HEALY SITTING TIGHT
Not accused, he says, after demo targeting mayor, Vega, Lopez

Thursday, July 30, 2009
By PAUL TAKAHASHI
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy reiterated in a statement to the media yesterday that he will not step down.

"I was accused of no wrongdoing," said the mayor, who is "JC Official 4" in the federal criminal complaint issued last week against Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini, Hudson County Affirmative Action Officer Ed Cheatam and political strategist Jack Shaw.

"I intend on doing the job that people elected me to do," Healy said.

Healy's statement came hours after a demonstration in front of City Hall in which roughly 100 people called for resignations from Healy, Council President Mariano Vega and Councilwoman Nidia Lopez.

Commenting on City Council President Mariano Vega, also charged in Thursday's massive FBI sting, Healy said: "Vega is presumed innocent until proven guilty. I can't suspend the council president - he was elected by the citizens of Jersey City to perform a mission to make the city better. He has a long history of good, positive public service."

Lopez was not charged in the corruption scandal, but her residency is being questioned in a lawsuit by Jimmy King, whom she defeated in the May election. King was one of the 44 people arrested last week.

After making his statement, Healy was asked about Shaw, who was found dead in his Jersey City home Tuesday night, five days after his arrest on corruption charges.

"He had a long history of Jersey City and Hudson County politics," Healy said. "He's a person I would see at social and political events. He was outgoing, had a sense of humor, always enjoyed a good laugh."

maybe yes, maybe no-

OneJerseyCity was the banner, the name, the slogan, the belief, the vision our campaign and coalition came together under.

one of our reasons for mounting a "long shot" campaign was to give a voice to those in Jersey City that do not have it and a lot of our efforts and resourced were expended in our attempts to do this.

now, this present effort to provide the general public with a voice in their own city government is the driving factor in attempting to, encouraging people to and providing the means to voice their position on the worst corruption scandal to hit Jersey City in our lifetime or more, the same people who depend on our city to provide public safety, stable taxes and a long term quality of life. We believe this scandal goes right to heart of contentious public policy decisions being made by our city.

until the residency issues of the Ward C councilwoman became know, our campaign team, the candidates and core volunteers continued to meet monthly to discuss how to turn our ideas and values in a political oriented organization to encourage and facilitate getting more people involved in the political process of our city.

we are taking the current situation one step at a time and knowing everything is not always black and white, we try to utilize objective questions when making decisions - and apply against our public values and government goals. At the same time, we decided to take a position and not let others make all the decisions for us.

on personal note, this is not a happy time. while my relationships with elected and public officials for many years has be in a role as community or non-profit representative, sometimes in an adversarial role, since the campaign, I saw another side and a good side, of many of those elected and even those charged. To further muddy my emotions, my children also have also gotten to know our elected officials from Mayor Healy on down and candidates that were arrested and charged.

To sum it up, Jersey City is a very big, small town.

All I can say is, if you and others are satisfied with how our city is run, than do nothing, but if you believe otherwise, please come out and participate.

Lets be respectful, to our council and to our city employees who are doing their jobs during very difficult times. But let's not do nothing, lets not accept business as usual.

Dan



Quote:

Forgive my ignorance, but is One Jersey City something other than a campaign vehicle for certain candidates in the last election? Why are they calling for Healy, Vega and Lopez to resign, but not Beldini who was actually indicted (unlike Healy and Lopez)?

I filled out the One JC form, but to be honest, I think it is a waste of time as none of the Council members (except Fulop), nor the Mayor read email.

I think a better bet is to call their phone number and voice your discontent at : (201) 547-5000. At least then you'll get *some* feedback.

Or, call the Mayor's Action Bureau
(201) 547-4900/(201) 547-5555.

http://cityofjerseycity.com/contact.aspx

signed sealed and delivered!

Good one... lets get these guys out....

One Jersey City volunteers will also be at the following locations if you prefer to sign a hard copy of the letter.

Grove Street PATH Today 7/28/09 from 4-8pm and Wednesday from 7-9am

Journal Square Today 7/28/09 from 4-8pm and Wednesday from 7-9am

Stop and Shop Today 7/28/09 from 4-8pm, 232 Central Ave.

Extra Supermarket Today 7/28/09 from 6-8pm, 360 MLK Dr.

or....

Join One Jersey City at the Municipal Council meeting tomorrow 7/29/09 (starts at 10am) at City Hall; come early at 9am and bring a sign.

Call the City Clerk (201) 547-5150) Today 7/28/09 and ask to speak at Wednesday's Municipal Council meeting. Council President Vega and Councilwoman Lopez will be there.

Call your Ward representative and ask them for the resignation of Mayor Healy, Councilman Vega, and Councilwoman Lopez. Their phone numbers can be found here (choose your councilperson on the left-hand side): http://cityofjerseycity.com/citycouncil.aspx?id=46

Volunteer with One Jersey City. Forward this message to Jersey City friends, or come out and help us collect signatures. Contact: info@onerjerseycity.org to get involved.

Team Healy:
Lowered their ethics standards.
Raised your property taxes.

Game over for Team Healy

All Jersey Citizen Residents,

We are requesting resignations on Vega, Healy and Lopez.
Please click on the link, sign and send?

The link to email out is: http://citizenspeak.org/node/1702 Please send to any JC resident far and wide!

Mayor Healy, Councilman Vega and Councilwoman Lopez must resign | CitizenSpeak

Let's send a message below to the appropriate representatives and/or opinion leaders. To make your voice heard, please fill out the form below to submit this letter in your name.

http://citizenspeak.org/node/1702