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I feel a council aide has the right to be involved in projects that they feel passionate about. I certainly did, and I made it a point that there was a clear separation between my personal community causes and my council job. If my former boss felt passionate about my cause he helped, but never used it as political leverage. From what I know of Althea, her fight for better schools will continue long after her council job. She is a mother of three kids, if I was her I'd be worried about their future too.

I have not followed everything that JCFI stands for and not sure what your concerns are, but as a constituent, you have every right to voice your concerns, not being in the loop on the JCFI, I'm not sure where the red flags are.

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Seriously: does JCFI have any official views other maybe than that schools should be good?

Even unofficially, the platform seems to be that the schools should be good, the city should be careful about giving out tax abatements, and the annual Stir Crazy festival is really fun. What's so terrible about all of that?

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WTF?

4bailey, what exactly do you mean about "...lock-step agreement with the Jersey City Family Initiative agenda." ? What is the agenda you're making reference to and what exactly do you disagree with?

I know Althea and she is an intelligent, activist mother who is well-informed and a doer, not someone who just whines on JCList. I think this is a great choice by Fulop and will benefit us all.

I don't have kids and support the Jersey City Family Initiative as well.

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You go, girl!

More smart, well-informed women playing in a role in the official life of this city can only be a good thing.

..... well she is not related to the councilman, nor does she have a county job.....

.... did not know there was opposition out there to a group that advocates making JC more family friendly....

..... and she is a dog owner......


4bailey wrote:
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And what part of the Jersey City Family Initiative do you have a problem with or are you just taking a cheap shot? Please provide examples....

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?Nice to hear? of this staff change if you?re in lock-step agreement with the Jersey City Family Initiative agenda.

But for the rest of us??.. Sorry, Steve,... I?m not entirely convinced.

I happened to be in Baltimore this weekend by the Power Plant development that now has the B&N/ESPN Zone - the one done by the same developer that's going to redevelop the Powerhouse here. I don't know if this was an anomaly, but it was pretty empty.

Because I like consistancy in government. Because I think it's important that elected officials do the right thing. Because I think if a government says they're going to do something, they should do so.

And because not everything needs to be a block of antiseptic towers and ESPN Fun Zones.

Why should something be done?

Councilman-

What are you doing to stop Toll Brothers from turning the PAD into Newport South?

Thanks.

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Nice to hear! Congratulations Althea!

I sent the below letter out this morning to my e-mail list and I am just posting here to keep those that are not on that list informed.

Best regards,
Steve

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Dear Friends,

Hope you all have been doing well and are off to a positive start in 2008. This year we will continue to work together towards improving Ward E and setting a standard of good governance and responsibility throughout the entire city.

OUR GOALS BECOME REALITY

I am happy to say that we are on the home stretch with regards to the renovation of Hamilton Park, for which we have secured money. We will also have the master plan for improvement of sewer flooding next month.

Thanks to the hundreds of dedicated volunteers and community activists, we are on our way to passing two of the most important changes in the history of our great city. This November the voters of Jersey City will enact a strict pay to play referendum and the elimination of dual salaries and pensions for the city council. Both of these measures will produce benefits for taxpayers and a fair and transparent government.

If you haven't done so already, please visit www.betterjc.org to learn more about these important ballot initiatives.

OUR SCHOOLS - OUR TAXES!

I have put forward two resolutions to prepare for the impact of the school system returning to city control. It is time to look at this City's government more holistically and not as a Board of Education segregated from city government. Tell the administration and council you want their support on these resolutions!

The first resolution, on behalf of the city council, directly relates to the tax abatement policy. Mayor Healy is an advocate for tax abatements; however the current funding gives nothing at all to the school system. Currently, one third of conventional taxes go to fund the schools, whereas on a tax abated property none of the taxes go towards funding our schools. With Trenton cutting our state funding, it will put an unfair burden of school taxes on conventional property owners. Next week at the council meeting we will be requesting that our state representatives adopt a formula that is FAIR TO ALL taxpayers in Jersey City.

The second resolution requests an amendment to the Mayor's executive order, which created his Tax Abatement Committee. This executive order does not allow representation for the Jersey City School System. The granting of tax abatements eliminates any funding for schools. This forces the school system to raise its portion of the taxes.

The resolution is requesting Mayor Healy to amend the committee in order to allow fair representation for OUR SCHOOLS. In Jersey City, not only doesn't the school system have any formal rights regarding abatements given, but no school board representatives serve on the committee in an oversight role, this resolution will request that this be changed.


Finally, I would like to make you aware that there has been a change of staff in my office. Althea Bernheim has joined our council office as my aide. Althea can be reached at abernheim@jcnj.org or (201) 547-5315.

Again, I will keep you informed of our progress on these and other measures to make our city a superior place to live and work. As always, please feel free to contact me at any time if you have any questions of concerns or if you would like to learn how you can be a part of making Jersey City better.

Thanks and best wishes for a great New Year!

Steven Fulop

Councilman Ward "E" Jersey City