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Mayor Jerramiah Healy has vetoed a bill that would have required non-emergency vehicles owned by Jersey City and operated by its employees to have decals identifying them as city cars. In shooting down the bill, which the City Council passed on August 31, Healy is relying on the opinion given by the city’s Law Department that says the council doesn’t have the authority to dictate how city property should be used under the Faulkner Act, which governs how Jersey City operates.

“Under the Faulkner Act, the mayor, rather than the municipal council, has the authority to ‘supervise the care and custody of all municipal property,’” Healy writes in a September 8 veto message.

Legal issues aside, the mayor has not explained why he is against this measure, which Ward E councilman Steven Fulop first introduced in early 2010, and he does not get into his rationale in the veto message, but says that if city employees want to voluntarily put the decals on their cars, they are “free to do so.”

Fulop has long complained that city officials and council members rack up mileage with their cars, taking them down to the shore or out for personal use around town, with the city picking up the tab for the gas and depreciation of the vehicles. After many attempts to push this bill forward, he finally picked up 5 of 9 votes in favor at the August 31 meeting, and he says he will try to pick up the one more than will allow for a council override of Healy’s veto. The four “no” votes were Ward A councilman Michael Sottolano, Ward D councilman Bill Gaughan, council president Peter Brennan and At-Large councilman Ray Velazquez.

“I will push for the override and we will hope to get an additional vote,” he says. “It begs the more important question: what do Healy, his directors, and his team have to hide? These are not their cars; they belong to the taxpayers.”

Healy could implement the policy if he wanted to by issuing an executive order. We asked the mayor today if he would do so, and received a firm “no” for an answer. As he often has throughout the months this debate has raged, Healy points out that the city is working to reduce how many city cars are used, and how often they are driven — but on its own terms.

“This administration has already taken significant steps to cut costs associated with the city’s automotive fleet, including reducing non-emergency vehicles assigned to staff by nearly 50 percent from 29 to 15 and limiting the amount of fuel to one tank or 18-gallons per week, whichever is the lesser amount,” Healy says, adding that the car-decal bill is a “political sideshow” created by Fulop that wouldn’t save the city that much money in the end.

“We are focused on substantive issues that produce the greatest amount of savings, such as two recent ordinances that Mr. Fulop voted against that combined save taxpayers $6.2 million,” the mayor says, referring to the recent vote to change retiree health benefits and a bill transferring a tax abatement. “We will not be dissuaded from these important fiscal matters.”

Fulop has said that this issue is about good government — “transparency and accountability” — as much as it is about money.

Photo of Mayor Healy at this year’s State of the City address by Steve Gold