The Jersey City Independent"

After a little time off, the City Council will reconvene tonight at 6 pm, but one ordinance that was passed on first read at the last meeting will not be voted on this evening. The legislation creating an Animal Control Commission that would “develop and track measurable objectives to ensure a competent Animal Control program” has hit a bit of a legal roadblock.

The ordinance calls for a nine-member commission, with one member appointed by the mayor and six by council members, and two ex officio members: the director of the Department of Health and Human Services and the chief animal control officer for the Division of Animal Control.

But the city’s legal department has advised in a memo that the ordinance cannot be legally passed, citing, among other things, conflict with the state’s Faulkner Act, which governs the way municipalities operate.

The city claims the Faulkner Act allows only the mayor to appoint members to a commission. But several attorneys, including one for Ward E councilman Steven Fulop and one for the animal welfare group Hudson Animal Advocates (HAA) says the city’s finding is wrong.

“Our attorney is of the opinion that the finding both legally erroneous and factually incorrect,” HAA president David Norman says. “It’s a misreading of both the letter and the substance of the Faulkner Act.”

He says that the part of the law the city is citing refers only to commissions that the state requires cities to create, not ones they set up themselves.

Corporation counsel Bill Matsikoudis says he will review the attorneys’ opinions and determine whether or not his department’s position should change. Barring any further delay, the ordinance should be up for a vote at the June 3 City Council meeting.

“While HAA feels very strongly that this is an urgent matter,” Norman says, “we’d rather do it right than do it quickly.”