The Jersey City Independent"

Photo by Steve Gold

Candidates for the City Council At-Large seat gathered on Tuesday evening to introduce themselves and field questions from voters at a forum held by the Riverview Neighborhood Association (RNA) in the Heights. About 75 people crowded into the dining room of the Harborview Health Center to hear from the candidates.

Eleven of the thirteen candidates were present. From Mayor Healy’s ticket, incumbent council president Mariano Vega and councilman Peter Brennan attended; councilwoman Willie Flood did not. Also present were: One Jersey City candidates Emilio DeLia and Andrew Hubsch; Joseph Cassidy, Betty Outlaw and Lori Serrano from Lou Manzo’s ticket; Ronnie Greco, Frank Scalcione and Noemi Velazquez from L. Harvey Smith’s slate; and Abdul Malik, who is running with Phil Webb. Independent candidate Marie Day did not attend.

Each candidate was allowed two minutes for an opening statement, in which they were asked to describe their view of the role of an At-Large council member and name the major issues they see facing the Heights. These introductions were followed by ten audience questions. Because of the large number of candidates present, not everyone was asked to answer every question: three names were chosen randomly to decide who would answer each. However, a question about the value of tax abatements provoked so much interest from the candidates as well as the audience that all candidates were permitted to speak on the issue: organizer and RNA chair Becky Hoffman jokingly called it a “bonus.”

The questions covered a wide range, including Heights-specific issues such as the condition of roads and development plans, as well as hot-button citywide issues such as abatements, property taxes, the practice of holding municipal or county jobs while holding elected office, and support for small business. Overall, the tone of the forum was quite lively, with some candidates — Downtown businessman Frank Scalcione in particular — becoming intensely impassioned while speaking, and cheers and jeers coming from the crowd in equal measure.

RNA founding member Maria Tuzzo, a lifelong resident of Jersey City, capped the event with a brief but stirring appeal to those present to avoid voting on the basis of personality, looks, cronyism or other irrelevant criteria, but rather to cast a vote “to improve this city.”

A consistent thread in the questions as well as the responses was dissatisfaction with the current administration’s record. Greenville resident Monique Snow, who is backed by mayoral candidate Lou Manzo in her run for the 31st District Assembly seat, directed her question to Brennan, a former Ward A councilman. Citing what she called the lack of recreational facilities in her neighborhood, she asked, “what plans do you have for Greenville?” Speaking after the meeting, Snow said that “nothing has improved in Ward A” under the incumbents. For his part, Brennan had on hand a “complete manual of everything the city offers for recreation.”

While Brennan and Vega defended their respective records and laid claim to a catalog of positive changes, the challengers at various points cited a lack of accountability, fiscal mismanagement, corruption and high crime as reasons to remove the current administration.

Although the overall temper of the crowd seemed rather unfriendly to the incumbents, not everyone was impressed by the challengers. Jersey City resident Bob Pagano said after the forum that he would be voting for the Healy team. “There are always some candidates who think they can knock down the incumbents by talking about things like abatements,” Pagano said. “The incumbents are doing a decent job.”

RNA chair Hoffman said she was pleased with the turnout for the event and grateful that most of the candidates were able to make it. She did say, however, that the candidates “could have done a much better job” of addressing the specific concerns of Heights residents and of “answering the questions as completely as possible.”

In contrast to the rather tepid routinized performances of the mayoral candidates at the Hudson Media Group debate, those who participated in yesterday’s event were highly energetic and, for the most part, satisfyingly specific about their policy plans. Even with the time restrictions necessitated by the large number of candidates, each one was able to get across his or her unique approach to the office of At-Large council member. In the end, that’s the best result a forum like this can have.