The Jersey City Independent "

Wednesday’s City Council meeting was both long and contentious. Marked by several council members changing their votes, as well as dozens of residents addressing the council, the nearly four-hour meeting saw votes on 11 first reading ordinances, six second reads and 46 resolutions. The full council was present for the meeting, along with about 100 community members.

Bonding Approved for Embankment Purchase

After hearing from more than two dozen supporters, the council approved a second reading ordinance that authorizes a bond issue of about $7.6 million for the acquisition of the contested 6th Street Embankment. The bill narrowly received the six votes necessary to pass, with one vote against and two abstentions.

The Embankment property, a six-block stretch of defunct elevated railbed that runs along the south side of 6th Street from Marin Boulevard to Brunswick Street, is currently the subject of several court battles over its ownership and use. Developer Steve Hyman, whose wife Victoria purchased the property from Conrail in 2005, has repeatedly resisted the city’s attempts to purchase the property and restrict Hyman’s plans for the property.

The city would like to see the property used as public space, and has offered up plans for a park as well as a light rail extension. Hyman on the other hand seeks to develop at least part of the Embankment for private residential use, and has even proposed tearing it down to develop housing on ground level. The city is also currently pursuing the use of eminent domain as a way to wrest the Embankment from Hyman’s control. A sale agreement would end all of the ongoing — and costly — litigation.

Ward D councilman Bill Gaughan, who voted against introduction of the bond ordinance at the June 23 meeting, once again cast the lone vote against the bonding bill. Saying there were “just too many unanswered questions,” Gaughan cited the absence of a commitment from Hyman that he will sell the property as a primary reason for voting against the bonds. Gaughan also said he “question[s] the grant commitments,” referring to a total of $6.6 million in grant funds that city attorney Bill Matsikoudis has said the city expects to receive and use to offset the cost of the bonds.

“I need not remind everyone in this room of the financial straits Jersey City is in,” Gaughan said. “Although the 6th Street Embankment is a vision that many have had for many years, I don’t believe we can afford it.”

Gaughan also pointed out that once the city goes ahead with the purchase, as is now expected, the question still remains of how to fund its development.

“If we were to purchase the 6th Street Embankment, where would we get the money to develop it into a park or into anything?”

Also repeating their votes from the first reading, Ward F councilwoman Viola Richardson and At-Large councilwoman Willie Flood abstained from voting. Flood did not comment to explain her abstention, but Richardson echoed some of Gaughan’s concerns as she abstained.

“I cannot in all good conscience at this time agreee to bond the city for $7 million … on the promise of money that may come through,” Richardson said. However, she noted that she “pledge[d] support for this project if in fact the money comes through in the future.”

According to city planning director Bob Cotter, however, the grant money is all but guaranteed. When directly asked by Richardson whether the grant funds had “already been earmarked,” Cotter said they had.

“Your aye vote probably frees up millions of dollars in grant funds,” Cotter said.

City Considers Switch to Calendar Financial Year

A first reading ordinance that would authorize the city to switch from its current system of budgeting on a fiscal year schedule — from July to June — to a calendar year schedule — from January to December — was approved unanimously by the council, although it is not clear what its fate as a second read will be.

At Monday’s caucus, city business administrator Jack Kelly explained that there are three primary reasons that he would like the city to make this change. He said the city would save approximately $53,000 per year by cutting out one of the tax bill mailings; citizens would be able to “better understand or match the … amount to be raised by taxes to their tax bills;” and because of a transition period in the first year of the switch, it “would buy the city some additional time” to deal with the $56 million budget gap it currently faces.

The city switched to a fiscal year cycle in 1991, saying at the time that aligning with the state’s budget cycle would better position the city for receiving state aid. However, Kelly says that of the 50 or so municipalities that made the switch along with Jersey City at that time, all but 20 have switched back. Kelly pointed out that Gov. Christie’s commitment to eliminating extraordinary aid for municipalities also makes the case for switching back to a calendar year, since it eliminates one of the primary justifications for switching in the first place.

Kelly also said that preparing the budget on a fiscal year cycle contributes to late budgeting. The city regularly presents a draft budget to the council late in the fiscal year and a final budget is often not adopted until mere weeks before its end. Kelly told the council on Monday that switching back to a calendar year cycle would help the city get its budget process back on schedule.

But Ward E councilman Steven Fulop, who has been a consistent and vocal critic of the city’s budget process, was not convinced. Although he voted in favor of the ordinance on Wednesday, he expressed doubts about it on Monday.

“Everybody wants to see the budget earlier in the year,” he said. But he questioned Kelly’s contention that switching to a calendar year would help speed up the process.

“There is no way you can put together a budget for the whole year not knowing what the second half of the year is going to be,” Fulop said, referring to the fact that the state’s fiscal year cycle would make it impossible to know before January what the state was planning for the second half of the calendar year.

Disagreeing with Fulop, Kelly insisted that municipalities do have some idea even that far in advance what the state aid packages will look like, and added that “there is no excuse, whether we are in a fiscal year or a calendar year, for not introducing an early budget.”

Kelly also noted that “there would be a surplus” in the transition year that would give the city a bit of breathing room “to get our financial house in order.” When asked by Fulop what he intended to do with the additional time, Kelly said he had plans to bridge the budget gap.

“There are some low-hanging fruit,” Kelly said. He told the council that he intends to close the city’s Police Academy, for an approximate savings of $1.3 million, as well as reduce the city’s vehicle fleet, implement additional furloughs and layoffs, and “look at the autonomous agencies” to see which are candidates for consolidation with existing city services.

It is not yet clear whether this ordinance will remain on the agenda for a second reading at the next council meeting. Kelly said that city officials have not yet finally decided whether to make the switch, but the council’s approval of the first read and a corresponding resolution on Wednesday allows the city to apply for permission from the state Local Finance Board by August. Without that approval, the city would have to wait another year to make the switch if it decides to do so.

An Appeal to Save Community Awareness Series

A number of residents at Wednesday’s meeting requested that the council consider restoring the budget of the Community Awareness Series (CAS), a program of the Jersey City Free Public Library (JCFPL) based at the Miller Branch. According to CAS founder Daoud David Williams, the program’s budget was reduced earlier this year, then cut entirely in March.

CAS has provided cultural and educational programming throughout the year to city residents since its founding in 1977. However, as the JCFPL’s budget shrinks and library services are cut citywide, the program’s future is in danger. Without a budget for 2010-2011 fiscal year, Williams says CAS is unable to develop programs.

City resident Richard Ryals (at right) told the council that after a brain injury, he depended on CAS to save him “from the death-grip of boredom.” Ryals said that the program is a unique asset, one the city should work hard to save, given that it “is gaining a reputation for neglecting the cultural needs of its citizens.”

CAS has also earned high praise from educators and community leaders throughout the county, including U.S. Rep. Donald Payne of New Jersey’s 10th District, former mayor Glenn Cunningham and county executive Tom DeGise.

“Based on the CAS track record of excellence this budget zero … is unacceptable and unreasonable,” Williams wrote in a statement he distributed at Wednesday’s council meeting. He also told the council that the cost of running CAS is “miniscule,” amounting to “less than 50 cents per resident per year.”

According to library director Priscilla Gardner, the JCFPL has been forced in recent months to lay off 36 part-time employees, close two branches, and reduce hours. Whether funding to the CAS is restored is “up to the council and the BA [business administrator],” she says, noting that although she submits a budget for approval, the BA’s office has the ultimate decision-making power.

Council Censures Board of Education

With a vote of 6-3, the council approved a resolution proposed by Fulop that requests that Gov. Christie and state education commissioner Bret Schundler “accept their ability to reverse an illegal vote” by the Jersey City Board of Education (BOE). Fulop, along with BOE member Sterling Waterman and many residents, has taken the BOE to task for its recent vote to forgo a national search to replace schools superintendent Charles Epps and instead extend Epps’ contract for another two years.

The council’s vote amounts to an indirect censure of the BOE’s decision, which Fulop and Waterman contend is illegal because it was made without a public hearing.

Voting against the resolution were Gaughan, Ward A councilman Michael Sottolano and Council President Peter Brennan. All three councilmen stressed that if the BOE did anything illegal, it is for commissioner Schundler to decide.

Some Dormant Boards Get a Boost

Back in May, the council rejected a second reading ordinance that sought to dissolve four appointed commissions that the administration considers to be of no further use to the city: the Ellis Island Commission, the Human Rights Commission (HRC), the Municipal Drug & Alcohol Abuse Alliance and the Tourist Commission. The ordinance claimed these boards “no longer serve important government functions and have been left unfilled for a number of years.”

While city clerk Robert Byrne told the council that these boards have lain dormant for long stretches of time and some of them “have been absorbed by other functions at the city and county level,” some council members did not see that as a reason to eliminate them.

At the May 26 meeting, Fouad Shafik, who identified himself as a board member of the HRC, delivered a lengthy plea to the council asking them not to dissolve the group. What’s more, Shafik contradicted the claim that the HRC has not been meeting, saying that the commission met just weeks before, on May 10.

According to Byrne, the HRC was created in the 1980s as a response to a series of crimes motivated by ethnic bias against Indians and Indian-Americans carried out by a group calling themselves the “Dotbusters.” Byrne stated that since there are now state laws addressing bias crimes, the HRC is no longer necessary.

After some discussion, the council agreed to defeat the ordinance and address the question of whether to abolish each of the four commissions in four separate ordinances. The council euthanized the ordinance with a 0-9 vote.

Those four ordinances appeared on Wednesday’s agenda, with the addition of an ordinance to abolish the Municipal Port Authority. After discussion at Monday’s caucus, the council agreed to withdraw the ordinances seeking to abolish the HRC, Municipal Drug & Alcohol Abuse Alliance and the Tourist Commission. Instead, they indicated that these boards should be reconstituted by the mayor with updated membership and a schedule of meetings provided to the Clerk’s office.

The ordinances abolishing the Ellis Island Commission and the Municipal Port Authority were introduced 7-2, with Ward C councilwoman Nidia Rivera Lopez and Ward F councilwoman Viola Richardson voting nay. Lopez said that she hadn’t had a chance to review the information provided about the commissions. Richardson stated “if these commissions are not working, we need to replace the people, not abolish the commissions.”

A New Parking Contract at 1 Journal Square

A first reading ordinance that was withdrawn at the April 28 council meeting was back on the agenda Wednesday, although it was still a point of contention.

The original ordinance, which would authorize a five-year lease with Rand Parking for 140 parking spaces at an annual cost of $168,000, was withdrawn after Ward C councilwoman Nidia Rivera Lopez said at the April 26 caucus that she has “heard there are a lot of spaces not being used” at that location. After grilling assistant business administrator Steve Miller about the use of the spaces, the council asked him to renegotiate the agreement to reduce the number of spaces or lower the cost.

The new agreement negotiated by Miller calls for renting 80 parking spaces at an annual cost of $134,000. The new contract also provides for validated parking for city employees visiting city offices in Journal Square.

While several council members thanked Miller for his work on the contract and voted for introduction, they also requested that he continue negotiating the contract to ensure that city residents visiting city offices at that location could make use of the parking spaces.

The ordinance approving the contract was introduced by a vote of 8-0-1 with Richardson abstaining.

Prescription Resistance

Two resolutions related to the city’s contract with Express Scripts, which administers the city employees’ prescription drug plan, met with strong resistance. One authorizes a change order increasing by nearly $2 million the cost of the contract that just ended, for the 2009-2010 fiscal year, and the second renews the contract for the 2010-2011 fiscal year, to the tune of up to $20 million.

Gaughan stated as he voted against the resolutions that he was “not happy” with the contract being renewed without bidding, saying “a contract of $20 million should be looked at every year.” Fulop agreed, also voting against the resolutions. The resolutions were initially voted down 3-6 with Donnelly, Lopez and Flood voting in favor.

After the vote, business administrator Jack Kelly explained to the council that Express Scripts’ “performance has been excellent” and their profit margins are “slim.” He also noted that it would be difficult to quickly secure a replacement contract for the city’s employees and retirees.

After Kelly spoke, several council members changed their votes and the contracts were adopted 8-1. Fulop did not change his vote to aye after the discussion. As he changed his vote, a visibly angry Gaughan warned that he would be paying close attention to this contract next year and said “somebody better start watching the store.”

First Reads

Aside from those already mentioned, the council considered seven first reading ordinances, all of which passed unanimously. You can see the full text of the first reads here.

• Ord. 10-090 would place environmental controls and use restrictions on certain portions of Hamilton Park. The city performed site and soil remediation on the park as part of its year-long renovation process, but because some contaminants will remain in areas of the park, the city is required to place restrictions on its use.
• Ord. 10-096 would permit 110 First Street Urban Renewal Associates, owners of the property at 110 First St., to construct a landscaped entrance area in front of the building, extending approximately 44 feet in the public right of way along the front of the building.
• Ord. 10-097 would permit John Hajjar, who is constructing a three-story medical office building at 631-635 Grand St., to install and maintain a canopy along the front of the building, which will extend into the public right of way.
• Ord. 10-099 would dedicate Jewett Avenue between Monticello and Bergen Avenues as Bobby L. Jackson Way. Jackson, who was Jersey City’s first African-American At-Large councilman and the first African-American council president, died suddenly of a heart attack in January 2008, outside then-presidential candidate Barack Obama’s “rally for change” at St. Peter’s College.
• Ord. 10-100 would authorize an easement agreement between the city and the Port Authority, which would permit PATH to install security bollards and new pavement in front of the Exchange Place station. As he voted in favor of the ordinance, Fulop asked the administration to “get the Port Authority to put the planters as they did at Grove Street,” adding that “aesthetically it looks much better.”
• Ord. 10-101 would add Secaucus Road between Central and Summit Avenues to the list of locations where businesses are not permitted to operate between the hours of 11pm and 5am. The ordinance cites “crowds of juveniles and young adults” that congregate in these areas and cause disturbances in the surrounding areas.
• Ord. 10-102 would convey the property at 117-119 Bostwick Ave. to the Community Asset Preservation Alliance of Jersey City (CAPA), which intends to rehabilitate 13 units of low- and moderate-income housing at that location. According to Darice Toon, director of the city Division of Community Development, CAPA will use federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds for this purpose.

Second Reads

In addition to the ordinance regarding the bond issue for the purchase of the 6th Street Embankment, the council considered five other second reading ordinances, four of which passed unanimously. You can read about these ordinances here.

The other that did not pass unanimously was Ord. 10-086, which would dedicate Coles Street between 10th and 13th Streets as Moishe’s Way, in honor of the national moving and storage company that has a large facility at that location. Gaughan voted against introduction at the June 23 meeting, stating at that time that he doesn’t “think [Moishe's] did enough for Jersey City.” Flood also withheld her aye by abstaining from the vote, but the measure was introduced 7-1-1. Gaughan cast the only vote against the ordinance at its second reading on Wednesday, and it passed 8-1.

In addition, a second reading ordinance seeking to replace the entirety of the city’s traffic code with laws that are more “logically arranged for convenient use” was tabled by request of the city clerk, who said that his office still had some details to work out with the city Division of Engineering, and promised to have the final ordinance ready “at the very next meeting.”

Odds and Ends

• Of the 46 resolutions considered by the council Wednesday, 37 were adopted unanimously. You can see all the resolutions here.
• The council passed a resolution authorizing an agreement between the city and the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency (JCRA) allowing Genesis Partners to receive Affordable Housing Trust Fund dollars to acquire and develop 451-457 Ocean Avenue, but against some resistance. Brennan, Gaughan and Sottolano voted against the measure, with Sottolano and Gaughan citing a lack of information about the developer. Sottolano noted that he had requested, but did not receive, information about Genesis’ “track record,” including information about how many projects they had completed. The resolution passed 6-3 over the councilmen’s objections.
• The same three councilmen voted against another resolution, which authorized a contract with the Community Asset Preservation Alliance of Jersey City (CAPA) to use over $1.5 million in federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds for the purposes of acquiring and rehabilitating abandoned and foreclosed properties. CAPA intends to use about $1.4 million of these funds for an affordable housing project at 117-119 Bostwick Avenue. Sottolano, Gaughan and Brennan voted against this resolution, again citing a lack of information, and Ward B councilman David Donnelly abstained; the resolution passed 5-3-1. However, as described above, a first reading ordinance that authorized the city to convey the Bostwick Avenue property to CAPA was introduced unanimously.
• A resolution authorizing an emergency temporary appropriation to insert more than $6 million in grant funds into the budget for various projects was approved 8-1 after some discussion and changed votes. Donnelly, Lopez and Fulop all initially lodged nays against the measure. Fulop, who routinely votes against emergency temporary appropriations, said approving measures such as these “is how we got into this [budget] mess last year.” However, after business administrator Jack Kelly explained that the appropriations were for the purpose of accepting money rather than spending it, Donnelly and Lopez changed their votes. The measure passed 8-1.
• A resolution was approved that appoints Peter Folgado as the city’s Qualified Purchasing Agent, a designation which will allow the city to increase the threshold at which it is required to go out to bid for contracts. Currently the city must go through the state-mandated bid proposal process for any contracts exceeding $26,000, but the appointment of a Qualified Purchasing Agent will mean that number can increase to $36,000.
• Lopez abstained on a resolution appointing her as a member of the city Planning Board. Similarly, Richardson and Sottolano abstained on respective resolutions appointing them to the board of the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency. All three measures passed 8-0-1. Meanwhile, Martin K. Jackson was reappointed to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, Nino S. Domingo, was reappointed to the Ethical Standards Board and James Morley was reappointed to the Jersey City Redevelopment — all by unanimous votes.
• A resolution to accept a subsidy from the state CHOICE homeownership promotion program, as well as a resolution authorizing a contract of up to $30,000 with O.R. Colan Associates for relocation services, were withdrawn from the council agenda.

What Are We Buying?

The council approved the following purchases on Wednesday:

• $3,169,067.80 for Newark Avenue Roadway Improvements — ie, repaving — from Coles Street to Summit Avenue. The contract went to Joseph M. Sanzari, Inc.of Hackensack.
• $189,512.12 for the Department of Health & Human Services’s 2010 Summer Food Service Program, to Maramont Corp of Brooklyn.
• $61,868.60 for wireless network equipment and installation, to New Jersey Business Systems of Robbinsville.
• $48,600 for a one-year cleaning contract with Chuk’s Cleaning of Belleville, to clean the Public Safety Communications Building.
• An extra $42,657.89 on an existing Centrex voice telephone service contract with Verizon
• $35,950 for repair and maintenance to Motorized Overhead Doors, to Lombardy Door Sales and Service Corp. of Belleville.
• An extra $6,323.07 on an existing telephone service contract with Granite Communications of Quincy, Mass.


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