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This ward is exempt from enforcement, it is the only area in J.C. where you don't get a parking ticket. I hear even the firemen are abused every time they go to a fire there and you're lucky to get a bus as well. Even the Light Rail has it's share of troubles it's a wonder you get any service at all. So let's see what the new council woman Massey can do.

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Step up? How about get public transportation to a usable level. Ensure that people can get on them in the morning, instead of letting them be flooded with kids, and run more then every 40 minutes in the morning!

How about actually enforcing parking laws?

I'll step up when you've made sure we got what is supposed to be the bare minimum.

I love nonprofit leaders . . . they always increase their wages to insure there is no profits !

Michele Massey is sworn in at Jersey City City Hall as Ward F's new representative on City Council

December 23, 2011, 3:00 AM
By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal

Jersey City Councilwoman at large Viola Richardson "passed the torch" yesterday to Michele Massey, who succeeds Richardson as the council's Ward F representative.

At the swearing-in ceremony, Massey, 45, called herself "a child of Ward F" who will work with anyone willing to work with her. The native city resident heads the Monticello Avenue Main Street Program, a nonprofit that seeks to transform Monticello Avenue into a thriving business center.

"I will step up, but all of Ward F needs to step up," she said yesterday to a crowd of about two dozen supporters gathered inside City Hall.

Richardson, who represented Ward F for roughly 10 years, vacated the seat last month when she won a special election to become an at-large member of the nine-member council. Massey was her first choice as a replacement, Richardson said.

"Michele knows the issues that affect Ward F," Richardson said yesterday. "I am very happy to be able to pass the torch."

Massey will hold the Ward F seat until an election next November determines who will finish out Richardson's term, which expires after the May 2013 city election.

Mayor Jerramiah Healy praised Massey yesterday, calling her "uniquely qualified" to represent Ward F.

Massey is the niece of legendary Lincoln High School football coach Harry Massey. During yesterday's ceremony, Massey noted that yesterday was the anniversary of her uncle's death.

"Talk about things coming full circle," she said.

Jersey City City Council set to welcome new Ward F representative

December 14, 2011, 3:42 PM
By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal

JERSEY CITY -- A prospective new City Council member said her nomination to the nine-member body is a "life changer," and she's prepared for the challenge.

Michele Massey, 45, is a native city resident who currently acts as the executive director of the Monticello Avenue Main Street Program, a nonprofit that seeks to transform Monticello Avenue into a thriving business center.

"We're literally building Monticello from the ground up," she said, likening her role to that of a "mall manager."

Massey was the first choice of Councilwoman-at-Large Viola Richardson, who vacated the Ward F seat she held for around a decade when she won November's special election to fill two at-large vacancies on the council.

Massey's nomination hasn't gone completely smoothly. City officials scrambled last week when they learned that the Monticello Community Development Corp., which Massey works for, had its tax-exempt status revoked after it failed to file tax returns for three consecutive years.

Massey said she was aware of the MCDC's difficulty obtaining tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service, which declined to comment for this story. Massey deferred questions about the matter to MCDC President Carol Harrison-Arnold, a Jersey City Board of Education member.

Harrison-Arnold said the MCDC pursued obtaining tax-exempt status from the IRS, but after some unsuccessful attempts, the group stopped trying. The MCDC has not filed tax returns in three years because the group brings in below $3,000 annually, she said.

A lawyer who provides legal assistance to New Jersey nonprofits said that although nonprofits are required to file with the IRS each year no matter how little they raise, the IRS is probably too busy with larger firms to go after them.

The state has also told Richardson, in an e-mail obtained by The Jersey Journal, that Massey, because of her involvement with the MCDC, would have to recuse herself "from all municipal votes regarding the local program and its district."

No matter, city Chief of Staff Rosemary McFadden said at Monday's council caucus. The MCDC is set to be dissolved and replaced by the Jackson Hill Main Street Improvement District, set for adoption tonight.

Massey, meanwhile, awaits the council's vote on her nomination, also scheduled for tonight.

Ward F's biggest challenges, she said, are economic development and communication. Too many residents in the ward don't know where to turn for help addressing issues in their neighborhoods, she said.

"I am excited, but I'm thinking about the work that needs to be done," she said

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Until she drinks the koolaid.

Mayor Healy had nothing to do with the nomination of Ms. Massey. Ms Massey was the choice of Viola Richardson after she won the at-Large seat. Only recommendations can be made but ultimately it is only the Council who has the where withall to make the final decision. Hopefully Ms. Massey will live up to the reputation as the independent thinker I have heard she is.

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Quite an endorsement from CatsnDogs :)

Thanks.

Look forward to better representation from this neglected ward.

This is an excellent choice and as one who lives in Ward F I look forward to working with Michele Massey.

Jersey City mayor will nominate local nonprofit leader to represent Ward F

Thursday, December 08, 2011, 1:40 PM
By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy will nominate a leader of two local nonprofits to replace Councilwoman Viola Richardson as the Ward F representative on the City Council, a city official says.

Michele Massey, executive director of the Monticello Avenue Main Street Program, will be presented to the council next week for its approval, according to city spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill.

Richardson vacated the Ward F seat last month after being elected as one of the council?s three at-large members in November?s special election. Richardson told The Jersey Journal that Massey was her first choice for the job.

If appointed by the council at its meeting next week, Massey would serve until a special election next November. The winner of that election will represent Ward F until after the May 2013 city election.

?Michele is very well known to myself and a whole host of other people in Jersey City as an active, concerned, knowledgeable and diligent member of the Jersey City community,? Healy said in a statement.

The Jersey Journal asked the city administration yesterday afternoon to comment on the Rev. Rudolph Daniels? Wednesday announcement that he was interested in the Ward F seat. At about 2 p.m., the city said no final decisions had been made. Shortly after 4 p.m., the city announced Massey as its choice.

Massey, who also chairs Bergen Communities United, could not be reached for comment.

?I?m ecstatic,? Richardson said yesterday after learning Massey was the mayor?s pick to fill the seat. ?I?m glad that the mayor?s doing the right thing.?

Ryan Strother, property manager at the Hub shopping center on Martin Luther King Drive, announced yesterday that he will be running for the Ward F seat next November.

An earlier version of this story incorrectly named Massey as the executive director of the Monticello Avenue Community Development Corp. The Monticello Avenue Main Street Program is a subset of that group.