One Jersey City Calls for Resignations & Reform
By Jon Whiten • Jul 26th, 2009 • Category: Blog, News, PoliticsOne Jersey City, the political group led by good government activist Dan Levin, issued a statement on Saturday calling for Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, City Council president Mariano Vega and Ward C councilwoman Nidia Rivera Lopez to resign. The call for resignations is just one part of a five-part plan to “restore public confidence in our city government.”
The group becomes the first mainstream voice to call for Healy’s resignation in light of his admission on Friday that he was “Official 4″ in federal criminal complaints released last week. Healy is alleged to have used his campaign treasurer — deputy mayor Leona Beldini — to solicit bribes from a purported developer in exchange for favorable political decisions in what Healy allegedly said would be a “mutually beneficial” arrangement. Healy has not been charged, and he says he’s done no wrong.
Vega, who was arrested on Thursday for allegedly taking $30,000 in cash from a purported developer in exchange for consideration of projects that developer was pursuing, has not yet said if he will step down as council president. Ward E councilman Steven Fulop is also calling on Vega to resign.
As for Lopez, she was not tied up in last week’s corruption probe — she faces an entirely different set of issues. After a lawsuit challenging her residency was filed by Jimmy King (who, incidentally, was arrested as part of the corruption sweep), it has been revealed that Lopez committed tax fraud in the state of Florida, where she owns a home.
“She has demonstrated a lack of the judgment and transparency needed in a political leader,” One Jersey City argues.
If the mayor or any council member resigns, he or she will be replaced by an interim appointee, as decided by the City Council. A special election would then be held in November for the seat. One Jersey City is calling for the potential interim mayoral and council appointees to come “from outside the existing political system.” When asked by JCI about the group’s plans for any potential special election, Levin said it was a little to too early to speculate.
“We are focusing on the here and now, which is what needs to be done first,” Levin says, “and the need to quickly implement some sound checks and balances.”
However, he said that if a special election were to occur, One Jersey City would either run or actively support a candidate or candidates.
The group is calling for three other specific policy reforms to be enacted immediately. They are:
- Adoption of the Redevelopment Pay to Play Reform ordinance written by Civic JC
- Application of the State of New Jersey’s Ethics Code in Jersey City
- The halting of all permits and approvals for new construction, development, and redevelopment until proper safeguards are in place
“Quickly implementing this punch list of reforms will help to restore the public’s confidence in the decisions made by our city government and the belief that our elected and appointed officials serve the public interest, not special interests,” Levin says.
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Jon Whiten is the founding editor of the Jersey City Independent; he now works for a public-policy nonprofit in Trenton.
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