Register now !    Login  
Main Menu
Who's Online
163 user(s) are online (146 user(s) are browsing Message Forum)

Members: 0
Guests: 163

more...


Forum Index


Board index » All Posts (freepress)




Re: NAACP picks wrong target -- decision to single out Goldman as the villain is an odd one.
#1
Newbie
Newbie


Grove -- there are a few paragraphs missing from your post. here's the complete story.


NAACP picks wrong target
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
T he Jersey City chapter of the NAACP this past week decided to flex its muscle and hold Goldman Sachs accountable for its failure to hire Jersey City minorities in both the construction and permanent employment side of its operations.

The company's hiring record is under scrutiny as it seeks a second abatement for a building proposed for the property just north of its tower at 30 Hudson St.

Though the NAACP's criticisms are valid - Goldman did fail to reach contractual benchmarks in hiring city residents and minorities - the decision to single out Goldman as the villain is an odd one.

Since coming to Jersey City the company has built - among other things - 21 units of affordable housing on Martin Luther King Drive, a $3.8 million project that also included space for a college prep program.

In 2006 alone, the company spent $11 million with local businesses, while also building community ties by mentoring local students and hosting 26 charitable events throughout the city.

The NAACP ignores the fact that Goldman is an exclusive, multibillion-dollar international company whose eligible job pool spans the globe, not just the limits of Jersey City - which was no secret when the city entered into a unrealistic contract that called on Goldman to hire 50 percent city residents and minorities.

This is not to be dismissive of Goldman's failures, but in a city where no developer or business has lived up to its contractual - and moral - obligation to hire local residents and minorities, a company's philanthropic record certainly should mean something.

But where was the NAACP when the city was feverishly doling out these tax breaks over the years? They weren't standing in front of the City Council opposing these tax breaks like they were last week.

Rex Reid, second vice president of the local NAACP, says the organization decided to oppose this abatement after they saw a television show where Goldman Sachs officials boasted about their presence in Jersey City.

"They were just wrong, and we could not let that go unchecked," Reid said. "But we are going to be watching from now on."

The NAACP's own poor track record is a shame.

The city's elected officials have been amazingly ignorant of local developers' hiring practices, despite the fact that the city pays a staff to collect these statistics, which never see the light of day.

The involvement of the NAACP could have exposed some real villains by supplying the strong voice that has been sorely lacking as the City Council rubber-stamped each abatement application.

Posted on: 2007/7/18 12:24
 Top 


Neighbors live next to mess that's not been a city priority
#2
Newbie
Newbie


Jarrett Renshaw's column in the Journal

June 13, 2007

A h! Summer has arrived.

Time to break out the grill, turn up the radio and drink a cold one - that is unless your name is Paul Gurczeski or Carroll Barron.

For these Whiton Street residents, summer means something different. It's bug spray, indoor meals and repeated, unanswered calls to City Hall begging for some help to deal with the two blighted properties that stain the block between their well-pruned homes.

"If you want to barbecue, it's impossible. The mosquitoes eat you alive," said Gurczeski, as he smacked his neck. "I had to get rid of my pool because you couldn't swim out here."

The broken windows, boarded-up doors, overgrown weeds and birds that call 324 and 326 Whiton St. home are unsightly symbols of the years of neglect that have diminished the quality of life on the block for more than a decade.

"There are dozens of cats there," Barron said, while pointing to 5-foot weeds that stretch into his yard from the yard next door. "But I don't mind the cats, because they keep out the rats and the mice."

Someone broke into one of the privately owned properties last year, and police and fire officials were called to the scene. Within minutes, fire officials were running from the house after they realized someone had turned on the gas on the stove.

"It's not just ugly, it's dangerous," said Gurczeski, who has lived in his home for 35 years.

Last August, Gurczeski contacted the Mayor's Action Bureau, which is quickly becoming the Inaction Bureau.

He is still waiting for a response, much like the folks who petitioned the same office regarding the nearby Reliable Wood Recycling plant.

This spring, he asked city officials to come and cut down the overgrown weeds, and three different agencies said they would be removed by Memorial Day. He is still waiting.

If Joe Citizen fails to get answers, surely an elected official would be more successful.

"I am at my wits' end trying to get things done. Nobody seems able to do anything, and I don't even get my phone calls returned," said Ward F Councilwoman Viola Richardson. "We need stricter enforcement of these properties in terms of the upkeep . it's a nuisance, and it's hazardous."

The city has finally begun condemnation proceedings on the two properties, with one of the proceedings getting its start just days after this reporter began asking questions - city officials call it a coincidence.

City sources tell me the construction office has "sporadically" enforced laws in the past few years that require property owners to clean up their property, or make them structurally sound, or face condemnation by the city.

Often, like at Whiton Street, there are substantial liens on the properties, a telling sign that the owner has long given up on a property. Combine absentee property owners with lien holders who have no incentive or responsibility to clean up a property and you have a large problem for the city.

In recent months, the construction office under the leadership of Ray Meyer has initiated more than 60 condemnation proceedings in the city, but there's no way of knowing what percentage the number represents, since there is no city agency that keeps track of all problem properties in the city - it would be wise to start one.

Often, this has woken up property owners or forced the hands of lien holders to foreclose on the property and begin taking responsibility - all of which are great things for the people of Jersey City.

A quick review of records shows that the construction office has issued two notice of condemnation proceedings in other parts of the city - one at 38 Van Nostrand Avenue and another at 25 Troy Street - saying these two properties are in imminent danger of collapse.

Guess who owns these properties?

Well, if you guessed Jersey City, you would be right.

Posted on: 2007/6/14 14:07
 Top 


Mayor's top aide makes mockery of the system
#3
Newbie
Newbie


Jarrett Renshaw's Jersey Journal Column
Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy's chief of staff, Carl Czaplicki, went before the city's Historic Commission in November and pleaded for approval of his plans to renovate and expand his Second Street home.

Among other things, he said the changes were urgent and necessary because his wife was pregnant and he wanted to begin construction as soon as possible in order to prepare the home for raising a family.

The Historic Commission took a pass on the plans, and Czaplicki then took a pass on the Historic Commission. Instead of going back with new plans for approval, he sidestepped the commission and took the plans directly to the Planning Bard, where he received a much more favorable outcome.

The snub of the Historic Commission grabbed headlines after several local officials - both publicly and privately - questioned Czaplicki's decision, saying that as the mayor's right-hand man he should have been more willing to follow procedure.

However, Czaplicki said at the time that he didn't have the time or the patience to bring the plans back to the commission, citing his family's urgent need to get into the house.

Well, just this month, Czaplicki sold the house for $785,000, thanks in part to the Planning Board's favorable decision. So what about all those dreams of moving his family back into the house?

Czaplicki refused to provide details of the sale, or much of anything else, referring all questions to his wife. The bout of selective amnesia - or cowardice - was particularly odd given his willingness to talk about the property six months ago.

For the record, I decided against calling his wife.

One of the players in the sale was Roseanna Petruzzelli, a Planning Board member who gave a thumbs-up on the plans just months earlier. A realty agent, she represented the buyer in the transaction and says the property was listed with her company months after the Planning Board decision.

"I am very careful about these things, and I was not involved in the property when it came before the Planning Board," Petruzzelli said.

And now it appears that Czaplicki might have not been straight with the Historic Commission, the Planning Board, or the public when he sought the approvals.

Real estate records show he had been trying to sell the property since at least 2005, but it wasn't until he got the planning approval, which included increased density, that he was successful.

An advertisement for the house read, "Excellent opportunity for an investor. Plans and approvals have been granted to allow this property to be converted to a three-unit condo. All you have to do is pull the permits and start construction."

The contrast between his public comments and his private actions is troubling, and shows his willingness to say whatever is necessary to get the public out of his way. Such spin is unacceptable, especially for a public figure.

Perhaps it's time we lower the bar on our expectations of local public officials. That way they can easily rise above it, instead of trying to find ways around it.

Posted on: 2007/5/23 21:47
 Top 


Downtown, downturn?
#4
Newbie
Newbie


Throughout Downtown, a slowdown?
Experts fear slowdown in real estate market
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
By JARRETT RENSHAW
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Rising federal interest rates combined with growing concern among the nation's lenders over how much supply Jersey City's Downtown can handle has some experts and local officials predicting a significant slowdown in the city's bullish residential market.

The apparent shift in momentum comes at a time when Jersey City planning officials are bracing for upwards of 20,000 new units - from rentals to condos - in the Downtown region alone over the next decade, and it's now unclear whether the city will hit that target as the market emerges from its borrower-friendly epoch.

The perception of a flooded market has already slowed down one major Downtown project, and one of its high-profile developers - mega mogul Donald Trump - recently told The Jersey Journal the second phase of his Trump Jersey City project "may or may not get built, depending on market conditions."

The attorney for Metro Homes, James McCann, defended a postponement of a payment to the city saying that the lenders for the project have become jittery about the prospects of selling out the second of two towers.

"The banks are a little more skeptical of condo developments, because of the supply," said Dave Barry, of Applied Development.

Downtown Councilman Steve Fulop, who also works in Manhattan's financial district, says the city should consider the market slowdown when banking on revenue from proposed projects.

"I believe there will be a lot of projects that now may not come to fruition in the near term, so I think we need to revisit the abatement process, such as sunset provisions, to make sure that the city gets a return on its commitment," said Fulop.

"Look at the Trump project. It's an approved project, but we're not getting the revenue we expected, and I thinks it's representative of the climate."

The U.S. Federal Reserve Board recently made the decision to raise interest rates for the 17th consecutive time, to 5.25 percent, increasing long-term mortgage rates - as well as the cost for developers who want to borrow money to build the multimillion projects that dominate Downtown.

"Developers are now being asked to put more money up front because of the rate increase, and they are asking whether it's worth it," Barry said.

Jamie LeFrak, of LeFrak Organization Inc., said Jersey City has protection from the bursting of the real estate bubble because of its close proximity to New York City and its colossal job market.

"The job market in New York City is healthy, and people want to live close to their jobs, and they have found Jersey City a great place to live, so that won't change," LeFrak said.


Supply is giving buyers the edge
Wednesday, July 19, 2006

The swelling residential market supply has taken the negotiating power out of the hands of the developers and put it into the hands of buyers for the first time in years.

"Buyers now have more negotiating power and more selection as the market gets flooded with units," said Mike Berney, regional director with Liberty Realty.

Home sales in Hudson County are down 10 percent from this time last year, while the average price of a home has shot up 21 percent from last year to $475,000, Berney said.

"The market may no longer support the price (but) homeowners are stubborn when they are selling," said James Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. "Units are staying on the market for much longer."

Hughes said Hudson County's home sales statistics are typical indications of a market slowdown - which usually happens when the federal interest rate goes up.

"We have yet to invent a way to make booms last forever," Hughes said.

JARRETT RENSHAW

Posted on: 2006/7/19 20:00
 Top 


Healy and emails
#5
Newbie
Newbie


YOU'VE GOT MAIL!
In Internet age, a 'click' gets message to mayor
Saturday, July 08, 2006
By JARRETT RENSHAW
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER


John Lynch, 45, had a problem with Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy.

And instead of marching down to City Hall to voice his concern, he logged on to his computer, as many other city residents are starting to do.

"Mayor Healy . what is going on with the Heights . it looks like the slums," Lynch wrote in an e-mail to Healy's public e-mail address. "I understand you are from the Heights . do you care?"

Lynch is one of hundreds of city residents, many spurred by anger and frustration, who crank out e-mails in the hope that their voices will be heard.

"I tried other ways to reach out, so I had no where left to turn," said Lynch.

The Jersey Journal obtained all messages sent to Healy's City Hall e-mail address, MayorHealy@jcnj.org, for the first quarter of this year, under the state Open Public Records Act.

The e-mails, often colorful and biting, reveal discontent and frustration, while also showing that in a city the size of Jersey City, the mayor will never make everybody happy.

News of the city's proposed 18 percent property tax hike prompted a flood of e-mails from residents, describing in harsh terms what the impact would be and offering some choice words for the mayor.

"So, I ask you Mayor Healy why have our property (taxes) skyrocketed? Yes, my street has one less pothole, but if filling a pothole cost an additional $2,000 per year in taxes, I would have preferred the pothole," wrote one resident.

One Downtown resident described how his wife was mugged at gun point.

"I don't want to worry about my wife getting home safe from work at 7 p.m. every night," wrote the resident.

The e-mails reveal that Jersey City officials began to consider selling new taxi licenses.

"We have 104 taxi licenses," wrote Al Cameron, deputy director of the city Department of Housing, Economic Development and Commerce, to the city's business office. "If we auctioned off 21 new licenses and averaged $200,000 each, we could generate approximately $4 million . .it may be a good one-shot deal for our budget." Responding to that, another city official offered some humorous advice on what would have been a controversial suggestion.

"Please set aside funds to purchase flak jackets for those presenting this idea to the Council," wrote the official.

A Jersey City musician lamented the death of rock 'n' roll and made a desperate plea for help.

"What advice can City Hall possibly offer me?" the man wrote. "While I have gone nearly deaf from all the talk about Culture that can be heard . in the Downtown area, I find myself in such a desperate position for help that my only recourse is to contact you, our Fine Mayor."



Healy e-informed by Action Team
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy says there is not enough time in the day for him to read and respond to all the e-mails to his public address - even if he were so inclined.

"I quite simply don't e-mail people, nor do I read e-mail," said Healy.

Healy said the Mayor's Action Team reads all the e-mail - which is mostly junk mail - and responds when necessary. Often the e-mails are sent to the city department that can address the problem being raised, he said.

However, Healy could not point to one problem that was addressed because of an e-mail to his public address.

As mayor of the state's second largest city, Healy says he is used to the type of criticism that fills his in-box.

"There are more than 200,000 people in this city, and I have to represent them all, not just a group of them," said Healy. "Some people are going to disagree with my decisions, and I am OK with that."

JARRETT RENSHAW

Posted on: 2006/7/9 2:04
 Top 


Re: Jersey City School Superintendent takes heat on 'obscene' compensation and five-star London trip
#6
Newbie
Newbie


Local educrats stayed off campus at taxpayers' expense, records show
Monday, May 22, 2006
By JARRETT RENSHAW
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Jersey City Schools Superintendent Charles T. Epps Jr. and his staff lived like kings on the first four days of their 2004 trip to England, paying nearly $500 for two meals, more than $300 on limousines and taxis and nearly $1,500 for three nights in a London hotel - all at the public school system's expense.

According to receipts and other documents obtained by The Jersey Journal from state Republicans and interviews with the Oxford University group that hosted the educational convention, Epps arrived in England four days before the convention began at Oxford University on July 19, 2004, racking up the majority of his $5,179.47 in reimbursed expenses.

In addition, organizers for the Oxford Round Table on Superintendency and School Leadership say room and board is included in the "all inclusive rate of $8,195" paid for by the school district - but Epps stayed off-campus, at the nearly $300-a-night Old Parsonage Hotel.

Epps, who also is an Assemblyman representing Jersey City and Bayonne, has repeatedly refused to return phone calls about the trip, which is drawing fire from state Republicans and radio station Jersey 101.5 FM.

Earlier this year, Epps told the radio station that he should have considered "McDonald's or Burger King" instead of dining at the exclusive Rules Restaurant, which has an estate to raise its game hens and is billed as London's oldest restaurant. He also said he was trying to "figure out" why he took a limousine instead of a taxi.

"I would rethink asparagus soup, I would rethink beef, I would rethink a limousine, and doing it just a little bit differently," he said.

It's unclear how many other district employees accompanied him on the trip, and whether they too stayed at hotels in Oxford and London and then submitted their own receipts for reimbursement.

According to restaurant receipts obtained by The Jersey Journal, Epps ate with two other people; a hotel bill from the last night of the trip indicates two people stayed in the room that Epps paid for with his Diner's Club credit card.

It's also unknown if the taxpayers paid for empty rooms at the conference, since the college offers attendees reduced rates if they decline to stay on campus. Organizers said it's "rare" that attendees don't stay in the dorms.

Epps also wouldn't return phone calls to explain why he went to England apparently four days before the conference began. All the receipts submitted by Epps for July 15-17 are from London, which is a little more than 50 miles away from Oxford University. More than half of the receipts he submitted for reimbursement came from this period.

In total, taxpayers footed the bill for Epp's $5,179 worth of submitted expenses, which does not include the $8,195 convention fee or airfare for all the travelers, according to school district records.

Posted on: 2006/5/22 15:50
 Top 


Re: Tax abatements? Column by Earl Morgan
#7
Newbie
Newbie


Here's food for thought: 27 percent of all the tax ratable property in Jersey City is abated, according to city records.

But as the stories published yesterday and today in this newspaper point out, the developers who profited from constructing these abated projects have rarely, if ever, lived up to their "good-faith" pledges to provide jobs to Jersey City residents and minorities.

Abatements, which are also termed PILOTs, or payments-in-lieu-of-taxes, are a great deal for developers, and not just because they're paying less than they would if taxed at the normal rate. The real plus is that the company knows how much it will be paying in taxes for the next 20, 30 or, in one case, 40 years.

In return, developers sign pledges that they will make a "good-faith effort" to employ city residents, especially minorities.

But, according to city records, the jobs have not materialized.

In fact, according to Joseph Iwuala, the city's director of economic opportunity, a half-dozen developers can't even be bothered to file the paperwork. That means they're in violation of the abatement, and could be hit with a 3 to 6 percent increase in their payments - but so far, no one has.

In fact, no city official seems to know who, exactly, is responsible for levying such a fine.

According to the state Department of Labor, the latest unemployment rate in Jersey City is 6.1 percent. A healthy chunk of that figure includes African-American and Latinos.

You would think, in a city enjoying a building boom of historic proportions, that it would be impossible to have a 6.1 percent unemployment rate. You would think politicians, watching all the profits being reaped by the developers and property owners, would want to hold them to their promises.

It has to be said that the administration of Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy shoulders its share of blame in failing to hold developers responsible for honoring their pledges, but previous mayors going back 20 years are just as culpable.

The revelations come as no surprise to most community activists.

It's certainly no surprise to Lad Glover, director of the Community Empowerment Organization, who has spent nearly 20 years picketing and agitating for the employment of minority trade workers. Nor to Omar Barbour, director of the Neighborhood Development Corp. that oversees the Martin Luther King Drive Mall Plaza, who has long decried the city's reliance on a phrase as nebulous as "good-faith effort."

By law, the city can't enforce quotas to ensure that minorities and residents are fairly represented. But Healy has it within his power to encourage developers to try a little harder.

"All the mayor has to do," Glover said, "is make sure that developers don't get any inspectors to allow them to continue their projects if they don't live up to the agreements. They'll come around."

Posted on: 2005/11/23 14:58
 Top 


Re: Tax abatements- a Jersey Journal editorial
#8
Newbie
Newbie


J ersey City is the new Atlantic City.

No, it is not awash in glamorous casinos and it does not have beaches where summer tourists will frolic and spend their money.

What it has in common with the Shore municipality is that its residents listened to the promises of jobs and benefits if they let rich people develop their shoreline and grab tax breaks. Once the developers received these tax abatements and were given the green light to build their projects, the promises turned empty.

The courts determined that cities cannot mandate minority or residential hiring quotas. Those promised construction jobs never came. The largest building boom in Jersey City's past 50 years produced little or no economic benefit to its longtime minority population. At the city's waterfront construction sites for the past two decades, the accents were Texan, from the South and other parts of the country. Jersey City watched with its face pressed against chain-link fences or wood.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, local and county officials were fond of explaining away the lack of employment for lower and middle income residents by saying that the workforce was not trained for these jobs and the schools and colleges would have to do a better job of training them. A whole generation and two national census counts have gone by and the excuses are the same.

Unable to enforce quotas, Jersey City administrations have asked developers to make a "good faith" effort to hire locals. Yes, the idea of asking someone to promise to do something is somewhat preposterous. Just for saying they would make that effort, and provide reports about who was hired, developers were granted tax abatements.

The Jersey Journal published articles on Wednesday and Thursday detailing how developers who profited from constructing these abated projects have rarely, if ever, lived up to their pledges. City officials pointed out that about a half-dozen developers did not even bother to file the paperwork.

By not reporting their "good faith" effort, they are in violation of the abatement agreement, and should face 3 to 6 percent increases in their payments in lieu of taxes. No one has been penalized. City officials do not even know who levies fines.

There are even some in the city who have the gall to say the Journal's articles are much ado about nothing. These individuals are symptomatic of the problems in this city - a callous shortsightedness or inability to understand what is right.

Despite the "Gold Coast" boom, Jersey City's older inland neighborhoods have not benefited. It is safe to say that over these past two decades, the city's government failed its people.

Posted on: 2005/11/23 14:57
 Top 


Tax abatements?
#9
Newbie
Newbie


First of a two-part series.
FINE LOOT NOT COLLECTED
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
By JARRETT RENSHAW
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Hundreds of thousands of dollars that could be in Jersey City's coffers - ideally easing the tax burden on local homeowners - are going unclaimed.

Instead, the money is staying in the pockets of developers and property owners because the city has failed to fine them for not living up to the terms of their tax abatement agreements.

Internal city audits and violation notices examined by The Jersey Journal show a number of tax-abated projects failed to file employment reports - required under the abatement agreements - during the past two years, including six that are still in violation.

The abatement agreements mandate that an owner who fails to comply with these rules faces a 3 to 6 percent increase in their hefty payments-in-lieu-of-taxes, or PILOTs, they annually make to the city.

However, while the city has repeatedly sent out violation notices, no attempt has ever been made to collect the fines - leaving potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table.

No city official could provide a reason as to why the money is going uncollected. Indeed, no one even seems to know which city agency is responsible for enforcing the tax abatement agreements.

Joe Iwuala, director of the city's Division of Economic Opportunity, says he keeps track of the violations and passes his findings up to the business administrator's office and law division, which he claims are responsible for enforcement.

But officials in those departments say it is also Iwuala's responsibility to issue the fines - a claim Iwuala disputes.

"They are trying to pass the buck," Iwuala said. "They have known these developers are in violation since I gave them the information, and they have yet to fine them a single cent."

The city requires developers and commercial tenants of tax-abated properties to submit monthly and semi-annual project employment reports, which break down how many of the construction and permanent jobs are going to Jersey City residents and minorities, as well as what companies are getting contracts for such things as furniture supplies and concrete work.

Since the courts ruled that the city cannot have a quota system, the reports represent a developer's "good faith effort" at attaining the goal of 51 percent minority workers and Jersey City residents.

Once the city issues a violation notice and demands the paperwork, as records show has been done numerous times, it can raise the projects annual payment - some are in the millions of dollars - by a certain percentage spelled out in the agreement until the employment records are filed. According to a September internal city audit, 10 percent of the city's tax abated projects have repeatedly failed to report contractually required employment and manning reports.

"They signed the agreements, and we have lived up to our side, while they have not lived up to theirs," City Councilwoman Viola Richardson said. "So you have to ask yourself, what's really going on?"

Following the Journal's prodding, Jersey City business administrator Brian O'Reilly said letters went out to the project managers of these sites this week, advising them that if the city does not receive the employment reports shortly, fines will be issued.

"We will take the final step, if we have to," promised O'Reilly.

Assemblyman Louis Manzo of Jersey City, often a critic of the city's administration of tax abatements, is currently sponsoring state legislation that would require greater city oversight of these properties.

"There has to be a better oversight process in place," Manzo said. "The City Council has the responsibility to hold these developers to the fire, and it hasn't for the 20 years that they have been handing them out."

JARRETT RENSHAW can be reached at jrenshaw@jjournal.com




By JARRETT RENSHAW, JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

JOB PROMISES

ARE GOING UNFULFILLED

minority

hiring low

Second of a two-part series.

Proponents of tax abatements say they bring good jobs to the city - construction work while the projects are being built, and permanent positions once they're finished - for local residents and minorities.

But as the Gold Coast continues to boom, the promise of jobs for city and minority residents isn't materializing, according to a review of city records by The Jersey Journal.

Just 16 percent of permanent employees at tax-abated properties actually live in Jersey City, according to the report. And, according to city records, an even lower percentage of construction workers are residents.

In the construction of tax-abated projects, not a single developer has met the city-established "good faith" goal of employing 51 percent minorities and city residents in a given month, according to Joe Iwuala, director of the city's Division of Economic Opportunity.

Iwuala estimated only about 15 percent of workers on construction sites are Jersey City residents or minorities.

A February 2004 employment report in connection with construction of the Goldman Sachs building, for example, showed that 18.5 percent of the construction jobs were going to city residents, and 14.4 percent to the city's minorities.

Meanwhile, a report compiled by the city earlier this year shows that minority workers comprise 12 percent, or 828 of 6,539, of the permanent workforce at tax-abated properties.

"A city of this size, with all the work being created, to only have a 12 percent minority workforce, is absurd," City Councilwoman Viola Richardson said. "It's a poor representation of the city's efforts to monitor and ensure that the city's residents and minorities are getting jobs."

According to the 2000 Census, nearly two-thirds of the city's residents are minorities.

The numbers are not a complete picture of the permanent employment situation, since a number of projects have failed to report to the city. In addition, some of the jobs reflect only recent hires.

And a closer look at many of these jobs reveals many are low-paying positions. According to the report, Goldman Sachs employs 121 city residents - but that includes 33 janitors and 46 security guards.

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy has refused to respond to this issue, referring questions to the city's Office of Employment and Training.

City and labor officials cite a number of reasons for the lack of employment for minority and city residents, such as unions pulling labor from South Jersey, and the fact that the city cannot require companies to adhere to a quota system.

In addition, officials argue that many of the permanent jobs on the Gold Coast require specialized skills and are filled by college grads recruited from across the country.

The city has made some efforts to promote local hiring, Iwuala said. Iwuala sends a stack of resumes each Friday to developers and commercial tenants, and also posts job listings on a Web site - though they can only be accessed on city computers.

Meanwhile, the city was forced to scrap an apprentice program aimed at training residents for construction jobs after a state grant ran out this year.

Posted on: 2005/11/22 20:40
 Top 


Re: $2M Brownstone In Paulus Hook?
#10
Newbie
Newbie


I was trying to find the ad on craigs list and was unsuccesful. Any tips?

Posted on: 2005/7/11 17:54
 Top 



TopTop






Login
Username:

Password:

Remember me



Lost Password?

Register now!



LicenseInformation | AboutUs | PrivacyPolicy | Faq | Contact


JERSEY CITY LIST - News & Reviews - Jersey City, NJ - Copyright 2004 - 2017