The Jersey City Independent "

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Well, folks: there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that the arrests made on July 23 in connection with a wide-ranging federal corruption sting appear to have issued a wake-up call to Chilltown politicians and residents; rallies have been held, resignations have been called for, committee rules have been altered and an audit of development processes has been commissioned. And based on last night’s city council caucus, there appears to be support for a redeveloper pay-to-play ordinance, sponsored by Ward E councilman Steven Fulop, to limit the impact of campaign cash on development decisions. The vote on the ordinance may be delayed due to last-minute changes, but the fact that agreement was reached is a big step in the right direction.

However, those eleventh-hour revisions bring us to the bad news: after a month of meetings between council members, knowledgeable experts and interested community groups, the ordinance is still not in fighting shape. The back-and-forth over details at last night’s caucus showed that most or all of the council members — including Fulop — are still unclear on some of the policy’s on-the-ground implications. And the changes that were agreed upon were perhaps too hastily arrived at, leaving us to wonder whether the new ordinance will have enough teeth to be effective.

Fulop has contended that tabling the ordinance would be tantamount to leaving it to die. Although tabling has certainly been used in the past to kill politically unpalatable bills, it’s not evident that it would have the same effect in this case. The ordinance has the active support of at least Ward D councilman Bill Gaughan, Ward A councilman Michael Sottolano and Ward F councilwoman Viola Richardson — although it’s clear they are eager to limit the potential for the law to disqualify big donors. Furthermore, the attention of a large part of the city’s reform community has been focused on this issue over the past month, and any number of civic groups and activists are likely to continue advocating for this law until something satisfactory is passed.

Based on last night’s discussion, Fulop said this morning that he’s “comfortable” with the revised bill being introduced as a first-read tonight with the expectation that it be passed by the end of this month. We’re also comfortable with that, but in addition we hope that the next two weeks will see a serious and thoughtful discussion of the current revisions. There needs to be adequate time to ensure that the provisions of the bill are effective and appropriate. Meetings between the council members, the Law Department and interested community members should continue; concerns and questions about the bill should be aired out and all those who have substantial knowledge about the issue should be invited to participate.

There’s no doubt that the city needs this ordinance and others like it as soon as possible, but it needs a law that will truly help to solve the problem of real and perceived pay-to-play development in Jersey City.