the following morning. I make this
reference to the Mayor of this city because perhaps one day, Greg could fill
the seat of Mayor, another Filipino first.