The city has once again re-introduced a measure to eliminate the city’s tow pound service after twice pulling a similar effort due to problems with the law’s construction. The move is expected to save the Jersey City Incinerator Authority $700,000, although Business Administrator Jack Kelly could not answer At-Large Councilwoman Viola Richardson’s concern over the number of jobs that might be eliminated by the move. The effort is seen as increasingly necessary with consideration to JCIA’s bloated request for a budget this year that exceeded the city’s 5% increase in appropriation for the agency.

The ordinance was pulled the first time it was introduced after the tow pounds the city had approached complained about prohibitive requirements in the law. The second time the ordinance was pulled in order to limit the number of tow pounds the city licenses with and to require the pound be located within Jersey City’s borders.

The city had initially expected to use two tow pounds, with GXR Auto, located on 10 East Linden Avenue, being one of the likely candidates. The city was still looking into other possible pounds at the time, including tow pounds outside of the city limits. However, some council members were unhappy about that, and during the first reading of the pulled ordinance Ward E Councilman Steve Fulop had requested language allowing the tow pound to be located outside of city limits be removed, thereby eliminating that option.

Photo of current tow pound entrance via Google Maps

I’m writing this letter to express my concern about the ordinance to remove Council President Brennan. On Wednesday, the council voted 5 to 4. Council members David Donnelly, Nidia Lopez, Steven Fulop, Rolando Lavarro and Viola Richardson voted in favor while Michael Sottolano, Bill Gaughan, Peter Brennan and Michele Massey voted against. It was quite obvious Sottolano, Brennan, and Gaughan were going to vote against but I’m surprised at Councilwoman Massey. In the previous council meeting, she abstained. Now, she voted against the ordinance. I hope she is not falling in the hands of the Healy Administration because it’s the wrong team to join.

Although I’m an advocate for the Ward A Greenville community, this really disturbs me. We need new direction in Jersey City and your voting against the ordinance shows that you want the same status quo in Jersey City. The people of Jersey City especially in Ward F, which you represent, are tired of the same old politics and politicians not putting them first. If in this case Mayor Healy vetoes the ordinance, which most likely he will, the council needs six votes to override it. I would hope you have talked with the other five council members who voted for it to get more clarification. I would say, you should go talk to the residents in the community to see how they feel. I’m quite sure they want this city to finally move in a different direction.

- Demetrius Terry
Ward A Greenville Advocate

“The City Council’s action is illegal and as stated in two opinions rendered by the Corporation Council violates the rights of Council President Brennan,” says Mayor Healy. “This ordinance was arbitrary and capricious, serves no purpose, and was created solely for political motives. It does nothing to better the lives of the residents of Jersey City and only serves to expose the taxpayers to the costs of a lawsuit. For all of those reasons, I will veto this ordinance.”

With the City Council’s 5-4 vote at last night’s council meeting, the new majority faction on the council appears to be one vote short of overriding the mayor and enacting the legislation introduced by Ward C Councilwoman Nidia Lopez. At-Large Councilwoman Viola Richardson, At-Large Councilman Rolando Lavarro, Ward B Councilman David Donnelly, and Ward E Councilman Steve Fulop also voted in favor of the measure.

Following the vote – and ostensibly before he knew of Healy’s intention to veto – Brennan made it clear that he would be following through with his promise to sue the city, saying the law tramples on his Constitutional rights. To allay voter fears that they would be stuck footing the bill, however, Brennan said he would cover his own legal expenses.

The Council President found support from both Ward A Councilman Michael Sottolano and Ward D Councilman Bill Gaughan. More surprising for some was the support he received from newly-appointed Ward F Councilwoman Michele Massey, who said she could not vote for the measure since she had not been provided with “documentation” showing “just cause” for why Brennan should be ousted.

“On behalf of the taxpayers,” said Massey, referring to the potential cost of Brennan’s threatened lawsuit, “and without documentation, I have to vote no.”

Lavarro, on the other hand, did not require similar documentation and said his vote aimed to better reflect the will of the voters. Noting that there are three new council members and Richardson has moved to an at-large post since the organization meeting where Brennan was elected president, “as far as I’m concerned, it’s a new council” and a new president would be appropriate, he said.

“The people of Jersey City spoke on election day, and they made a very loud and clear message that the city should move in another direction,” Lavarro added.

The vote went ahead despite a legal memo written by Corporation Counsel Bill Matsikoudis, which maintained the ordinance would likely be rejected in court as “illegal,” an opinion the unconvinced majority on the council rejected as “convenient.”

“We lose focus that for all nine of us sitting up here, it’s not a god-given right, it’s a privilege,” said Fulop. “Policies change, perspectives change.”

Before voting no, Ward A Michael Sottolano said ousting Brennan “is totally without merit and without cause. It reeks of [being] self-serving and of political machinations at their worst.”

The “self-serving” argument resonated with resident Esther Wintner, a council mainstay who frequently criticizes the Healy Administration, but who in this case maintained that politicians who change the law for their own benefit are far more dangerous than “bad decisions” by those in charge.

“If members of the council are frustrated and unhappy with the rules that govern their body, there is an organizational meeting to fix it,” she said of the meeting where a council president is elected at the start of each four-year council cycle. “While I understand this is an extraordinarily unusual [council] term given the change of council members, stepping outside the rules to change the law, either out of frustration, expedience, or personal aggrandizement, sends the message that you think the law should be bent to your will, not you to the law’s.”

Still, the majority of speakers were far more enthusiastic at the prospect of new leadership on the council, such as Police Officer Benevolent Association representative Mark Razzoli, who noted the city’s double standard when it comes to contracts. Razzoli likened changing the council president’s terms of office to the city’s decision to change health benefits of retirees despite the existence of a written contract, a move Brennan had supported.

Perhaps articulating the frustration best, Imtiaz Syed, a Jersey City doctor and one-time At-Large Council candidate, said the need for leadership change was due in large part to what he described as spiraling crime in the city, of which he has been a victim twice. First his office was broken into, he said, and more recently the wheels of his daughter’s car were stolen. The Healy Administration’s response, he says, was pathetic.

“If I knew the state of affairs was going to be like this in Jersey City, would I have asked [my children] to come back to Jersey City?” Syed asked. “What kind of message are we sending to professionals, that they should leave Jersey City?”

Photo of Peter Brennan by Eric Schkrutz

In the letter, Assistant Commissioner Connie Meyers writes that Kelly’s “memo [to the state] does not mention all of the recommended revisions and we have not been provided with a copy of the revised agreement,” a longstanding concern for critics of the city’s plan.

“We are unaware if all of the recommendations that we made have been included in this agreement,” the letter continues.

The state is specifically looking for assurances that the private clinic will “follow-up on STD for all Jersey City residents positive for STD – not just patients seen at Horizon Health Center” (emphasis there’s), a longstanding sticking point for critics of the city’s plan. The state also outline the need to provide a contingency plan should the agreement with Horizon fail to address this state-requirement, a concern of Council members since the plan was first announced. The state also expressed concern for the city failing to provide an STD Outbreak Response Plan should Jersey City continue to remain the number one site for Syphilis in the state.

The letter comes just five-days after Kelly issued a memorandum to assure the Council that progress with the state was underway, and that all of the state’s recommendations had been included in the agreement with Horizon, a confirmation the state’s letter questioned.

There has been an outpouring of support for the clinic from when the city first announced its plan, with council members and residents vocally supporting the clinic workers who continue to make the case that Horizon will be unable to provide the same service as the city does.

But Kelly remains certain that the Clinic should and will close, and fears of non-state compliance stem from misinformation that he’s working on clarifying.

“The business administrator spoke at length yesterday with the State on this matter and the administration feels that the matter has been satisfactorily resolved, and as a result the resolution will go to the City Council tonight for a vote,” said city spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill.

In fact, Kelly notes that “only a handful of cities” in the state provide STD services, with the “bulk” provided by private agencies such as nonprofits. A list of the clinics, both public and private, can be found here.

For Ward B Councilman David Donnelly, the issue isn’t how many clinics are municipal-run, but which. Newark, a city of comparable size with Jersey City, provides a clinic, as does Paterson and Trenton. Donnelly remained unconvinced at Monday night’s caucus meeting that the city is taking the right course of action.

According to Dorothy Wojcik, the Preventative Medicine Clinic’s director, the Clinic averages 3,000 visits per year but the other “two-thirds” is surveillance, something that she contends Horizon is unprepared to do, a concern that echoes the state’s letter.

Added At-Large Councilwoman Viola Richardson, a vocal critic of the plan from the start, she remains “concerned about people falling through the cracks.”

Morrill says another letter from the state confirming Kelly has included all the health department’s recommendations in the agreement with Horizon is expected to arrive ahead of Wednesday night’s Council meeting, perhaps putting to bed the 8-month fight that could save the city $525,000 in taxes.

According to Byrne, the wards must be split into contiguous, compact borders within a deviation of 10% of the average of 41,266, a number derived from the total population divided by six. The range of acceptable population is between 39,293 and 43,329.

The ward map, as presently constructed, has only two wards in compliance with the state’s requirements – Wards A and D – with populations of 42,130 and 40,074, respectively. The remaining wards are under-populated with the exception of Ward E, which has a population larger than legally permitted. Byrne says Ward E will have to lose an area to another ward, though it is unclear where that will come from. Ward E, however, will still likely see some population growth should the appeal go through, according to projections by Social Compact.

Byrne cites numerous challenges to map-drawing, a process which he knows will not please everyone.

“Nothing is sacred,” says Byrne, “and the Council shouldn’t call with suggestions.”

The census appeal is being undertaken by Social Compact, and the firm says the appeal may net as many as 19,000 housing units. The final number may still be months away, as Michael Cook, the media relations branch chief for the Census, says the turnaround on an appeal can take 180 days. The city appealed 4 months ago. Still, the city remains optimistic about the census appeal despite the low-percentage of successful appeals.

When Bank of America shuttered their MLK Hub branch 18-months ago, citing the hard bottom-line realities of operating a branch with a low amount of deposits, residents in the area were left in what has been described as a “banking desert.” The problem presented a significant hurdle for the community, one with a sizable senior citizen population that relies heavily on public transportation.

Instead the community has had to rely on check cashing places that “aren’t the right way to bank,” according to Ryan Struggers, the on-site manager at the HUB, as they “often take advantage of this situation by charging outrageous fees for their service.”

In the time since, the area remains without a bank, and memories of BoA’s “desertion” still resonate with many in the area.

The problem was summed up best by Assemblyman Charles Mainor, who said “the biggest problem is that we as a community feel like we’ve been taken advantage of.”

“We put our money in the local branch and now the local branch is leaving us. We were told it was a ‘corporate decision’ and that’s all we were told,” he said at the time.

Which explains why a discussion over Jersey City’s cash management plan for the year devolved into a heated argument at Monday night’s City Council meeting, which is still done through BoA. Both Ward B Councilman David Donnelly and At-Large Councilwoman Viola Richardson, who say they felt ignored by the administration, argued that the city should not be doing business with BoA considering a Council vote to change cash management banks shortly after the Hub branch closed.

“If they don’t have respect for our residents, why should we have respect for them?” asked Richardson.

The vote to change banks was meant to both encourage a different bank to open a branch at the Hub as well as to penalize BoA for the manner in which they abandoned the property. Yet the move was postponed to the ire of the two council members.

At the caucus meeting, CFO Donna Mauer cited the complexities of changing banks, in particular from BoA, a bank that is not only the “clearing house” for salaried and vendor checks, but also because of the number of their branches and ATMs located throughout the city. The argument, however, fell on deaf ears for Donnelly, who recalls hearing the same story when the Council first voted to change banks. At the time the Council was told employees might not be able to get paid on time if they changed banks in such a short notice, and the Council ultimately backed down from their insistence. In November Donnelly says he was told he’d be informed about the city’s progress in finding a new bank, and seeing BoA as the proposed cash management bank yet again left him furious.

But not everyone on the council members remained intent on refusing to do business with BoA, in large part because Mauer says the change will cost the taxpayers money. Ward D Councilman Bill Gaughan noted that, considering the difficulty of finding a bank to move to the HUB, and considering the cost to tax payers to change banks, the city was essentially spiting themselves.

“What have we accomplished if a new bank doesn’t want to open a branch in the Hub?” he asked. “If it’s going to cost tax payers money and cause havoc with banking costs what are we accomplishing?

According to Mayor Jerramiah Healy, “This proposal punishes the bank with the most Jersey City branches, most Jersey City ATMs, most employees, and the largest presence in Jersey City.”

“The insistence of Councilwoman Richardson and Councilman Donnelly that Bank of America be removed is the antithesis of good and prudent government. It defies logic, business sense, and common sense and is purely vindictive. Removing Bank of America from the City’s approved list of banks does not remedy the situation at the HUB, and only serves to cause harm to the City, diverting scare resources and adding costs, without any increase in service to the City or the its taxpayers,” said Healy.

In the meantime, the Hub remains without a bank despite the attention of Trenton, where State Senator Sandra Cunningham has put forward a bill to help incentivize banks to operate in low-income areas.

It’s a challenge that has sputtered going forward, but not for lack of effort, according to Robert Antonicello, the director of the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency, who says the JCRA has been diligently working towards attracting a candidate for the MLK Hub.

“Over the last two years, it’s been the worst situation for banks in terms of contraction,” he says. “We reached out to banks looking to be part of Jersey City and spoke with our counterparts in Newark about what banks were operating there and which are expanding, because the Hub would be a similar [banking situation].”

Considering the shaky banking situation nationwide, too few banks are expanding, however. And the limited depositories in a low-income neighborhood means razor-thin profits, at best, a hard sell for most banks.

Even with incentives provided by the JCRA, including eliminating rent, banks that are interested in moving to the area, such as City National, are finding the move problematic. City National, which often operates in similar low-deposit banking areas, is struggling with regulatory issues and would have required the city to place large deposits in the bank, to the order of magnitude of $30 to $40 million. This, Antonicello says, the city cannot do.

Other options being considered are credit unions, which have caught on in the city as of late. Which credit union is interested has so far not been disclosed.

Another bank, explains Antonicello, is interested in a different site owned by the JCRA. The bank was told the JCRA would help them to obtain the more desirable site if they also open a branch at the Hub, an effort to “sweeten the pot,” but it’s been a difficult sell even with such incentives.

Antonicello remains “confident” that the Hub will get a new bank branch, but it will take some time, he says.

Photo of BoA branch — since closed — by Jennifer Weiss

Jersey City Board of Education Will Look at Pros, Cons of Moving Elections from April to November: Jersey City school officials may opt to move school elections to November to take advantage of state legislation signed into law this month by Gov. Chris Christie.

Repairs Finished on Jersey City’s Natural Gas Pipeline that Ruptured: The pressure in the pipe was reduced sufficiently to allow most of the residents back into their homes at 5 p.m. and repairs to the 20-inch high-pressure gas main were completed by 11 p.m., PSE&G spokeswoman Eileen Leahey said.

Federal Judge Dimisses Jersey City Developer’s Latest Lawsuit Seeking to Void Deal to Sell 7 Condos to City for Nominal Sum: A federal judge in Newark has thrown out a case brought by the developer of a downtown Jersey City condominium complex who claimed the city is forcing him to hand over seven residential units for a dollar a piece.

Crime Blotter: U.S. marshals are on the hunt for a Newark woman who committed a vicious carjacking in Jersey City just over two years ago and was a no-show in court Friday; Despite being cut during a robbery, a 37-year-old Jersey City woman chased a purse snatcher Sunday afternoon until he dropped the stolen bag, police reports said.

Today’s Best Bets:

Meet us tonight at Barcade for the Jersey City Independent/NEW Winter Meet & Greet. The staff of JCI and NEW will be on hand drinking beer, playing video games, and meeting/greeting. There will also be goodies and giveaways.

In Statewide News:

Gov. Chris Christie’s “Historic” Appointments to New Jersey Supreme Court Bring Diversity to All-White Panel: Stressing the importance of maintaining diversity at the highest levels of New Jersey’s judiciary, Gov. Chris Christie Monday nominated an openly gay African-American mayor and a Korean-American assistant attorney general to the Supreme Court.

New Jersey Colleges take Advantage of Law Allowing Partnerships with Private Developers: Several state colleges are partnering with private developers for construction projects thanks to the New Jersey Economic Stimulus Act of 2009.

New Jersey Police Departments Consider Using Stun Guns: New Jersey is the last state in the union to permit police to have stun guns, but in doing so also has established one of the toughest set of criteria in the nation as to how such weapons may be used by officers, according to law enforcement officials.

Two Bills Would Exempt New Jersey from Federal Sports Betting Ban: Two House bills that would legalize sports betting at New Jersey racetracks and casinos were announced Monday by members of the state’s congressional delegation.

A new majority faction on the City Council emerged at Wednesday night’s meeting when an ordinance was introduced to cut short Council President Peter Brennan’s term as president at a vote of 5-3-1. The law would also change the length of future terms from four years to two years going forward, but the crux of the issue is the direction of current Council leadership, which Ward C Councilwoman Nidia Lopez, the bill’s sponsor, had described as “lacking vision.” Along with the votes came sharp rebuke of Corporation Counsel Bill Matsikoudis’s memo questioning the legality of the ordinance, a legal opinion most of the Council said failed to address the question put before him.

Along with Lopez, the affirmative votes came from Ward B Councilman David Donnelly, Ward E Councilman Steve Fulop, At-Large Councilman Rolando Lavarro, and At-Large Councilwoman Viola Richardson, the councilwoman expected to replace Brennan should the ordinance pass its second reading. Newly elected Ward F Councilwoman Michele Massey, though recommended to the Council by Richardson, chose to abstain, saying she wasn’t privy to the reason for Brennan’s potential ouster and did not want to vote prematurely on the measure.

Despite Matsikoudis’s 10-page memo that called into question the legality of the ordinance, the majority of Council members said the memo was too vague.

“There were a lot of “ifs,” “mays,” “it’s possibles,” but not an affirmative yes or no,” said Lopez. “There was a lot of information on the memo that did not apply to the ordinance.”

Added Lopez, “It’s a new era and 33% of the council are holding new positions.”

The three no votes– which included a vote by Council President Brennan, who had opted to abstain from voting on the amended Entertainment Ordinance because of a perceived conflict of interest– described the ordinance as unjust. He said the law would result in uncertain leadership on the council because any five council members could could call for a change at any time.

“If the Council wants two-year terms for the Council President, I have no problem with that starting in 2013,” said an emotional Brennan, “but interrupting the current term [of a president] that six people on the current council voted on isn’t right. I feel that my rights are being violated.”

Brennan, who noted he “made every agenda meeting and every council meeting,” said he doesn’t see why his “name should be tampered with. I believe I have done a good job as Council President.”

Ward A Councilman Michael Sottolano agreed, adding, the bill “is not a prudent course of action for the Council to take.”

“There’s no just cause for removing him,” continued Sottolano. “In essence what we’re saying [with this ordinance] is that any particular time or at the will or whim of the Council we can change the terms of office when we have five votes.”

As the Hudson Reporter noted earlier in the week, Jersey City’s revision of the municipal code is similar to a move Hoboken made last year. At the time, Hoboken’s City Council changed the city’s laws to allow a change in its leadership following an election that saw Hoboken’s mayor lose allies on the Council.

Should the vote pass at the following City Council meeting on January 25th, Brennan reiterated that he would sue over the decision, echoing the memo’s concerns that his vested rights were being trampled on, a decision Fulop slammed as a “threat” and scare tactic.

“You should acknowledge voters want to go in a different direction,” said Fulop before reminding the Council that he is often on the losing side of a Council’s vote and there is a proper way to handle it. “Leave with dignity, not with lawsuits.”

“Elections do have consequences,” he added, referring to the recent special election in which the two former At-Large Council seats, often supporters of Mayor Jerramiah Healy’s agenda, were defeated.

“None of these seats are a birth right or god given,” he said. “If the majority of the Council wants to explore a different option here we should be able to.”

File photo: Steve Gold

Alongside Wells Fargo representatives presenting the award at the event, local pols At-Large Councilwoman Viola Richardson and newly-elected Ward F Councilwoman Michele Massey will be on hand in one of the first joint-appearances by the former Ward F Councilwoman and her hand-picked successor. Perhaps most interesting to prospective buyers, Diana Perez, a homeowner who purchased one of the city’s revitalized foreclosed homes, will be at the event to represent the program’s successes.

The $75,000 comes as just a fraction of the almost $3 million the JCECDC raised in the past two years to fix up 18 foreclosed future homes in areas of the city the group describes as having been “affected the most by foreclosures.” The group credits this earlier success in attracting Wells Fargo’s grant.

“In our effort to mitigate the effects of foreclosures in our community, JCECDC, the City of Jersey City and our corporate partners came together to carry out the NSP project which has helped stabilize housing values in a community that has a disproportionate share of the City’s foreclosures,” said Carol Mori, Executive Director for JCECDC, in a statement. “In this process, Wells Fargo provided mortgage products to several of our first time home buyers that agreed to purchase the foreclosures after we rehabilitated them. We are delighted that the Wells Fargo Housing Foundation has agreed to work with us on the redevelopment of additional units.”

For more information about our affordable housing programs please contact plozito@jcecdc.org

“By ordinance, the City Council more than 10 years ago unanimously passed that the Council presidency is for the full term of the council person elected, namely four years. That is the state of the law in Jersey City, and as a result Council President Brennan has another 18 months to serve before that can possibly be changed,” says Mayor Healy.

But Lopez says the Council made that law, so they can also amend it when necessary. According to Lopez, Corporation Council Bill Matsikoudis is “still looking into” the issue. She says she expects to have an answer by Monday, a delay that she describes as “stalling.”

“Give me a break,” she says. “[The city's lawyers] need to come up with a reason why they need to delay it. They’re trying to find a way to make it a legal issue.”

For Lopez, the “tactic” is typical of the problems she’s faced with the administration, which, she says, routinely ignores her proposals.

“If [Brennan] listened to the people at council meetings, he’d realize changes are needed,” Lopez says. “A council president needs vision and commitment to benefit everyone in our great city.

“And with all respect to Mayor Healy, it’s never too premature to do what’s right for people. It’s not unjust to change under-performing individuals. If you can get a council president who will be more effective, why not?” she adds.

The proposed ordinance would be paired with a resolution nominating At-Large Councilwoman Viola Richardson to the council presidency, a move suggestive of a new dominant faction on the council and one less aligned with Healy’s goals. It also comes after Richardson’s profile was raised dramatically following November’s special election, when the councilwoman won one of the at-large seats available and her ticket-mate, Rolando Lavarro, won the other.

Richardson was also instrumental in getting her replacement for the Ward F seat nominated. Neither she nor Brennan returned calls in time for this article.

Healy, however, has a not-so-subtle reminder to Richardson — the special election may not have been as representative of citywide sentiments as the faction supporting the move would like to think.

“Council President Brennan was elected by the full electorate in Jersey City and received approximately 12,000 votes and with all due respect, the newly elected Councilwoman Richardson was the victor in a special election receiving 4,100 votes,” the mayor says. “Not only is this measure premature, but it is also unjustified and illegal.”

The move, however, is not without precedent, according to City Clerk Robert Byrne. In 1992, Council President Marilyn Roman succeeded Gerald McCann as mayor after he was convicted of fraud. She then lost the position after the council voted for a different council president in the middle of her term.

Fulop has publicly supported Lopez’s move, slamming the current administration in a statement Tuesday.

“Clearly the Healy-Brennan leadership combination has resulted in huge tax increases year after year,” he says. “I don’t know where the mayor is living when he says taxes are stable but this change for Council presidency will both help get a new direction on taxes while also having needed diversity in leadership.”

The city, however, maintains taxes stayed “stable” from 2010 to 2011.

“It has been this administration and Council President Brennan, as well as other members of the Council, who have worked hard for the past two years to bring in a budget without a municipal tax increase, and it is our intent to do so again this year with the 2012 budget,” Healy says.