Here are a couple of ideas:

Jersey City: Love it or leave it.

or

If you don't like Jersey City, then go back where you came from.

or

Jersey City existed before you came.

or

Jersey City: People complain about it but they keep coming.

Seriously though -

Jersey City: Where diversity lives!

or

Jersey City: The Jewel of the Hudson

I also like the chilltown JC in grafitti font ideas. It's nostalgic for many natives and represents the cultural urban feel that attracts many artsy newcomers.

Oh yeah, ideas to discourage gang activity - Get Jersey City and the Board of Ed. to invest in engaging programs for youth in Jersey City. Get businesses to hire teens after school and in the summer. Years ago Jersey City had many programs for youth. They have just about all been cut. This is one major cause for the recent rise in gang activity.

Petunia -
Long white t-shirts is a staple of urban youth clothing and culture. Please don't tell me that the fact that they were wearing long white t-shirts has you concerned. Jersey City is an urban city that is at least 60% minority. Many black and hispanics are into urban culture or hip hop culture. Long white t-shirts has nothing to do with gangs and if this is what you reported to the police then that is why you got no response. How do you expect urban youth to look? You sound genuinely concerned but if you didn't see anything going on, I would not be worried. You will see a lot of black and hispanics in Jersey City and many youth in long white t-shirts. The people who have been here for many years are not going anyplace so this is what you will continue to see. Yes, there is gang and drug activity but there has always been. I am currently trying to get teenagers off of my corner who have been seen actually selling drugs and who are a part of a gang so I know that in some cases there is cause for concern. But long white t-shirts does not equate gangs and drug activity.

That only talks about one trip - the same one issue that has been discussed over and over. I am not trying to debate your point. I am sincerely asking for any info that you may have that shows that Epps has been mismanaging the district. I do believe that his acceptance of the reimbursement check for expenses that shouldn't have been covered was poor judgment on his part. But was there wrongdoing all throughout his career? Maybe there was. If you have this info, please inform me.

And about the total tally of the trip - It is the norm for educators to attend professional development conferences. It is actually required that educators get a certain number of professional development hours in each year. School districts pay for most of this. We want our educators to stay on top of current educational information and trends. So the airfare and conference costs are expected expenses. The issue is the reimbursement of his spending above the spending guidelines. That should have been out of his own pocket.

And that last post of yours was kind of lengthy. But I guess that was okay since most of it was not your own words.

To Nuada: Thanks for the links. They all seem to be recent articles about his trip to London. I get the impression that he is being accused of mismanagement and corruption throughout his long career in the JC public school system, not one single incident. I try to stay updated on the Jersey City school system and try to attend all open Board of Ed meetings. Knowing what I know about how districts are run, I just never realized that Epps had actually committed acts of corruption. It seemed that you had this information, so I was just asking you to share. And no, I don't have a lot of time on my hands. I'm actually pretty busy. I work long days and am currently working on my doctorate in educational leadership. And I do read the Jersey Journal every day. I've been getting it delivered to me for the past 15 years or so and have had many editorials published in the JJ. Sorry about the length of my posts, since it obviously bothered you. I am a writer and I tend to express myself - maybe too fully for this site. Its just that I am very interested in any and all topics regarding Jersey City. And as an educator, I have a lot to say about this topic. You seem like a very mature and pleasant person. Hope you have a great day.

To Nuada: please inform me of the Abbott fund abuse that Epps is guilty of. I missed that and would like to know about it. What exactly is he accused of?

And about his grammar - people should remember that it was a quote, not a written response. People don't have the opportunity to edit unprepared remarks to newspapers the way a good writer can edit his writing to check for grammatical errors.

Also, reflexive pronouns should not be used alone as an object so I don't think that he should have said "myself". And "I" is only used in the nominative case so I don't think that he should have said "I". That particular sentence can be improved but I can't say the problem is with his use of "me". Please elaborate on his incorrrect grammar so I can get a better understanding of what you are talking about. There are so many grammar rules and I don't feel like looking this one up so please refresh my memory.

Also, how is Epps destroying our state? As a New Jersey native, I would really like to know. There seems to be a lot that I must not know about Epps. Please fill me in.

One more thing, isn't a $225,000 salary within the norm for someone with a five year post bachelors education. I mean he does have a doctorate degree. I have a masters in educational leadership and if I ever decide to leave the classroom and become a vice-principal or principal, my starting salary would be about $100,000 to lead one, single school. Shouldn't someone leading an entire district, not to mention an urban district with its unique challenges, make at least $250,000. I don't understand the issue with his salary. I worked in corporate America before becoming an educator. At one time I put in 12-15 hour days at Lehman Brothers. It was a lot of work but it wasn't hard work. Being an effective educator is hard work. Yet people question the compensation which still doesn't pay enough for what the jobs entail. Maybe people should volunteer as superintendents. Maybe people should volunteer as principals and teachers too because their efforts aren't worth a fair compensation. Maybe Epps isn't doing the absolute best job, but he is doing better than many. How many people are out there who knows what it takes to run a district like ours and think that they can do a better job?

The issue should be "Where were the checks and balances?" Who signed off on the reimbursement of Epps' trip? Where there established guidelines for trip expenses? For example, if the daily limit for food was $70 then he should have only been reimbursed $70 no matter how much he spent. If the hotel limit was $150 a night, then he should have only been reimbursed $150 even if he spent over $300 a night. When I go on business trips and turn in my expense report, I am only reimbursed what is allowed. If I choose to spend more than what is covered, I understand that it will come out of my pocket and that I won't get reimbursed for the full amount. The questions should be whether there were spending guidelines in place and who approved Epp's reimbursement for the full amount that he spent? Epps is not the head of a private corporation but a public entity that is heavily regulated. Who signs off on Epps' expense reports? That is the person who is responsible for this. This is a system failure and should not be placed on the shoulders of one person.

I also believe that as a black man in a public position of power, he should have expected this type of scrutiny and should have known better.

Does anyone know whether or not this type of spending is common among school administrators and other public offcials? Or is Epps just being singled out? Now he's a bad guy all of a sudden.

I worked in the Jersey City Public School system as well as Newark and New York City. Under the leadership of Epps, Jersey City had been doing some good things. Yes, the system can improve but compared to its counterparts, it making more strides than most. Didn't Jersey City just receive a national award for one of the most improved school districts in the nation? Don't we have the #1 high school in the state under Epps? Didn't our students just win some national science awards under Epps? But yet, Epps is a bad guy now becasue he accepted a reimbursement check that someone else signed off on and maybe shouldn't have. Bad judgment, yes but does that make him bad for the district?

People keep mentioning his salary. Salaries of school officials are not determined by the official. It is standard. Epps does not determine his salary. As a teacher, I once wanted to teach more hours for no pay and I couldn't becasue my contract wouldn't allow it. Should Epps have refused the salary offered to him?

And as far as the Republican gripe about Abbott districts. This is nothing new. There are many non Abbott districts who are upset about the fact that districts with the poorest and most disadvantaged students get more funding from the state. They have been saying that it wasn't fair for the longest even though this additional funding is needed to close the educational gap between the well off and poor.

I am no fan of Epps and don't know him personally but this situation and the attention that it has drawn is sad commentary on what people are choosing to focus their attention. I'd rather see the picture of the last kid that got shot or killed on the cover of the paper, not Epps day after day. And this comes from a teacher who shells out thousands of dollars from my own pocket to effectively teach the kids whose education I am responsible for.