Hey mayor, finish paving Brunswick! And thanks for the jack-hammers at 7 in the morning and that large taxpayer-financed road sign promoting you. Btw, you took up 2 parking spaces on Brunswick to make room for yer sign. Nice one.

He's already making a mess of Warren St. Mind you there are about 10 guys just standing around watching 3 of them work. A good use of our tax dollars....

Public gets a peek at pols' earmarks

Wednesday, April 15, 2009
By TOM SHORTELL
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

For nearly 20 years, Jersey City has looked to build a new police headquarters in the West District. And now that the city is ready to put that project out to bid, there's news that a new North District police station could be in the money as well.

U.S. Reps. Albio Sires, D-West New York, and Donald Payne, D-Newark, have proposed a $1 million earmark in the 2010 federal budget for a new North District headquarters, according to the congressmen's Web sites.

"They're almost comparable," Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy said yesterday about the condition of the two "outdated" police stations. "The focus has been on the west because of all the incidents that have happened there."

Sires and Payne, along with Steve Rothman, D-Fair Lawn, who also represents a portion of Hudson County, have sent in billions of dollars in earmark requests for projects ranging from resurfacing streets to teaching inner-city kids to swim.

As part of new rules passed by Congress in January, senators and representatives must make all their earmark requests public. Representatives have listed their requests on their Web sites, and senators are expected to follow suit in the coming weeks.

The proposed earmarks include $345 million for the ARC Tunnel, a new rail tunnel that would go under the Hudson River and as much as $31 million in defense contracts for the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken.

N.J. stimulus funds to be up for grabs

Tuesday, February 24, 2009
By TOM SHORTELL
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

New Jersey companies, residents and municipalities will be competing on a first-come, first-serve basis for millions of stimulus dollars, a Hudson County legislator said yesterday.

"It's really whoever gets to the trough first," said Assemblywoman Joan Quigley, D-Jersey City.

Democrats in the state Assembly met Monday to learn how $6 billion from President Barack Obama's stimulus package would be parceled out within the state and who would be in charge of awarding funds, Quigley said.

While the politicians learned what type of funds would be available, major details are still up in the air, she said. The federal government has 90 days to create guidelines and applications for the award process of the massive bill, Quigley said. Once that information is released, it will be a mad dash for the money, she said.

Most of the inquires she's received about the package have been from local officials, Quigley said. "Mayors and freeholders are asking us how much they'll be getting. The only thing that was stressed to us was that the first ones in have the best chance of getting money," she said.

In order for construction projects to get funding, they need to be ready for construction by March 1, Quigley said. Municipalities will have show a commitment to putting some of their own money into the projects as well, Quigley said.

Hudson County politicians have been preparing their wish-lists for months.

Mayor Mark Smith's administration in Bayonne, for example, has a list of 33 construction and green energy projects, while Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy said his city has nearly 100 projects ready to absorb stimulus funding.

am i missing something? how come there is not a single project for jersey city / hudson?

http://www.stimuluswatch.org/project/by_state/NJ&per_page=

One thing is for sure, a lot of Hudson County politicians are drooling right now over the possibilities. I hope someone from the federal government is watching every dollar.

Otherwise, the only people getting stimulated will be the dear friends of our local politicians. It is a very good time to know the Mayor and own a construction business.

Quote:

lol -- god forbid we get more cops around here.

The best thing the stimulus $$ can do is push money back into the system in immediately actionable ways that -- hooray! -- benefits the local community. Which this does.

You can hate Healy all you want, but to hate him for this is sort of silly.

Quote:

Okay I'll bite: why is one project 'worthy' and not the other? And what do you think is the 'upside' of spending "city money"?

This should be good.

There is one great thing about the stimulus bill, if roads, bridges or other structures are repaired in Jersey City then everyone will pay for it. If the city decides to do this work, then bonds will be issued and only the 1-4 homeowner will pay these bonds. The waterfront which is tax abated will be exempted, as well as affordable housing, public housing and rent-control apartments. While everyone votes not eveyone pays the pay burden. The reason I prefer a city income tax so everyone will share the burden.
Yvonne

Healy s_cks in m opinion. I can see $$$ for sewer repairs and putting in pumping stations, but if he wants a police station in Wes Bergen then spend city moeny

I have a bad feeling about this stimulus plan. It's just prolonging the inevitable....
We got into this mess, in large part, by overspending $$ we don't have. The stimulus plan will, in time, exacerbate the situation and bite us in the butt.

Speaking of "shovel-ready", what the hell happened to the Columbus drive paving job?

LISTING PROJECTS THAT ARE READY TO DO
Stimulus to mean $$ for jobs and infrastructure

Friday, February 13, 2009
By TOM SHORTELL
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

With the $789 billion federal stimulus package close to being signed into law by President Obama, Hudson County officials are making the case that "shovel-ready" is the county's middle name.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act sets aside billions of dollars for so-called "shovel-ready" projects that can be started within 120 days.

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy started putting together his list of ready-to-go projects over a month ago. The list now includes nearly 100 projects totaling $831 million that would generate 6,000 jobs, the mayor said.

Not "naive enough" to believe he'll land all the money he's seeking, Healy said he's focused on securing $65 million for priorities that include building a new police station in the West District and repairing sewers and roads.

Bayonne Mayor Mark Smith's administration has a list of 27 items that would cost more than $330 million, including $9 million in road repairs for Avenue C.

When it rains, it floods in Hoboken, said Hoboken Mayor David Roberts. So his stimulus dreams consist of $40 million to install pumping stations and repair and replace sewer lines.

County Executive Tom DeGise is looking for assistance to build a parking garage at the Harrison PATH station and a new Hudson County Community College campus in Union City.

These two projects alone would cost $100 million, DeGise said.

"If we want to continue our level of service, if we want to play a part in the recovery of economy, then we're going to need a little bit of help out of Washington," he added.