OPENING STATEMENTS

SCHOOL FUNDING

ETHICS/PAY TO PLAY REFORM

CRIME

PROPERTY TAXES

MAKING SURE DEVELOPMENT OCCURS CITYWIDE

FIXING THE SEWER SYSTEM

BALANCING DEVELOPMENT & PRESERVATION

SMALL BUSINESS CULTIVATION

TRAFFIC SAFETY

‘LIGHTNING ROD’ QUESTIONS: The candidates were supposed to give yes or no answers to questions on tax abatements, limiting developers’ campaign contributions, and pension payment deferral.

CLOSING STATEMENTS

- Monday, May 4, at 6 pm: A community coalition hosts a forum for Ward F council candidates at the Lincoln High School auditorium (60 Crescent Ave.).

- Wednesday, May 6, at 7:30 pm: The Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association hosts a forum for Ward E council candidates at Cordero Elementary School (158 Erie St.).

- Thursday, May 7, at 7 pm: The Jersey City Independent and the West Bergen/Lincoln Park Neighborhood Coalition host a forum for Ward B council candidates at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (38 Duncan Ave.).

- Thursday, May 7, at 7:30 pm: The Historic Paulus Hook Association hosts a forum for At-Large council candidates at Our Lady of Czestochowa Meeting Hall (120 Sussex St.).

- The New York Times has a story on the mayoral race, saying Mayor Healy “is not acting like he’s worried about winning re-election.”

- The Insider weighs in on Mayor Healy’s new ads attacking Lou Manzo’s record when he served as an Assemblyman in Trenton, and also reports on a kerfuffle between Ward F candidates Omar Barbour and Ron-Calvin Clark.

- A former recruiter for PC Tech Learning Center, a medical training school, has been accused of stealing $5,000 from 30 students. Columnist Earl Morgan has more on the scam.

- The roadwork planned for this weekend on the Turnpike’s Casciano Memorial Bridge has been postponed because of the weather. There will be no lane closures.

- Urban American Management is selling its Jersey City apartment portfolio, which includes 10 buildings and more than 300 apartments in and around the Journal Square area. CB Richard Ellis has been tapped to handle the sale.

In statewide news:

- The Hackensack University Medical Center pulled advertisements this week from the Bergen Record’s parent company and banned the paper from hospital property following publication of a story about its governing board. The hospital quickly reversed course on Friday.

- Gov. Corzine says his administration decided to delay an offering of $364 million in transportation bonds this week as tax revenue continues to decline, worsening the state’s budget crisis.

- The state’s Safe Streets and Neighborhoods program is set to receive $29.7 million in federal stimulus money.

Come out and hear from the candidates before casting your ballot; find out what they have to say about the issues that are important to Ward B and Jersey City.

Here are the details:

Thursday, May 7, 7-9 p.m.
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
38 Duncan Ave.

St. Dominic Academy (across the street from St. Paul’s) will provide overflow parking if necessary.

OPENING STATEMENTS

QUESTION: What role should city government have in affordable housing development?

QUESTION: Would you support a growth share ordinance/inclusionary zoning?

QUESTION: Should Jersey City based nonprofits play a role in the development of affordable housing?

QUESTION: What is your plan to create a mix of affordable housing options for populations like the homeless, the disabled, seniors, the working class, low-income folks and first-time home buyers?

QUESTION: What is your plan for foreclosure prevention and addressing the re-use of foreclosed properties in our neighborhoods?

QUESTION: In the past 10 years, Jersey City has experienced a tremendous amount of growth that has significantly increased the cost of housing citywide. What is your plan to make Jersey City affordable to its longtime residents?

QUESTIONS FROM THE AUDIENCE

CLOSING STATEMENTS

Photos: Steve Gold

At last night’s mayoral forum hosted by the Downtown Coalition of Neighborhood Associations and Civic JC, all five candidates discussed their plans for development, ethics, fiscal management, crime and transportation in front of about 150 people.

School Funding

Manzo wove tax abatements into his criticism of the new school funding formula imposed by the state that resulted in the loss of aid for Jersey City. The new formula is based on per capita income.

“[People living in abated properties] push up the per capita income of the city, which cuts us in state aid,” Manzo said. “Yet they contribute nothing to the school district.” The city does not share the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOTs) that come from abated properties with the school district or the county.

Manzo said he thought the funding formula was “unconstitutional,” and that he’d fight it in court.

Harvey Smith also said he’d fight the new funding formula. “Jersey City has to fight to make sure school funding is consistent,” he said, while trimming fat in the budget.

But Mayor Jerramiah Healy said he had already fought for the city’s interest in this area. “No one fought harder than I did to fight the governor’s plan,” he said, adding that “there’s going to have to be cuts” in the school budget if there are more cuts in state aid.

Dan Levin agreed. “We’re not going to get more money from the state; our schools are not going to cost any less,” he said. What Jersey City needs to do, Levin said, is to devise a long-term financial master plan and start furloughing appointed city employees (not civil servants) and cutting expenses to brace our budget for the possibility of an extended downturn.

“We need to cut, we need to cut, we need to cut,” he emphasized, “in order to have the necessary resources to educate our children.”

Property Tax Revaluation?

Tax abatements also figured into the candidates’ discussion of a possible property tax revaluation (it’s been about 20 years since the last), and whether or not that would create a massive property tax hike like ones recently seen in Hoboken and West New York.

Healy said the revaluation is “probably going to occur in the next handful of years, but that “if it’s done properly … [it] shouldn’t affect taxes all that much.”

The other candidates didn’t agree.

“I’m not looking forward to the reval,” Smith said, adding that the city needed to look at the budget carefully and possibly apply to the state for a hardship provision to help cushion the blow.

Webb reprised an idea he’s floated at earlier debates — doing an efficiency audit for each city agency and department to help control costs.

“The revaluation … is going to be very destructive and destabilizing,” Levin said. He said that the revaluations are unfair because they are done so infrequently, and argued that by reducing the city budget now, a large tax increase might be avoided.  “[But] if we don’t plan, our city is going to suffer.”

Manzo suggested a specific plan on how to handle the problem. He proposed using a tax anticipation note to monetize right now revenue that the city will receive when tax abatements at particular properties expire. He claimed that would inject between $80 million and $100 million into the municipal budget annually.

Eliminating ‘Cronyism and Nepotism’

The candidates were asked about the city’s pay-to-play legislation, and more generally, what they would do to make a more open and accountable city government.

“The system needs fixing,” Manzo said. He talked about how difficult it is in Jersey City to be a grassroots candidate — which he admitted he isn’t — when the incumbent has millions of dollars to spend on a campaign.

Manzo advocated for closing loopholes in the current pay-to-play law, specifically saying that there should be a provision for developers and that the law should include private foundations and similar organizations that politicians use to funnel money. Later, he said that developers should not be allowed to contribute any money to political campaigns in the city.

Both Healy and Smith said there were already statewide provisions in place that track spending and that regulate how much developers can contribute to campaigns ($2,600). Both Levin and Webb said they’d restrict developer contributions to $300 per candidate.

Webb said that nepotism and cronyism is too entrenched in Jersey City goverment. He said many employees “do the least amount of work possible, because they know that the rewards always go to those who are politically connected.” He said he’d promote strictly based on merit. “As long as you do a good job,” Webb said, “you’ll never have to worry about me.”

Levin hit many of the same notes as Manzo, but also addressed the citizens in the crowd. He said the city needed to implement a more open process to encourage ordinary residents, rather than politically-connected folks, to serve on the various boards that handle city business.

Crime

Asked what they’d do to help control the crime problem, the challengers all pointed to similar ideas: community-based policing, cops walking the beat, recreational options for youth and a more diverse economic development plan to create jobs.

“Poverty and crime do go hand in hand,” Webb said, noting that Jersey City in its current state was “a tale of two cities” — the prosperous waterfront and the rest of the city.

Manzo said he’d take a 100-percent enforcement/zero tolerance approach to all crimes in the city, to “let the hoods know they don’t own the streets.”

Meanwhile, Smith disputed Healy’s claims in his advertising about crime. “We all know that crime isn’t down, as the mayor’s commercial says,” he said, before reciting the 2007 and 2008 murder, rape and robbery numbers from CompStat.

Healy, saying he “certainly dispute[d] Harvey’s statistics,” leaned on his record. He focused on his administration’s accomplishments: hiring more cops, creating an anti-gang unit, instituting a gun buyback program, and using programs like the Police Activity League to reach young people.

Economic Development

“We need a comprehensive economic development plan to bring jobs to the people who need jobs,” Levin said, adding that the condo and hotel development the current administration has focused on provides only low-paying service-sector employment, not career-oriented working-class jobs.

Manzo agreed, saying that it was no coincidence that the city’s high-crime areas were plagued by double-digit unemployment. He said that licensing tax abatements will enable the city to enforce employment and training provisions written into the abatements that he claims developers are skipping out on under this administration.

But Healy said that economic development has been distributed throughout the city. “The rising tide has lifted all the boats,” he said.

Transit

In response to a transit question, another couple of interesting ideas were floated.

Manzo said the city should lobby the Port Authority to create an express PATH train that begins downtown (we’d assume at Grove Street) so commuters aren’t greeted by a procession of already-filled trains during the morning rush.

Healy said he’d work to expand light rail so commuters to Jersey City “leave their cars outside of Jersey City.”

Webb said he’d “consider a commuter tax” for folks working in the city but not living here, or folks who drive to our transit hubs and then use them to go to New York.

Levin said Jersey City residents need to have mass transit access to jobs in the entire region, not just in New York City, citing the light rail extension into Bergen County as an essential project. He also said that the city needs to cut back on cars and subsidized parking spaces for city workers. “It’s about leading by example,” Levin said.

Leftovers

* In response to a question on balancing development needs with historic preservation, a few interesting policy ideas were thrown out there. Levin, Manzo and Smith all talked about ways to give the Historic Preservation Commission more authority in the development process. Manzo suggested that all redevelopment should pass through that office in addition to planning, zoning and the other existing offices; Smith said that someone from the commission should sit on the Planning Board.

* All the challengers said they didn’t support the city’s decision to defer half of its payments into the state pension fund this year. By doing so, the city saved $14.8 million this year and was able to balance the budget without layoffs or service cutbacks. The city will have to begin repaying the money in 2012, over a 15-year period. Healy, who lobbied heavily for the state legislation allowing cities to make this move, said the “absolutely” supported it.

- Tuesday, April 21, at 7 pm: The Jersey City Affordable Housing Coalition and St. Peter’s College’s Sociology and Urban Studies Department hosts a mayoral forum focused on affordable housing at St. Peter’s College’s McIntyre Lounge (corner of Montgomery Street and JFK Boulevard).

- Wednesday, April 22, at 6:30 pm: The Game Face Group and the Jersey City Young Leaders Organization host a Ward F City Council candidates forum at the Fred W. Martin School (59 Wilkinson Ave.).

- Thursday, April 23, at 7:30 pm: The Downtown Coalition of Neighborhood Associations and Civic JC host a mayoral debate at Middle School 4 (107 Bright St.).

Last night, the Martin Luther King Drive Merchants Association held a “Meet the Candidates” forum at the Mary McLeod Bethune Life Center. The event was rightly centered on problems and policies in Ward F, and close to 200 residents came out to hear what the candidates for that ward’s council seat had to say.

A common theme in the remarks of all six candidates — Tyrone Ballon, Omar Barbour, Ron-Calvin Clark, Calvin Hart, Viola Richardson and LaVern Webb-Washington — change, specifically change from within. Change is needed from the rampant crime, violence and poverty in Ward F,  the candidates said. They also talked about the much-needed physical change of converting abandoned property into productive housing and businesses.

Specifically, the candidates addressed three topic areas: economic development, housing and public safety. Here’s our quick & dirty highlight reel.

Economic Development

Clark: Said economic development will be based on businesses coming in and bringing financial revenue into this ward. Pledged to work with state officials to use stimulus money appropriately for the community.

Ballon: Discussed how economic development could help the community address some of the root problems of crime like poverty and unemployment. Noted that Ward F’s streets were finally being paved — a month before an election. Said the ward needs additional city resources.

Richardson: Leaned on her record, saying she has increased the number of minority contractors on development projects around the city through apprenticeship programs and advocated for vocational training.

Webb-Washington: Said that too many people were excluded from the city’s current apprenticeship programs because they require GEDs and drivers licenses.

Hart: Advocated for second chance programs to allow ex-offenders to become a part of the community and their families again.

Barbour: Stressed his leadership skills as the best way to guide the ward’s economic development.

Housing

Richardson: Said she supports both mixed-income and affordable housing. Stressed that the old-school high-rise projects are no longer acceptable forms of housing.

Clark: Agreed with Richardson on mixed-income housing, but stressed that the city needs to stay on top of how that housing is allocated. Advocated a first-time home buyer’s program and called for more oversight of abatement money.

Webb-Washington: Pointed out the difference between affordable housing and low-income housing, and said that it was hard to move up the housing ladder without a job.

Barbour: Said that foreclosed and abandoned homes should be seized by the city and put back on the market.

Public Safety

Barbour: Criticized the current administration for not having a zero-tolerance approach for TO low-level crimes like public urination. Said that vigilance will bring about change.

Webb-Washington: Said that she’d work to make the streets safe by engaging the community. Criticized the timing of additional cops walking the streets lately.

Ballon: Called on the community to step up and work with the police to fight the scourge of crime in the neighborhood.

Richardson: Touted her experience as a police officer and said she knows how to bridge the gap between cops and community. Said the community needs to work out some of its social problems before asking the police to solve the crime problem.

Steve Gold contributed to this report.

- Former aides to Assemblyman Anthony Chiappone will take questions from a state grand jury next Thursday in the probe into possible check forgery.

- The state Supreme Court says a Jersey City teacher who was taken to a hospital after another teacher said she had threatened her students may sue the school board for “defamation” and causing “emotional distress.”

- The man who was 17 years old when he allegedly took part in last year’s “shopping cart” killing in the Heights is being tried as an adult. He appeared in Central Judicial Processing Court yesterday, and will be transferred from juvenile detention to the Hudson County Jail.

- There were two City Council candidate forums last night — one for Wards C & D and one for Ward F. Topics of note at the Ward F forum were economic growth, crime prevention and affordable housing, according to the Journal. JCI was at both forums — look for our reports later today.

- More than 600 volunteers will help renovate and repair 16 buildings tomorrow as part of the Rebuilding Together Jersey City program.

- Hudson County Community College has been awarded a $10,000 federal College Access Challenge Grant, which will be used to expand the college’s Financial Aid Workshops, to inform more students and families about potential financial aid opportunities, and to offer personal assistance with Free Application for Federal Student Financial Aid (FAFSA) forms.

- The Jersey City Reporter‘s Ricardo Kaulessar has won the “story of the year” award from the Garden State Journalists Association.

In statewide news:

- Gov. Corzine says school districts across the state will share $609 million in federal stimulus money that they can begin to spend as soon as this summer to preserve jobs and invest in education reform.

- The Treasury Department says the state’s March revenue collections came in $80 million short of what Gov. Corzine had forecasted for the month when he reset state revenue projections for the new budget.

- A new report from U.S. PIRG says corporations with offshore accounts add $4.49 billion to the New Jersey tax burden.

- Judges say that three potential Republican gubernatorial hopefuls — Brian Levine, David Brown and Christian Keller — do not have enough valid signatures to make the ballot. That leaves three GOP candidates standing: Chris Christie, Steve Lonegan and Rick Merkt.

- The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities says it has approved spending proposals from five utilities to build $956 million worth of infrastructure and add some 1,300 new jobs to the state.

- The New York Times is further cutting back its New Jersey coverage.

Big thanks to JCList.com for shooting the video, to Tris McCall for allowing us to use his music, to the candidates for showing up, and to the Riverview Neighborhood Association for putting the event together.

TAX ABATEMENTS: All Candidates Were Allowed to Respond

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Andrew Hubsch, Noemi Velazquez and Lori Serrano

ROAD REPAIRS: Peter Brennan, Andrew Hubsch and Mariano Vega

SMALL BUSINESS CULTIVATION: Emilio DeLia, Lori Serrano and Ronnie Greco

TAXES AND GOVERNMENT WASTE: Betty Outlaw, Noemi Velazquez and Ronnie Greco

DEVELOPMENT AND CRIME IN GREENVILLE: Peter Brennan, Joseph Cassidy and Betty Outlaw

TAXES AND SENIORS: Mariano Vega, Emilio DeLia and Abdul Malik