Comments on the State of the City Address
http://onejerseycity.org/?p=1363

Finally, the administration is working on long overdue and much needed initiatives.

During Mayor Healy?s State of the City address, we heard good news about moving forward on long-discussed necessary restructuring: merging the Jersey City Incinerator Authority and the Department of Public Works together; combining the Police and Fire Directors? offices into one public safety office; and eliminating the independent Parking Authority, putting it under the public safety umbrella and direct city control.

A particular area worth commending is this administration?s finally realizing and putting to work the tremendous human resources we have in our communities, starting with the overdue activation of the Environmental Commission and appointing a team of outstanding commissioners, but also its embracing the Jersey City Parks Coalition and working with them on the hugely successful citywide ?Big Dig?. Unmentioned successes are the 4th Street Arts Festival and Bike JC?s citywide Ward Tour, examples of the city?s being supportive (then getting out of the way).

The city?s heightened attention to environmental issues is welcome. However, the city still relies on and sometimes is in opposition to the relentless work of citizen activist groups such as the Interfaith Community Organization and community based GRACO that persevered (after the city?s settlement) to press for and win full chromium clean-up of the PPG site on Garfield Avenue.

While Jersey City has not seen the tremendous tax hikes nor police and fire layoffs experienced by other cities, the administration?s continued claim of stable taxes with no tax increases misrepresents the real increases of 9% (2011) and 23% (2010) of the amount raised by taxes in the municipal budget.

The Mayor was clearly frustrated that despite significant statistical reductions in crime, the perception of high crime remains. This disconnect cannot be ignored.

While the city has clearly moved on progressive initiatives ? be it fiscal, quality of life including entertainment and parks, and economic benefits of sustainability ? there still remains much needed structural and systemic changes to improve governmental decision making and minimize conflicts of interest by providing greater openness and transparency; implementing checks and balances; adopting a stricter ethical standards code with independent enforcement mechanisms; banning campaign contributions in city offices and on city property; and opening up the appointment process to the city?s boards, commissions and authorities.

Are we there yet? No. If we were the world-class city the mayor claims us to be, paving crater-pocked streets would not be touted as an accomplishment. To be such world-class city, we must reduce our over reliance on residential development; embrace best public safety practices from around the country and the world; save and make the Jersey City Museum a pillar of our city; give equal consideration to pedestrians and bicyclists by implementing bike lanes and the sorely needed Complete Streets policy; complete the almost 10 year overdue 311 quality of life issues reporting system; utilize land use policy to ensure adequate educational facilities; and commit to more meaningful sustainability starting with measuring and improving recycling compliance.

Daniel Levin

Read the full text of Mayor Healy?s State of the City Address here ? http://www.scribd.com/doc/81953644/State-of-the-City-2012-MEDIA

State of Jersey City Mayor Healy's record six months after speech

August 19, 2012, 1:36 PM
By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal

It's been six months since Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy gave his State of the City address, and there has been zero public movement on one of his big promises, while another has been abandoned altogether.

Healy said in a statement last week there are reasons why he gave up on his pledge to merge the city Department of Public Works and the Jersey City Incinerator Authority, while he promises to have a report on his other big pledge, to create a Department of Public Safety, ready for review next month.

Regarding the DPW/JCIA merger, a long-discussed proposal that Healy endorsed in a 2010 editorial in The Jersey Journal, Healy said the city investigated the idea, and opted to keep both entities alive, albeit downsized.

The DPW and the JCIA are similar, but should not be merged because they have different pension systems, there would be issues regarding staff seniority and their employees are enrolled in different unions, city Business Administrator Jack Kelly writes in a June 5 memo.

"The administration recommends the entities remain intact," the memo reads.

Meanwhile, the creation of the Department of Public Safety, which would combine the directors of the police and fire departments into one position, has yet to materialize. Healy pitched the plan as a cost-saving measure.

Morrill said the proposal, which includes dissolving the Parking Authority and folding it into the new department, is "still under review."

Ward E Councilman Steve Fulop, a Healy antagonist and 2013 mayoral aspirant, says the city has done no planning for the new department.

"I was not surprised nothing came from his State of the City, as his follow through is as empty as the lot in Journal Square he spoke about from the previous State of the City," Fulop said, referring to the long-vacant lot Healy said in 2009 would be home to a massive twin tower project.

The barb elicited a retort from Healy.

"This administration has accomplished many things, including creating development and jobs, reducing crime and obtaining federal grants to hire police and firefighters to fill the void created by recent retirements," he said.

"All of these things serve to improve the city and quality of life for the residents, while Steve Fulop has had only one agenda, which is to advance his own political career."

There are a number of promises Healy made in February's address, his fifth, that have seen some follow-through. Healy's legal team is continuing to pursue ways to halt construction of the controversial Spectra Energy pipeline, as promised, and the city has gone after property owners who own vacant, blighted lots, another pledge.

Over 300 formerly blighted properties have been removed from a list that originally included nearly 1,000 lots, Morrill said.

Still, the mayor also promised a budget that "does not raise taxes," while the 2012 budget adopted late last month contains a slight tax bump of about $27 per year for the average homeowner.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... ersey_city_mayor_hea.html