The Place for Jersey City News
Jersey City Times Staff

Marijuana Should Fund Schools say Lavarro and Solomon

/in , , /by

Ward E Councilman James Solomon and Councilman At-Large Rolando Lavarro are calling for Mayor Fulop and the entire City Council to dedicate any revenues generated by a local marijuana tax to the Jersey City Public Schools.

If New Jersey voters pass state public question #1 this November, they will amend the Constitution and legalize the use of marijuana. The question in part reads: “If authorized by the Legislature, a municipality may pass a local ordinance to charge a local tax on cannabis products.” Both councilmen support the measure and are urging voters to vote “Yes” on state public question #1.

JCPS is grappling with a budget crisis.  A 2018 change in the formula by which the state helps fund school districts hit Jersey City particularly hard. Jersey City was permitted under companion legislation to impose a 1% payroll tax to help fill the funding gap and did so in November of 2018. However, the payroll tax turned out to be only a partial solution. This year, facing a $120 million shortfall, the BOE adopted a $736 million budget. To do so, it hiked the school tax levy by 39% raising it from $136 million to $189 million. This had the effect of raising  the average homeowner’s tax bill over $550.

“Funding our public schools is essential to building a fair and equal city for all. Ensuring tax revenue from marijuana is used for that purpose, and not political patronage, is extremely important,” said Solomon.

Lavarro added that the tax would provide “a stable, dedicated funding source to our public schools, our students and their families, who have endured much turmoil and uncertainty over the past several years.”

Ron Leir

Local Republicans Stand by Their Man

/in , , /by

To say that Republicans in Jersey City are well positioned to help turn New Jersey into a red state would be to dismiss the political reality of the city and the county’s longtime Democratic base.

The last time a Republican captured city hall in Jersey City was back in 1992 when Bret Schundler won the city’s mayoralty. It’s worth noting that Schundler, a former Democrat, was New Jersey’s coordinator for Gary Hart’s presidential campaign in 1984.

Registered Democrats in Jersey City typically outnumber their political rivals by a margin of more than five to one, notes Dan Beckelman, a GOP commissioner currently serving on the Hudson County Board of Elections. But local Republicans have made some gains, he notes.

Four years ago, according to the county superintendent of elections’ office, there were 36,434 Republicans registered to vote in Hudson County and 9,013 in Jersey City. This year, as of Oct. 19, there are 41,597 registered GOP voters in the county — a 14% increase — and 13,026 in Jersey City — a whopping 44.5% uptick.

Still, to keep things in perspective, those numbers reflect an across-the-board upswing in the number of residents who have registered to vote likely prompted by interest in the presidential contest. Hudson County’s registered vote total rose, from 347,277 in 2016 to 411,341, an 18% increase this year while Jersey City’s went from 136,026 to 167,146, a 23% increase.

In terms of campaigning, this election cycle has been different for the GOP in many ways. There have been no political rallies locally, little to no financial aid from the state or national party, and relatively few residents posting political signs. What is more, county and state Republican leader Jose Arango recently backed the Jersey City school board slate endorsed by Democratic Mayor Steve Fulop, reflecting some weakening in the local GOP’s cohesiveness. Nevertheless, the local GOP base appears to be solidly behind their candidate.

Neil Schulman, a veteran local Republican foot soldier who currently serves as one of the county GOP executive directors, puts it this way: “[Donald] Trump doesn’t have a filter but he’s doing a good job for the country. I’m not saying he’s perfect, but things could be a lot worse.”

“Before the coronavirus hit, he was heading to re-election and now the polls are showing him behind [Democratic challenger Joe Biden], but a lot of people don’t want to admit supporting him. A lot of people don’t want to hear you defend Trump, but I believe the country is leaning too much to socialism.”

Schulman believes that fear — coupled with concern that socialist thinking will lead to big spending on social programs by the government — will drive many voters in some areas of the county to vote for the party’s leader. “Look at Harrison, Kearny, maybe Secaucus, as places where Trump will do well and even Bayonne because they don’t go along with the flow.”

A political brochure distributed recently to the party faithful by the Jersey City Republican Club warns: “Liberal special interest groups across Jersey City are rallying for higher property taxes to feed the unchecked tax and spend machine that is the city government and Board of Education. This extremist support for big government and machine politics is a serious threat to the future of our city and must be stopped.”

The brochure advocates for “Republican values” such as “limited and efficient government, economic empowerment, individual liberty and personal responsibility.”

Joshua Sotomayor Einstein, a former chairman of the Young Republicans of Hudson County and now a member of the New Jersey Republican Party executive committee, senses a growing grassroots movement in the state and country that is “loud and proud for libertarian government. There’s a definite thirst for a real alternative to the status quo … who see Trump as honest and earnest. They don’t understand why he’s painted as a demon. The hard left are just alienating people.”

And Kamei Harris, president of the Hudson County Federation of Republican Women, who works as an assistant chief clerk in the Jersey City Police Department, is “very confident that Trump is going to do well” nationwide even though “a lot of people are afraid to go out in the open for him. Even if we do lose in Jersey City, I believe overall, he will do well. A lot of Democrats will vote him in.”

Under Trump’s leadership, Harris said, “our economy was booming before COVID.” Trump is all about self-initiative, she said. “It’s all about you educating yourself, not sitting home and waiting on the government for help.”

 

 

Jersey City Times Staff

Editorial: It’s Time to Bite the Bullet on School Reopening

/in , , , , /by

On Monday night School Superintendent Franklin Walker predicted that Jersey City schools would continue remote learning until February. Walker had previously targeted November for reopening. While some educators and parents are no doubt relieved by the news, we believe that Walker’s recommendation is a cop out.

According to the Jersey Journal, which covered Monday’s caucus meeting and later interviewed Walker, the superintendent explained, “We have had schools (in the state) that have gone to some hybrid structure, and they have had incidents where they had to close down. We certainly had a chance to learn from our neighbors and other areas that started school long before us, and the indication at this point and time is not to put ourselves in that situation.”

At first blush, Walker’s explanation seems to make sense. If school districts nearby have been unable to pull off a return to school, why would Jersey City be able to? Why not err on the side of caution?

Here are five counter arguments the Board of Education should consider:

1. There is evidence that virtual learning is having dire educational impacts. Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser has cited data showing a sharp drop in the number of the youngest students who are meeting literacy benchmarks. According to the Washington Post, D.C. Public Schools released data showing a decline of 22 percentage points in the number of kindergartners meeting literacy goals at the start of the school year compared to a year ago and a nine-percentage-point drop in students through second grade who are meeting these targets. There’s no reason to think that these numbers would be different in Jersey City.

2. Though many large cities in New Jersey are electing to stay with remote learning, other larger cities, including Chicago, Miami-Dade County, Houston, and San Diego are opting to resume classes in some form. New York City, a much larger and more complex school system, has managed to implement a partial reopening.

3. According to an article in The New York Times, experts believe that children are unlikely to stoke coronavirus outbreaks. Infection rates are particularly low at the elementary level. The Times quoted Dr. David Rubin, a pediatrician and infectious disease expert at the University of Pennsylvania. “I think there’s a pretty good base of evidence now that schools can open safely in the presence of strong safety plans and even at higher levels of case incidence than we had suspected,” he said.

4. In an interview on CNN last night, Dr. Anthony Fauci predicted that the U.S. may not return to “normality” until late 2021 or possible early 2022. If Superintendent Walker and the Board of Education are thinking that the situation in February will be substantially different from the situation we confront now, they may be sorely disappointed.

5. Jersey City has a seven day average infection rate of approximately 7.6 cases per 100,000. Chicago and New York, which are both reopening, are at 28.7 and 7.7, respectively.

Restarting classes, even with a hybrid system, is a weighty decision. The health of our children and our families should be paramount. And there is some evidence that communities of color will need more convincing as to the safety of reopening. However, the health calculus must also include the mental health and the education of school children, many of whom come from homes that cannot provide the support they need to learn online.

The superintendent, the Board of Education and the teacher’s union can’t put this decision off forever. One approach would be to start with elementary school students who pose the least risk and may be suffering the most academically. The CDC has published an exhaustive list of strategies to minimize spread. Jersey City should study these options and use its best judgment to choose how it will reopen schools prior to next February. However, simply kicking the can down the road and hoping that the decision will get easier any time soon is a mistake.

 

Jersey City Times Staff

Five Questions for the New Principal at TECCS

/in , , , /by

In August, the turmoil at The Ethical Community Charter School (TECCS) over the ouster of former principal Marta Bergamini came to an end with the hiring of a new principal, Chloe Lewis. Lewis is a fourteen-year education veteran who has worked as a teacher, math supervisor, curriculum supervisor, vice-principal, and principal. Jersey City Times got a chance to ask her some questions about her background, her teaching philosophy and the future of the school.

1)   What motivated you to become an educator?

At a young age, I always knew I wanted to become an educator because I wanted to work with children.  When I was in high school, I had a principal that was a true inspiration to me.  I also had a professor in college, who created a class that made me love learning.  My high school principal and my college professor are two of the major reasons why I pursued a career in education.  Their ability to guide students, develop rapport, their fairness, and sense of justice made me aspire to bring these things into my own classroom and school as a leader.

2)  In your career as an educator prior to TECCS, what have you found to be most challenging and how did you try to meet that challenge?

In my career as an educator prior to TECCS, I found that the greatest challenge that I have faced was the fight to eliminate inequity.  One way in which I try to meet this challenge is to remove any barriers that would potentially cause the inequity.  Equity does not mean equality; equity simply means that each child receives exactly what is needed in order to succeed.  The battle for equity is what drives my passion as an educator.  There are so many students whose only opportunity at a better life is to receive the quality education that they deserve.  I’m hopeful that we will continue to provide that opportunity at TECCS.   

3)  If you were asked to pick the three most important factors that go into a student’s success, what would they be?

I believe the three most important factors that go into a student’s success are:

1)    A positive school environment that includes a positive school culture and classroom practices that continually support positive relationships; physical and emotional safety, including identity safety; and a sense of belonging and purpose.

2)    Support for the intentional development of social and emotional skills.  These skills should include self-regulation, intrapersonal awareness, interpersonal skills, growth mindset and support resilience.  The support for behavior should be restorative and enable students to learn how to collaborate, resolve conflict and continue to contribute to the community.

3)    Providing real world connections with students which are extremely valuable.  When there is a personal connection to the work, students are more willing to invest their time and energy to the task.  Students should be met at their current level and provided with work that is challenging (according to their level of learning), and teachers should provide differentiation to meet the needs of all learners.

4)  You’ve taken over the reigns from a beloved leader in Marta Bergamini. Where, if at all, do you see making changes in how she approached the job both from the perspective of an educator or administrator?

Although I am taking over the reigns of a beloved leader, I am bringing my own experience and leadership style.  I take great pride in building positive relationships with the staff, families and students; I will continue to rebuild our school culture, strengthen our student achievement, and ensure that our ethics mission is at the core of our decision making process.  Currently, my focus is to continue to strengthen our remote learning program and prepare to safely open school for all TECCS families and staff.

5)  What are some of the challenges and/or opportunities specific to TECCS that you’d like to address going forward?

Some of the opportunities specific to TECCS that I would like to address going forward would be to continue to increase our ethics mission through various programs.  I would like to continue to work with our community at large, build successful partnerships, and proceed with connecting our curriculum to real world experiences.

Jersey City Times Staff

Kansas City Here I Come

/in , , /by

Mayor Steven Fulop tonight confirmed that Jersey City Business Administrator Brian Platt is headed to Kansas City, Missouri, to assume the job of city manager.  On Oct. 5, Platt interviewed as one of four finalists for the job.

Yesterday, Jersey City Times announced Platt’s departure relying on sources at City Hall. The story was taken down pending further confirmation.

The story caused consternation among members of Kansas City’s city council, whose members had not signed off on an offer to Platt. Councilwoman Heather Hall told Jersey City Times that at least four members were on the fence regarding Platt after the unexpected announcement.

Tonight the Kansas City Star is reporting that Mayor Quinton Lucas will recommend Platt to the city council. According to the Star, Quinton said that a majority of the council had told him Platt was their first choice — or tied for their first choice — among the four finalists for the job. Quinton denied having offered Platt the job, according to the paper.

Platt joined the Fulop administration in 2013. He became the city’s first chief innovation officer and established the Jersey City Office of Innovation in 2015. In 2018, he became Jersey City business administrator, city manager and chief operating officer.

Jersey City Times Staff

Jersey City is 3rd Least Financially Distressed City — Maybe

/in , , /by

This will probably come as a surprise to many, but Jersey City residents are, on average, in relatively good financial shape. This according to financial website Wallethub which ranked the 100 largest cities in the U.S. for financial distress.  Jersey City lost out only to Anchorage Alaska and Madison Wisconsin.

“While the public-health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is a huge concern, it’s important to pay attention to how the disease has affected the financial status of people in cities across the U.S. While the unemployment rate has been slowly improving as the country reopens, 12.6 million Americans are still out of a job. In addition, one survey estimates that nearly 69% of Americans would find it “somewhat difficult” or “very difficult” to meet their current financial obligations if their next paycheck were delayed for one week. However, Americans in some cities are faring better than others.”

“In order to determine the cities where people are in the most financial distress during COVID-19, WalletHub compared the 100 largest cities without data limitations (Lexington-Fayette, KY, St. Paul, MN and St. Petersburg, FL we excluded) across nine key metrics in six overall categories: 1) Credit Score, 2) People with Accounts in Distress, 3) Average Number of Accounts in Distress, 4) Change in Number of Bankruptcy Filings – June 2020 vs. June 2019, 5) “Debt” Search Interest Index and 6) “Loans” Search Interest Index. WalletHub defines an account in distress as one which either is in forbearance or has its payments deferred.”

WalletHub then “determined the weighted average across all metrics to calculate an overall score for each city and used the resulting scores to rank-order [its] sample.”

WalletHub relied on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Google Ads and WalletHub itself.

On five key metrics, WalletHub ranked Jersey City as follows (with 1 being most distressed and 25 being average).

  • 85th – Change in Credit Score – September vs. January
  • 79th – Change in the Share of People with Accounts in Distress – September vs. January
  • 73rd – Change in the Average No. of Accounts in Distress – September vs. January
  • 97th – Change in Number of Bankruptcy Filings – June 2020 vs. June 2019
  • 59th – “Debt” Search Interest Index

WalletHub’s ranking  may not, however, paint a full picture of Jersey City’s distress level as it draws primarily on bank data, credit data and bankruptcies. Arguably, unbanked and undocumented residents might not be represented in the ranking in proportion to their numbers.  Jersey City Times put this issue to WalletHub. Spokesperson Diana Polk responded, “Since the study consists mostly in an analysis of credit scores, accounts and bankruptcies, those who are unbanked are clearly not included. However, we also took into account Google search indexes for debt and loans, and this is where people are included regardless of whether they are unbanked or undocumented.”

The entire report can be viewed here.
https://wallethub.com/edu/cities-financial-distress/79863/

Aaron Morrill

DEP Releases Design for Liberty State Park Interior

/in , , , /by

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has released a design concept for the restoration of the interior of Liberty State Park. First presented in a virtual meeting on Tuesday night, the presentation is now available online.

Two hundred thirty four acres of the interior will be opened. The proposed plan would turn 75 of the acres into separate saltwater and fresh water wetlands that would provide fish and wildlife habitat and protect the city from storm surges like the one that occurred during Superstorm Sandy in 2012; and 133 acres into multi-use trails and large manicured lawns that would serve as scenic overlooks, play areas, and places where families could picnic. In addition, the plan would create five new park entrances to provide greater access to the community, two new parking areas (near the entrances), and active recreation at up to three places outside the ecological restoration area.

The future of the park’s interior became a hot topic over the summer with the emergence of the group, “Liberty State Park For All,” funded by billionaire and Liberty National Golf Course owner Paul Fireman. The group’s creation coincided with Fireman’s efforts to insert a provision into the Liberty State Park Protection Act that effectively exempts a 22-acre piece of land in the park known as Caven Point from the Act’s protections. Fireman has sought to make the wildlife sanctuary into part of the golf course, a move that has met with stiff opposition from politicians, environmental groups, and Jersey City residents.

In July, Liberty State Park For All distributed an incendiary flyer entitled “Broken Promises of Liberty State Park” with the slogan “White Silence = White Violence.”  The flyer suggested that Jersey City’s Black community had been deliberately excluded from decisions affecting the park. The handout also implied that unidentified actors had prevented a cleanup of the contaminated interior of the park and had either privatized or prevented the construction of recreational amenities such as ballfields that could be used by people of color. The group Friends of Liberty State Park, which has opposed Fireman’s efforts, was assumed to the primary target of the flyer.

Friends of Liberty State Park has forcefully pushed back against the Fireman-sponsored group’s claims. Speaking with Jersey City Times, FOLSP founder and president Sam Pesin disputed the claim that it had opposed adding ballfields or that the matter had anything to do with the remediation efforts. According to Pesin, his father Morris, who is credited as the driving force behind the park’s creation, favored a “Central Park-type future,” i.e., that the park would include athletic fields and small concessions. FOLSP has always supported that vision, he told Jersey City Times. Another supporter of FOLSP, Ward F resident Daoud David Williams, who is also a member of the NAACP, told Jersey City Times that “it is disgusting that they want to racialize this. They are co-opting Black Lives Matter. They want to pretend that they are representative of the community.”

The DEP’s plan has been greeted with cautious optimism by Liberty State Park For All. In a statement to the Jersey Journal, Executive Director Arnold Stovell said “While I am still looking through the details of the plan, what we saw last night was encouraging at first glance. That said—and as was mentioned many times last night—we have heard these kinds of promises before.” He added that they “will continue to push for a cleanup at the park that is consistent with standards used in white communities and for active recreation.”

For his part, Pesin released the following statement. “LSP’s future is very bright with this visionary plan 25 years in-the-making, interior nature plan with trails, with the DEP’s commitment to active recreation and other improvements, and with the essential LSP Protection Act needing to become law to end privatization battles. The varied nature habitats will inspire urban residents and all visitors, provide special opportunities for urban youth environmental education and also for eco-tourism. The DEP’s protective and legally required remediation plan, the establishment of active recreation, and the DEP’s commitment to transparency and ongoing collaboration pulls the rug out from the lies and propaganda of Liberty National Golf Course owner Paul Fireman and his paid surrogates with his ulterior motive of privatizing LSP’s Caven Point Natural Area for multi-millionaire golfers.”

The DEP is asking that people view the presentation, take the survey, and share their thoughts on the future of Liberty State Park.

View the Presentation: https://youtu.be/QtMzOASx5bs

Participate in the planning by taking a survey by November 6: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/B7H3FGJ

If unable to submit a survey, email your comments to lspinterior@dep.nj.gov.

Joanna Arcieri

Jersey City for Biden Enters Final Stretch

/in , , /by

With under two weeks until the general election on November 3, organizers in Jersey City are working toward reaching swing state voters and electing Joe Biden.

The volunteer effort, Jersey City for Biden, is run by NJ-08 for Progress, a Hudson County progressive advocacy group that formed in the aftermath of the 2016 election. 

“Our pattern has been in major election years like 2018 and 2020, we’ve done a lot of work in the general election,” explained NJ-08 for Progress organizer, Eleana Little. “In 2018, we worked in swing districts. In 2020, we’re doing a lot of virtual phone and text banking to swing states. At the same time, we’ve been active throughout, particularly in odd number years, more local, progressive issues as well.”

In 2016, organizers behind a similar volunteer effort—Jersey City for Hillary–worked with the Clinton presidential campaign to organize phone banks, in-person events in Jersey City, and buses of canvassers to Pennslyvania. In 2018, NJ-08 for Progress actively organized phone banks and canvassers in swing districts throughout New Jersey. 

“We wanted to bring the experience that we had in 2018 and bring it to 2020 in terms of mobilizing volunteers for voter outreach,” said Little. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has suspended in-person campaign organizing. 

“It’s definitely a challenge. I think we would love to be all gathering at someone’s house and ordering a pizza and making phone calls and writing postcards and things like that,” said Little. “People are driven and motivated and want to see a change.”

Although in-person campaigning is not feasible, Jersey City for Biden hosts four weekly events on Zoom that can draw up to 30 dedicated volunteers. A favorite event, Sundae Banking, hosted on Sundays, makes the virtual gathering fun for volunteers. “The picture for the event is Joe Biden holding two ice cream cones. We take a break in the middle and we all treat ourselves to ice cream at home, just decompress for half an hour,” explained Little. 

In addition to contacting swing state voters, the Jersey City for Biden focuses their efforts on NJ-03 and NJ-07, two congressional districts that flipped from Republican to Democrat in the 2018 midterm elections.  

For Jersey City for Biden organizers like Little, reaching undecided voters in swing districts and swing states in the final days leading up to the election is imperative “Even if you feel like Biden was not your first choice and maybe not as progressive as you would like on certain policies, we would much rather be working with a Biden presidency and pushing him to be more progressive than working with a Trump presidency where nothing good will be coming out of it at all,” said Little. 

With this perspective, Little continued: “We’re not bugging our friends in Hudson County to go vote for Biden because we know Biden’s going to win Hudson County in a landslide. We’re spending our time where matters most. If you feel like your vote doesn’t matter, one way to make a difference is to reach out to voters in other states.”

One Jersey City for Biden volunteer, who asked not to be named, echoed Little: “I wanted to do my part. Even if I change one or two votes, it’s really important. I feel like it [the election] has bigger consequences for institutions. I personally feel like I have a responsibility and wanted to do my part.“

To get involved with Jersey CIty for Biden, visit their Facebook group or sign up for their newsletter. 

 

Ann Marie Miller

Op Ed: Vote Yes! Arts are More Important Now than Ever!

/in , , /by

It’s not often that voters get a say in how they want public funding spent, and Jersey City is a leader in giving its residents a say in what is important in their lives. The arts make an enormous difference to Jersey City. You can see it downtown and in all of its neighborhoods—on walls, in public art, in galleries, and in virtual and real-life classrooms. Jersey City has a unique opportunity to help them survive and thrive.

I urge you to support Municipal Question #1 on this year’s ballot.  It will create an Arts and Culture Trust Fund to support a variety of arts programs in Jersey City equitably and sustainably. In the end, it always comes down to what we value—safe and healthy neighborhoods, quality education for our kids, a thriving commerce and opportunity, a distinctive identity. The arts foster them all.

They are basic and essential to a quality education.  They help children learn, improve graduation rates, and build a creative workforce.  We learn now that they also improve social and emotional learning, help students form empathy, and maintain positive social relationships.

Many nonprofit arts groups employ teaching artists who have been hit hard during COVID and need support. Their livelihoods depend on contracts with schools and PTO’s working hard to meet basic educational goals, that include the arts. Yet schools cannot afford the assemblies or residencies required and cannot even consider them at this time.

The arts make communities attractive, safer, and bring both pride and commerce to them. Jersey City is nationally known for its vibrant arts community as well as its mural program beautifying the bustling city center.  During these challenging times, arts activities complement outdoor dining and help keep restaurants and businesses safely open.

Hard data back all these claims. To learn more, visit keepjerseyartsalive.org for even deeper data on jobs, economic impact, and quality education (both statewide and in Hudson County) and how the arts create them.

So, it comes down to what we value, what makes us whole and healthy. That is what the arts do best.  Vote YES on Municipal Question #1. Future generations of Jersey City residents will thank you for your foresight and for action at this critical moment in the continued resurgence of Jersey City.

 

Aaron Morrill

Council Approves Controversial Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance

/in , , /by

For close to four hours the speakers took their turns weighing in against a controversial inclusionary zoning ordinance put forth by Mayor Steven Fulop and Council President Joyce Watterman.  In the end it wasn’t enough. The municipal council voted to enact the ordinance with only Ward E Councilman James Solomon and Councilman-at-Large Rolando Lavarro voting against it.

Mayor Fulop was the object of derision for many speakers. Reading from a script seemingly used by several other speakers, Akash Patel charged that “the mayor is doing whatever it takes to keep high income communities and to price out Black and brown people who live there.” Several speakers saw the ordinance as evidence of Mayor Fulop’s desire to make Jersey City a “sixth borough” of New York City.

Acknowledging the benefits of development, Jerome Choice recalled that when he was growing up downtown, “Hamilton Park was a junkie park.” Nevertheless, he lamented that “a lot of people who are native and who have been long term residents can’t afford to live here anymore.” 

Jessica Taube, a recent transplant priced out of Brooklyn warned that “the same thing thing is happening in Jersey City that happened in Brooklyn.”

Shamika Austin charged that the “ordinance is redlining under another name.”

Brian Rans warned that “we’re going to need a large supply of affordable housing when the eviction freeze is over.”

The ordinance requires covered developers to “set aside” 20% of their units as “affordable.”  However, developers can reduce the set aside to 5% by contributing to an affordable housing trust fund, building off-site affordable housing or building structures that would provide “community benefits” such as parking garages and police stations.  The ordinance also allows the council to waive entirely the affordable requirements on an as-needed basis.

Prior to voting on the ordinance, Lavarro offered a series of amendments. The amendments would have created a mandatory 15% affordable requirement downtown and a mandatory 10% affordable requirement in other “hot” real estate markets in Jersey City. Additionally, parking decks and police stations would not qualify as “community benefits” entitling reductions in the affordability requirements.  Affordability requirements would, under Lavarro’s plan, have been extended from 30 to 45 years.  Finally, the Council would not have been able to waive the requirements on an as-needed basis in the future. First Assistant Corporation Counsel Nick Strasser argued that the waiver would allow the council flexibility to negotiate settlements with developers in the future. All of these amendments went down to defeat with Solomon voting in favor of all them and Ward D Councilman Yousef Saleh, who is facing a special election in two weeks, voting in favor of two.

Lavarro did score one small victory when the council adopted his amendment to force developers to make a payment to the city when the developer is obligated to create what amounts to a fraction of an affordable unit.

Ward A Councilwoman Denise Ridley defended her vote in favor of the ordinance. “Every project that I’ve cut the ribbon on in Ward A has had affordable units…at Bayfront alone we have 3,000 units.” She added, “I need the flexibility to require community benefits. I’m voting for this ordinance because I want to have options.” 

In voting for the ordinance, Ward B Councilwoman Mira Prinz-Arey noted that “Newark has had some real problems trying to get affordable housing built with their 20% requirement.” 

Ward C Councilman Richard Boggiano was ready to move on. “We can look forward to the next six month to make certain changes. It’s time to pass it.”

Saleh voted in favor. “The [ordinance] is not going to be the cure-all for all of our housing issues. While this isn’t perfect, you have to get a consensus to pass anything. We need pass something.” 

Like Ridley, Ward F Councilman Jermaine Robinson said he needed flexibility, pointing out that a recent deal to build a homeless shelter in Ward E was accomplished by allowing the developer to go down to 3% affordable housing.

Councilman-at-large Daniel Rivera voted in favor of the ordinance.

Lavarro complained that “with this many loopholes, you’re better off not having any ordinance at all.  It pretty much legalizes the status quo.”