But education reform is one of those catchphrases such as “tax relief” or “war on terror” that sounds less ambiguous than it is. Everyone wants the best interests of schoolchildren, and many feel that schools are not doing enough to help low-achieving children, primarily in high-poverty areas, succeed. But reasonable people differ greatly on what a quality education is and how that can be achieved.

The national drumbeat for “school reform” usually calls for more choice, in the form of voucher programs and more charter schools, and more accountability, in the form of school and teacher evaluation based on student test scores. Recently, Governor Chris Christie and acting Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf have been pushing four bills that would expand charter schools, offer vouchers for private and parochial schools, privatize failing schools, and evaluate teachers in a large measure on student test scores.

To parents and officials in Jersey City, school reform tends to mean emphasizing transparency and good governance rather than choice and accountability. Locally, reform means getting rid of inefficiencies at the central office, eliminating cronyism, and hiring a superintendent who plays by the new business rules of educational leadership today. Even local parent and vocal “reform” advocate Shelley Skinner, who is deputy director of Better Education for Kids (B4K), an advocacy group for merit pay, tenure reform, and vouchers in select districts, speaks publicly about the need to change “ethically challenged practices” rather than overhaul schools.

“I’m looking for someone who is responsive to parents, gives more flexibility for principals and teachers, and a real house-cleaning” within the board of education, says Felicia Noth, Parent Council head at PS5. Board president Sterling Waterman says he “expects bold and innovative ideas” from any new superintendent, including the interim, and that he personally does not support vouchers, although he “has no problem with charter schools.”

With the departure of Epps, who had been superintendent since 2000, the Jersey City Board of Education gets to pick its own superintendent for the first time since 1989, when the schools came under state control. In 2007, the state returned to the district control of two benchmarks, finances and governance, which covers the firing and hiring of superintendents.

Parent groups and local education professionals in Jersey City, however, have feared for months that the state might still swoop in and appoint a superintendent by fiat. A spokesperson for the New Jersey Department of Education reiterated that the hiring choice is entirely in the hands of the Jersey City Board of Education now. Yet in a recent email to BOE president Sterling Waterman, Acting Education Commissioner Cerf chastised him for allegedly mangling the selection of an interim superintendent and took the tone of a corporate manager making the case to fire a subordinate. “It is now abundantly clear to me that this board is not interested in pursuing an agenda of transformational change for the children of Jersey City,” Cerf wrote, after the selection of Walker. (Cerf himself was in fact a private sector manager, as president of Edison Schools, the largest for-profit private manager of public schools, which today functions as EdisonLearning.) He and Waterman met in late December to smooth things over, and Cerf was apologetic, while Waterman made clear that he welcomed state assistance in the national search process.

But the potential tussle with the state over the hiring process has not buried, for the moment, divisions within the Jersey City school board itself, which hews to an old and a new guard. On the current board of nine volunteers, four are new within the last two years, including Waterman. In October, other new board members Carol Lester, Carol Harrison-Arnold and Marvin Adames voted along with Waterman and Sue Mack in favor of the agreement that ended Superintendent Epps’ contract last month. More recently, outgoing board member Sean Connors has publicly derided Waterman and, separately, Ward E Councilman Steve Fulop, through the letters of this paper.

The Board has control over a budget of more than $630 million for the city’s schools, much of which is state money. That amount is $150 million more than the city budget. That leaves a conspicuous job opening on the top of that $630 million pile, which Walker’s appointment fills only temporarily.

“There’s the opportunity to do something very meaningful,” says Fulop. “This is a unique window to attract some real talent.” Fulop has been a driving force behind the recent changes in the Board of Education composition, even as he tries to distance himself from being seen as a kind of ed-board Svengali.

Two years ago, the councilman established a screening committee for Board of Education candidates. The committee vetted candidates for the board and then put forth a slate of three names in 2010 and 2011 who received support from Fulop, in the form of marketing, endorsement, and fund-raising. Both years, those candidates won, with several running as outspoken critics of superintendent Epps.

Now, 15 volunteers are vetting applications from potential Board of Education candidates for the 2012 spring election, to fill at least three seats. The current chairperson is Ellen Simon, who has a young child herself and saw volunteering on the committee as a chance to help the public school system. She and Fulop both emphasize that the group’s choices this year are independent and not beholden to Fulop or his views.

Councilman Fulop is upfront about his own ideas about reform, which align with those of national “education reform” press darlings, such as Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, former Washington DC schools chancellor Michelle Rhee, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, and, lately, Chris Christie. He says he is personally a “big believer” in changing teacher tenure policy, charter schools as options, and accountability for school administrations. “If we attract the right person, a proactive progressive voice will be able to attract meaningful private dollars,” he adds.

In June 2010, Fulop co-hosted with Shelley Skinner a lecture at City Hall by Whitney Tilson, a wealthy hedge fund manager and prominent spokesperson for the education reform movement. Tilson told his audience that teacher quality was the single most important aspect of a good education, that to ensure good teachers we should make it easier to fire the bad ones, and that bad teachers could be uncovered through comparing students’ test scores over time.

Today, Fulop, a declared candidate for the 2013 mayoral race, distances himself from Tilson and his ideas. Moreover, he stresses that his personal views are irrelevant to his committee or to his mayoral run, since he is not on the school board. Instead, the councilman says he’d like the city council to interact with the board on issues such as facilities, potentially transforming empty buildings into new schools instead of selling them, and after-school programs.

For their part, vocal parent groups such as Jersey City Coalition of Parent Teacher Organizations (JCCPTO) and Parents and Communities United for Education (PCUE) worried early on that their voices would not be heard in the search for the new superintendent. Their fears that the BOE would not listen were allayed by several public meetings, at which both groups presented their own search criteria. Among the criteria for superintendent candidates listed by JCCPTO were five years experience as a superintendent and commitment to public schools “over initiatives that would undermine them such as charter schools, vouchers, etc.”

Although some parents are agitating for Walker to stay on permanently, the new superintendent is just as likely to come from outside Jersey City. And it is possible that whoever she is will be as young as Newark’s new superintendent Cami Anderson, who is 40, with young children who need to go to school. Like Noth and Waterman and thousands of other parents, she may find herself gaining inside knowledge about the schools by dropping of her child there every day.

“We all agree schools have to be better and have better management,” says Dan Levin, a Cordero parent-teacher-partnership board member and good government advocate. “The most direct influence and stakeholder is the families. To someone not at the schools it doesn’t matter if the superintendent transition is smooth or bumpy—let’s move on. To parents, it is critical.”

The final public meeting on the superintendent search process is Friday, January 20, at PS11 at 6:30 pm.

Photos by Eric Schkrutz

Earlier tonight, with a little over 80 percent of the votes tallied, Richardson, 66, gave an informal victory speech.

“I have the best workers anyone could ask for,” she said to an enthusiastic group of about 20 supporters who had come to her Greenville office to wait with her as results came in. “I could not have done that without all the people you see in this room.”

Richardson was vying to move from her ward council seat to one of the citywide slots. The at-large seats were open because of Mariano Vega’s ouster due to his corruption arrest and conviction and Willie Flood’s resignation due to illness.

The special election was a historic opportunity for voters to decide the composition of the council — for the first time, according to the city clerk, two at-large seats were up for grabs.

Lavarro, who had bracketed with Richardson, moved into second place as the votes were tallied, bumping Sue Mack back from second to third; by 10:11 pm, with 95 percent of votes counted, Lavarro had 3,359 to Mack’s 3,049. Lavarro, 41, is Filipino-American and would become the city’s first Asian-American councilman if elected.

It’s a position he was almost in before. In 2009, Lavarro got enough votes in his challenge to Ward A councilman Michael Sottolano to force a runoff election, which he ended up losing.

“I just feel very strongly that we need to bring change to Jersey City,” he said tonight from his office on John F. Kennedy Boulevard among some 30 supporters. “Folks aren’t happy with the status quo.”

None of his campaign workers were paid, said his campaign manager, Helen Castillo, 50.

“Without money, without machinery, we won,” she said.

Lavarro and his supporters were heading to the Mojo Lounge on West Side Avenue to celebrate.

Macks’s supporters were watching results come in over appetizers and drinks at Brightside Tavern, and when the returns shifted to put Lavarro in the lead, the room grew quiet and there were some audible sighs.

“I’m surprised that Viola is doing so well because she’s not backed by the (Hudson County Democratic) Organization,” said Mack supporter Diana Hucyk, who remained hopeful Mack would win.

Mack, for her part, said she would not concede until the absentee ballots had been counted.

Downtown at the Port-O Lounge and Restaurant, supporters of Dan Levin watched election results on a big-screen monitor hooked up to a laptop. The gathering consisted of a small group of campaign workers, friends and relatives. As results came in and Levin moved farther from the top of the pack, the mood was somber but stayed positive.

Kalimah Ahmad was also upbeat as she arrived at Puccini’s Restaurant on West Side Avenue tonight with a group of about 35 to 40 people that included a handful of supporters in yellow and black “Team Ahmad” shirts, Mayor Jerramiah Healy and Councilman Bill Gaughan.

“I see everyone looking so sad, but not me, I’m smiling,” said the incumbent Democrat. “I’m just excited to be here, I’ve never seen an election from this point of view.”

“I have no intention of ever running again,” Ahmad added. “You can quote me on that.”

Healy seemed to accept the defeat of Ahmad and her running mate, councilman Ray Velazquez, who was not at the restaurant.

“The people have spoken and we accept the verdict,” Healy said early on as it became clear Ahmad and Velazquez would not end up in the top two slots. “I’m looking forward to working with whoever ends up winning.”

In her Greenville office tonight, Richardson thanked her children, nephews, a local pastor and councilwoman Nidia Lopez, who was at her side the entire night and said Richardson deserved one of the at-large seats.

“She’s been doing at-large without the title,” Lopez said. “She’s a woman of integrity that cares about her ward and for her people.”

John Miller, 46, a Richardson campaign volunteer, said the councilwoman had helped him get a job cleaning city streets after he was released from jail.

“I’ll do anything for her, six days a week,” Miller said. “She’s a straightforward person.”

As election returns continued to come in and kept her in the top spot, Richardson was asked if she would run for mayor in 2013.

“I might,” she said with a smile as her supporters cheered.

“She should,” Lopez said.

With reporting by Karen Keller, Chris Neidenberg, Matt Hunger and Tom Howard.

Photo of Viola Richardson and Nidia Lopez by Karen Keller

Richardson received 3,881 votes and Lavarro received 3,359; behind the winners by a margin of about 300 votes was Mack with 3,049. Ahmad received 2,910 votes and Velazquez, 2,687.

Richard Boggiano placed sixth with 2,429 votes and Dan Levin came in seventh with 2,024. Mack’s bracketing partner, Omar Perez, garnered 1,507 votes, behind Imtiaz Syed, who received 1,559.

Democrats swept the statewide offices in Hudson County, with State Sen. Sandra Bolden Cunningham keeping her seat (31st District) with nearly 81 percent of the vote. State Senators Nicholas Sacco and Brian Stack of the 32nd and 33rd districts won their contests with 81 and 86 percent of the vote, respectively.

For the General Assembly, it was Charles Mainor and Jason O’Donnell in the 31st district, Vincent Prieto and Angelica M. Jimenez in the 32nd, and Ruben J. Ramos, Jr. and Sean Connors in the 33rd.

Thomas A. DeGise won for county executive with more than 81 percent of the vote, and Pamela Gardner won for County Register.

Look for more election coverage from JCI tomorrow.

“Voter turnout has been very light today,” said Dale Hardman, a Jersey City Democratic committeeperson who sat on the corner of Erie and 3rd Street and handed out cards for his neighbor, Dan Levin (who was campaigning a block away on 2nd Street). “Maybe it’s the beautiful weather, kids had off of school today.”

Hardman, a bilateral amputee, had been on the corner since 9:30 am. He said that as long as they came out to vote, he would be happy if citizens selected any of the candidates for the two at-large council seats — except for Ray Velazquez, Kalimah Ahmad, or Viola Richardson, the three candidates who missed the last public forum.

“If they disparage people by not coming to forums to answer questions of transparency, I don’t think that shows much,” said Hardman.

Disagreeing with Hardman about the day’s turnout was Emily Kondes, an election challenger, and Frank Scalcione, owner of Frank’s Famous Pizza on Monmouth Street. Kondes had been standing in front of the church steps since 10 am, and said the flow of voters seemed especially heavy for a midterm.

“People seem more engaged,” said Kondes. “They’re mad, and it sends a message.”

Scalcione was just visiting Grace Church on his self-appointed get-out-the-vote rounds. “This morning, I got on the bus on Newark Avenue and Monmouth Street and rode one stop up the hill just to yell out, ‘Don’t forget to vote!’” he said. After this visit, he planned to head to a site in Ward F. “I’m saying hello to everybody,” he said.

On 2nd Street, each corner was dominated by campaigners. The west side of the street had a quiet cluster of men milling around large signs for Velazquez-Ahmad — plus Dan Levin himself. The east side of the street had fewer people, but with louder pipes.

Samuel Gutierrez had been shouting the same mantra since 6:30 am: “Vote for Sue Mack, Omar Perez for council-at-large! Polls open till 8 pm!” He made sure every passing driver had the chance to wave away a proffered flyer for the bracketed team.

Would all that yelling contribute to a later bout of laryngitis? “No, no sore throat tonight,” said Gutierrez. “I’m an old pro.”

As he began to once again yell out his familiar phrase, one of the men on the Velazquez corner shouted, “Vote for Samuel Gutierrez!”

In our opinion, Daniel Levin is the best choice to fill an at-large position on the municipal council. We hope that people all over Jersey City vote to bring his fresh voice, sensible ideas, strong skills, excellent values, and impeccable integrity to the council. He has demonstrated his commitment to making Jersey City a better place by devoting himself to many issues we care about. He is a solid family man with two children who attend their local public school, and he is a small-business owner. Although he has been active in our neighborhood for many years, we have seen that he has always looked at the bigger picture, at what is right for all the people of our city.

Charles and Annie Kessler
Harsimus Cove, Jersey City

For those who are yearning to positively change Jersey City and make it a progressive city that it has the potential to be, deeming the upcoming November 8th Special Election important is a sure understatement. Please consider supporting Daniel Levin, candidate for Councilman-at-Large, a stalwart activist for reform in Jersey City and a true advocate for making good government work for the people.

I’ve known Dan since moving back to Jersey City in the 1990s and it was through volunteering in various community-based activities that I got to know him well. As a family man, a father of two children who attend their district public school, his sincere commitment and dedication to this city is unquestionable.

Dan is a true reformer in Jersey City and he can back up my claim with solid reform measures, specifically the Pay-to-Play reform championed by Ward E councilman Steve Fulop with whom he closely worked to get the legislation passed. He was a key player in establishing numerous non-profit advocacy organizations (JC Landmarks Conservancy, Bike JC, Civic JC), is active in his neighborhood association for which he also served multiple terms on the board (Harsimus Cove Neighborhood Association), and he remains supportive to many other community-based groups throughout the city. His management experiences in the banking industry and as a business owner inform his decision-making, but most importantly, he is one of the most ethically-grounded persons one could ever meet and if there is one thing we need in our city’s leadership, it is this principled influence.

Positive change is an ongoing uphill battle and although there can be no panacea to attain this, getting Dan in the local government — in an official capacity — will be a step toward the right direction.

We can all do something to progressively steer the course of our city — please support Daniel Levin in this election, spread the word to make sure that the good guy gets voted in.

Respectfully,

Lycel P. Villanueva, RA, PP, LEED AP

Seated on stage before a crowd of about 100 in the school’s large auditorium were: Richard Boggiano, Ihor Ed Ciolko, Rolando Lavarro, Patrick Leonard, Dan Levin, Juanita Lopez, Suzanne Mack, Omar Perez, Imtiaz Syed and former councilman Jamie Vazquez.

Adela Rohena showed up, but, after much resistance, a policewoman booted her from the dais under threat of arrest.

Organizers said she was required to respond to an official invitation that was sent by regular mail and email, as per the ground rules laid out by the forum’s sponsors: The Riverview Neighborhood Association, Washington Park Association, JCI, the Heights Community Coalition, The Hope Center and AARP of Hudson County.

Another candidate, Brian Lane, also sought late inclusion, but, unlike Rohena, accepted his rejection. Ward F Councilwoman Viola Richardson, seeking to move over to an interim at-large seat, responded in time but was kept home by illness. Nabil Youssef also RSVP’ed but did not show up.

Those apparently declining participation were incumbents Kaliah Ahmad and Ray Velasquez, as well as Melissa Patrick Clark. Seventeen candidates are seeking positions vacated by Willie Flood (illness) and Mariano Vega (resigned after pleading guilty to corruption charges). The council temporarily appointed Ahmad and Velasquez. The victors will immediately take oaths to complete two three-year terms.

All participants seemed to agree many current City Hall practices are putting the state’s second largest city at a disadvantage and must be overhauled.

They aired gripes including city elected and appointed officials holding multiple positions such as simultaneous municipal and county jobs, continuing corruption as evidenced by Vega’s guilty plea, retaining ineffective programs and boards simply for patronage while contributing to high property taxes and a perceived disconnect between many residents and city government.

The following is a snapshot of the candidate’s views, culled from responses to eight questions moderator Peter Basso posed, as well as opening and closing statements. The candidates are listed alphabetically.

Boggiano cited his efforts through the years in fighting various battles at City Hall and against such agencies as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, while longtime president of the Hilltop Neighborhood Association.

“As a guardian of your interests, I will only take a salary of $1 a year as a city council member,” promised Boggiano, who retired from the Jersey City Police Department after 37 years of service.

But in preaching fiscal responsibility,the candidate said the city, to effectively fight crime, must minimize future police layoffs and budget cuts and “take politics out of the police department by bringing in professional people to run it.”

Further, he cited the local POBA’s concerns over what it sees as local officials’ “failure to get law enforcement grants” from sources outside the city. Meanwhile, Boggiano complained, “The city administrator has three jobs. I’ve called numerous times and been told, ‘He’s not in today.’”

Ciolko, a lifelong resident, assured that his construction industry experience as a project manager provides solid training for the job. He added his background will also help in promoting responsible development throughout Jersey City, most notably its Lafayette section.

Ciolko cited a dire need to generate more ratables in lowering taxes and luring new businesses to put unemployed residents to work – just as old city manufacturers, like Colgate and the American Can Company, did in earlier times.

“I know what it takes to develop an idea on paper and how to complete it,” said Ciolko, who would even endorse forcing the state to turn at least a substantial part of Liberty State Park back to Jersey City to build more ratables, if that formidable task was even possible. “I know what it takes to get a job done, managing dozens of people.”

While complaining about high property taxes and spending, Ciolko faulted city officials for overlooking essential smaller details. He alleged cases where departments “don’t have basic supplies to work with,” such as copy machines, and “lights that don’t work.” Ciolko also cited the need for “an updated computer system.”

Lavarro, New Jersey City University’s assistant director for grants and sponsored programs, similarly cited his college job as an excellent council training ground. Further, he said he played a role in helping the school secure over $30 million in outside funding from different sources. Lavarro promised to be a hands-on councilman.

“You’re not just going to see me here at election time,” vowed Lavarro, who wants the city to scrap an upcoming revaluation of all properties. “I’m going to be out in the community, walking the streets and working with the community and police officers to solve problems.”

Lavarro repeatedly endorsed the concept of “Priority-Based Budgeting” in offering a new approach for addressing the city’s fiscal problems.

He explained the process entails “a performance audit to see if programs are really operating for Jersey City.” Further, Lavarro assured a proper audit will “determine what programs are most important for the taxpayers.” This, while eliminating “redundant, patronage-ridden positions that are not really effective.”

Leonard, who grew up on Sip Avenue, told the audience he feels he has a handle on where the city must improve just from longtime personal observations. He said the city must be more proactive in creating meaningful programs for troubled youths, which might lower juvenile delinquency.

“If kids don’t have a family structure at home, it’s not going to work as far as education goes,” said Leonard. “We need to build some kind of base for the youth of Jersey City, and that will combat the crime problem.”

He cited as his three priorities, cutting taxes. improving education and “bringing Journal Square back to what it used to be.”

“I’ve been in Jersey City so long, I know what it is. I know what it was and I know what it can be,” said Leonard, claiming renovating Loews Theater is the “key” element in any plan to enhance the Journal Square region. “If we work together, we can make Jersey City what it used to be, not what it is right now.”

Levin, a Downtown resident and 2009 mayoral candidate, is the founder and past president of Civic JC. Levin cited as two priorities working hard to make municipal government work for the average citizen, while fighting to implement the strictest “pay to play” restrictions and code of ethics.

Such measures are on the books, yet Levin claimed they need more teeth. He is pushing for a stricter ethics code and a ban on campaign contributions in city offices.

“Corruption, patronage and cronyism is holding Jersey City back from everything that could be for us,” lamented Levin, who runs a small business.

Rather than allegedly catering to special interests, he insisted the mayor and council must focus more on helping the little guy solve smaller problems. Levin cited as examples guaranteeing Red and Tan keeps the #99 bus line and improving taxi stands throughout the Journal Square area.

Doing the latter, he said, could help increase ridership for cab companies. Further, Levin alleged city departments have generally been unresponsive to helping small businesses cut through red tape, including building inspectors who take too long approving expansion plans.

Asked if he is concerned with Gov. Chris Christie’s efforts to overhaul New Jersey’s Special Improvement District (SID) program in a way critics fear will weaken the city’s SIDs, Levin replied, “There’s a larger concern than just SIDs. Small businesses throughout Jersey City are struggling. Every day, they have concerns and problems with the city.”

Lopez is a Heights resident who admitted she’s new to municipal government but has been active as a volunteer with neighborhood organizations. She said she would approach the job with the average taxpayer’s perspective in mind

“I’m a mother and a wife and a volunteer in a hospital here,” said Lopez, promising to be a full-time city legislator who will make addressing constituent concerns and getting their input priorities. “I came here as a candidate and a resident of the Heights. … Jersey City is a good community but we need to make it work better for everybody.”

Lopez is asking voters to support line 11F, with “F standing for family.” She cited as basic priorities creating jobs, lowering taxes and crime and cleaner neighborhoods.

Yet she readily admitted solving many city problems “will take time.”

“I’m not a politician, I’m your neighbor,” Lopez told audience members. “If you elect me, I’ll be your voice.”

Mack was elected to her sixth term as a citywide Board of Education member last April. She is the board’s senior member and has served on all its major committees. Mack cited those attributes as making her a natural fit for the at-large position. She noted the school budget is larger than the city’s.

Mack is a licensed urban planner and New Jersey Transit’s volunteer commuter liaison to that agency’s executive board. She cited as her priorities, “Coordinating the (upcoming) revaluation in a way that doesn’t force people to move out, having a comprehensive recreation policy that helps you from the day you’re born to when you become a senior,” and to get the school board and council “to work together” on common initiatives, including probing sharing services to save taxpayers money.

On the SID issue, Mack said that, while the city should be concerned with Christie’s proposal to abolish the program, it must also start thinking out of the box in aggressively trying to find other economic development revenue.

She noted, “Goya Foods is coming to Jersey City using funds” from New Jersey’s Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit Program. Through the credit, Mack said, the company will build a 500,000 square-foot distribution warehouse off County Avenue, just over the border from its Secaucus headquarters.

Perez said he will put his skills working previously as a legislative aide in Trenton and for the government of Puerto Rico to good use at the council level. He vowed to lead efforts to try shaking up municipal operations. Perez implied the city is not serving the needs of less affluent areas.

“We need a total reorganization of city government,” he said, calling for elected officials to get rid of “city offices that don’t do much, like CitiStat.”

Perez claimed the office, designed to monitor accountability from city departments using a computer tracking system and established in 2007, has not saved Jersey City money as promised.

Perez, now working as an administrator for a national Hispanic fraternal organization, said, “In my experience, I have attained a knowledge of what works and what doesn’t.” He assured, “My first priority is to put Jersey City first. We offer representative government to the community. We want to bring programs to a different level, not just to the Gold Coast and Downtown area.”

Syed is a former city school board member appointed by the state when it took control of the city district, and a former chairman of the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency.

Proud to have raised his three children to go onto successful careers while living in Jersey City these last 40 years, he said parents “cannot avoid responsibility for taking care of their own children themselves,” as opposed to leaning on the government.

He said he will be independent in “considering the merits of every proposal,” and “will not be working as a rubber stamp for the mayor.”

“Elect me November 8 if you want to see a better-managed city, transparency in the city and good governance,” urged Syed, who took credit for overseeing construction of 250 affordable housing units in the Lafayette section during his public service.

Vazquez, who is looking to return to the council, where he served from 1985-97, now serves as the city’s director of veteran affairs. The lifelong Jersey City resident insisted, “Even though the council is considered a part-time job, I will be a full-time councilman.”

“We need to re-establish the city’s youth services division with six youth services offices in each ward,” said Vazquez. “Schools should be open after school for activities like clubs and sports.”

He promised not to seek holding other paid positions if elected, and cited a proven track record of independence when serving previously.

“In 1988, there was a resolution to tear down the Loews Theater and turn the land over to Hartz Mountain,” he recalled. “I was the fifth vote to save Loews. I was persona non grata with the mayor’s office for about a month – but I voted my conscience.”

Photo: Steve Gold

Property taxes are too high and getting higher, the level of crime is unacceptable, and our city is run like it is 1911 and not 2011.

Corruption, double dipping, patronage and cronyism are interfering with the city’s ability to thrive and move forward. Fleeing residents has led to the dismal 3 percent population growth reflected in the decennial 2010 Census despite a development boom of historic proportions.

I am running for Jersey City Council At-Large in the November 8 special election with a simple mission: to improve the decisions made by our city. I will bring a clear, common sense vision and sound management approach to help solve our problems and build on our opportunities. The needs of the residents will be central to my considerations and actions.

With your support, we can –

• Ban campaign contributions in city offices
• Implement a strict government ethics code
• Implement community based policing
• Eliminate semi-autonomous agencies for substantial cost savings and improved accountability
• Bring planning tools to the budget process
• Create a multi-year financial plan supported by a Municipal Budget Commission
• Subject Tax Abatement agreements to rigorous review by a budget commission
• Implement a functional Shade Tree Commission
• Implement bike lanes
• Fix the Journal Square Taxi stand to provide residents with the service they deserve
• Fix the entertainment ordinance allowing bars and restaurants to offer live entertainment
• Provide improved notification to property owners subject to redevelopment plans
• Have stronger tools to encourage interim use for large vacant lots
• Development of a public market

Let us speak with one voice for a safer, more vibrant city, for stable taxes and sensible spending, for sound solutions.

Please vote on November 8 for ONE Jersey City.

Daniel Levin
Council At-Large Candidate
www.onejerseycity.org

The election, set for November 8, is for the spots vacated by Mariano Vega (after a guilty plea on corruption charges) and Willie Flood (due to illness). Those elected this fall will serve out the original terms through the end of June 2013. The current council members who were appointed to those positions, Kalimah Ahmad and Ray Velazquez, are running, as is current Ward F councilwoman Viola Richardson.

The other candidates are, in alphabetical order: Richard Boggiano, Ihor Ed Ciolko, Melissa Alexander Clark, Omar Dyer, Brian Lane, Rolando Lavarro, Dan Levin, Patrick Leonard, Juanita Lopez, Suzanne Mack, Omar Perez, Adela Rohena, Imtiaz Syed, Albert Walker and Nabil Youssef.

As we reported yesterday, both Ahmad and Velazquez and Mack and Perez have been bracketed together as slates of candidates. The only other two to pair off before the filing deadline were Lavarro and Richardson.

A drawing for ballot positions is scheduled for Friday, September 23 at the Hudson County Clerk’s office.

Jersey City’s budget is eight months late. The proposed budget includes a tax increase of 13 percent, bringing the total increase in municipal taxes since 2009 to 40 percent. However, there are a number of one-shot revenue items related to the sale of city property that may not be realized, requiring an even larger property tax increase.

In his March 16, 2011 State of the City Address, the mayor described directing each city department to develop a three-year strategy for restructuring of services and revenue creation. Six months later, we still have not seen a plan.

The City Council remains unable to come together to pass already proposed sensible cost-cutting measures that include: folding the Jersey City Incinerator Authority (JCIA) into the Department of Public Works (DPW); eliminating redundancies; moving retirees to a less costly, but equivalent health care plan as the city has already done for current employees and NJ has done for state retirees; eliminate health benefits for volunteer board members for the Jersey City Incinerator Authority (JCIA) and Jersey City Municipal Utilities Authority (JCMUA); and label all city-owned vehicles to discourage abuse.

Like most of you, whether owner or renter, the budget failings and tax increases have become front and center in our lives. Many of us have seen our incomes fall during the past few years and health insurance costs rise while bearing a 40 percent increase in property taxes. We are experiencing haphazard reductions in municipal services with no guiding plan and no public input.

It does not have to be this way. There are strategies and methods to prioritize the outcomes and services residents expect and then align these with goals. Consider a strategic, more transparent budgeting process used by the city of Baltimore, Outcome Budgeting:

• Addresses fiscal constraints
• Rewards innovations
• Measures performance
• Makes the budget process more transparent
• To learn more about Outcome Budgeting, click here.

We must seek and implement new solutions to stabilize our taxes because the old way — following a development boom of historic proportions — left us with a deficit of $30 million which has grown to a potential $80 million in the hands of our “old way” council comprised of mostly current and former employees of local government and their family members.

Daniel Levin
Candidate, Council At-Large
onejerseycity.org

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