I stand by my words to them: Jersey City councilman

Published: Thursday, June 02, 2011, 9:01 PM
By Letters to the Editor - The Jersey Journal

Last week, I suggested two cost cutting proposals to save taxpayer dollars. I will be the first to say that they are not easy or politically popular. This I knew all along.

However, when looking at the greater good of the city and the thousands of people struggling to pay taxes, I know that if we put residents first we can get the same level of service for the residents and save tax dollars.

Mayor Healy, Councilman Ray Velazquez and Steve Lipski called me "ignorant," and chastised me in the papers for using the word "corrupt" to describe an administration that was giving a friend of the administration (Steve Lipski) a massive pay raise during the same week as municipal layoffs for the regular employees. I believe my comments at the council were fair and if there is one thing that my time in the Marine Corps taught me it is to fight for what you believe in.

To Councilman Velazquez, I stand by what I have said at the council. In six months on the City Council he has not deviated from Healy on any single vote. I said to him at the City Council meeting that he didn't earn his seat, he got it via political friends as an appointment when Team Healy's council president was indicted (Mariano Vega).

Whether a freeholder, a judge, a county lawyer, or a councilman, the Velazquez resume is a product of political friends. In looking at his record, during his six months on the City Council he has not deviated from Healy on a single vote, essentially serving as a politically appointed "rubber stamp" vote. While I understand from his letter that it is a fact he does not like, it remains a fact. My suggestion to Councilman Velazquez is that there is a large public in Jersey City that want to see an independent council, not a rubber stamp. A council that puts residents first, and the sooner Velazquez realizes this the better he will be.

On Lipski and Healy bristling at the insinuation of corruption. I ask them how else to describe an administration that has a deputy mayor, several of their council people, and several of their employees all indicted for taking bribes. These are all inner circle relationships. I understand Velazquez, Healy and Lipski may not like the word corrupt. However, when one uses public dollars to give yourself a massive pay raise while at the same time firing the nonpolitical employees, I stand by my assertion that there is reason for concern.


STEVEN FULOP
JERSEY CITY

Quote:

I thought I read in the original article that a few from the county expressed preliminary support, no?

Since I am not "born and raised in Jersey City" I have had the benefit of experiencing other forms of government besides the JC tax, tax and more tax way of managing services. Growing up our county government managed the school system, the recreation department, the libraries to name a few while things like police and fire were managed at the city level. Property taxes were much lower than they are here and all three of them were quite well run. To me this whole issue feels like people are just afraid of change more than anything. I don't understand why you feel consolidation can't be meaningful?

If it is because you don't like who is at the county or think they are inept, that is to me a separate issue the same as Lipski. I understand your point about Lipski. It's obvious he isn't qualified for his position and giving himself a raise while firing others is extremely tacky, but that is a different argument from consolidation because if you had the best person in the world in the role, it shouldn't change the fact that consolidation would still be a good idea or not be a good idea...the same as who sits at the county shouldn't change whether or not consolidation is a good idea or a bad idea. The pessimist in me says they all stink equally so we may as well get tax savings...

Jzfan
Thanks for the post and it is always great to see new posters that jump in only on local politics as their first few posts. ??Just to correct your post, I spoke with three freeholders (city council of County government) prior to moving forward all of which represent Jersey City at the county level and as a matter of fact, two of them were included in the initial press release per their request. ?This was absolutely vetted and there are real dollars in both of these departments. If you are interested in seeing the worksheets on this please call my office and send an email to fulops@jcnj.org and I would be happy to discuss with you.?

Steven

I hate to interrupt a nice sycophantic rant about "streamlining" and "saving millions", but not only are these claims speculative at best as it pertains to the JCEDC, worse, they speak to the incompetence of legislator(s) proposing it.

They have proposed an action without even checking with the entity that is supposed to subsume the Jersey City Div. of Cultural Affairs and the JCEDC....namely Hudson County's governing body. That is ridiculous and smacks of headline creation without any actual thought or due dilligence done to assess the feasibility of such an action. Clearly, that makes you wonder of those proposing it gave a second of thought about the impact of such a proposal?

It sure smells like a preemptive strike to: a) appear to be trying to save the City money using buzz words like "streamlining" and "consolidating" without any credible assessment or likelihood of approval by the County; b) attack Steve Lipski and, by association, Mayor Healy and his cohorts.

No meaningful governmental solutions; just politics.

Quote:

What a shame the City Council is filled with Healy parrots. It is painful to watch the spectacle.

Aren't the sales taxes that are collected as part of the UEZ normally taxes that would go to the state and not the city? I'm all for eliminating duplication but I just don't see how this saves JC any money.

"Healy weighed in on Fulop's proposal in an op-ed in Monday's Jersey Journal, stating: "Jersey City taxpayers would undoubtedly see an increase in their property taxes, as the EDC would no longer be able to offer business retention and relocation programs to firms whose presence here contributes to our property tax levy."



This is a bunch of crap. It is not necessary to set up a corporation full of lackeys to administer these programs. The Hudson County EDC can do this or City Hall can do this themselves when they are not busy drinking and sleeping.

And while the JCEDC may be a private corporation, they are funded with public tax dollars via the UEZ program.

Jersey City City Council majority votes down Councilman Fulop's resolutions to get rid of JCEDC

Friday, May 27, 2011
By KATE KOWSH
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The Jersey City City Council voted down resolutions Wednesday night that sought to have the county take over the functions currently carried out by the city's Economic Development Corporation and Division of Cultural Affairs.

Both resolutions were sponsored by Ward E Councilman Steven Fulop, who argued that this city department was superfluous with services already being performed by the county.

The resolution to eliminate the EDC was voted down 7-2, with only Councilwoman Nidia R. Lopez joining Fulop to support the resolution.

On the second resolution, Lopez abandoned Fulop and it was defeated 8-1.

"I've seen some lousy resolutions," Ward D Councilman William A. Gaughan groused before casting his vote. "These two have to be the worst."

At-large Councilman Radames Velazquez Jr. suggested that Fulop's real intention was to oust former Councilman Steve Lipski, an ally of Mayor Jerramiah Healy, from his post as EDC executive director.

Velazquez also argued that doing away with the EDC, which is in charge of administering programs that are suppose to help the city economically, would hurt the city. "It will stop people from spending money in the city," Velazquez said. "It sends the wrong message."

Fulop also said he understood that residents were protective of the services, but in choosing between police and libraries, it's no contest.

Healy weighed in on Fulop's proposal in an op-ed in Monday's Jersey Journal, stating: "Jersey City taxpayers would undoubtedly see an increase in their property taxes, as the EDC would no longer be able to offer business retention and relocation programs to firms whose presence here contributes to our property tax levy."

Quote:

Yeah right ! With Steve Flipski at the helm. Another Healy hack in the tradition of Mariano Vega, Guy Catrillo, etal. Lets hope JCEDC is merged. But I'm not holding my breath.

I have a question regarding a statement made on the JC EDC website. Lipski claims "We are committed to providing the 1.4 million residents, business people and visitors who are here each day..."

Maybe I am being naive, but are there really an additional 1.2 million people that in JC every day? An increase of 465% every day? Really? I'd like to see where those numbers come from because I don't feel a 5X increase in crowd density every day.

Anyone have any insight into this?

Fulop!

http://www.jerseycityindependent.com/ ... ate-jcedc-is-thoughtless/

Dear Editor:

Before the Jersey City Municipal Council casts its vote on the resolution to notify the Mayor that the Municipal Council intends to eliminate the Jersey City Economic Development Corporation (JCEDC) and receive approvals to consolidate JCEDC into the County of Hudson?s government, we would ask that it consider the following:

Instead of putting forth a thoughtless resolution about eliminating the JCEDC, Councilman Fulop and Councilwoman Lopez should be joining us in the fight to save the UEZ program that is funded by the sales tax collected from Jersey City UEZ businesses! Losing this aspect of the UEZ program would cost the people of Jersey City dearly because the city would lose about 14 million dollars of sales tax collected from Jersey City UEZ businesses by the state each a year.
How does Councilwoman Lopez arrive at the conclusion stated in the Jersey Journal on May 19, 2011, ?Lopez differs with Fulop on merging the city and county cultural affairs offices. The city?s department is staffed by ?dedicated? employees, and should remain separate, Lopez said.?? We agree that Cultural Affairs staff is comprised of professional and dedicated individuals, but so is the Jersey City Economic Development Corporation. What data or metrics were used by Councilwoman Lopez to discount the qualities and integrity of our staff?

Councilwoman Lopez called upon this corporation in April of this year to ensure full UEZ funding for the Apple Tree House restoration project in her ward to allow the Cultural Affairs division of the City of Jersey City to be relocated there. Why would she advocate for Cultural Affairs and dismiss the efforts of the JCEDC?

Barring any evidence to support Councilwoman Lopez?s assertion, which I am certain does not exist, Councilwoman Lopez owes this corporation an apology, particularly its dedicated workers for whom she has no regard.
JCEDC is a private 501(c) (3) non-profit corporation, incorporated in 1980 prior to the establishment of the state?s and city?s UEZ program, and is governed by an independent board of trustees. Although the board of trustees includes the Mayor of Jersey and the President of the Municipal Council, the other members of the board include individuals from the Hudson County Chamber of Commerce and the Jersey City business community, as well as private citizens who reside in Jersey City ? all of whom have Jersey City?s economic growth foremost in their minds;
Funding for the JCEDC, including staff, does not come from the city?s or county?s budget. Therefore, it does not directly cost local tax payers a penny. Other than the city transferring UEZ dollars from the state to the JCEDC ? which has zero net effect on the city budget ? the JCEDC does not receive any city money at all. Elimination of JCEDC would not result in any savings to the city;
In accordance with state statutes, administration of the Jersey City UEZ program cannot be done at the county level;
Activities undertaken by the JCEDC and HCEDC are not duplicative, but they are complementary to one another;
No JCEDC staff members are Jersey City employees;
There are no post-retirement or post-employment benefits payable to any JCEDC employees that rely on the Jersey City Municipal budget for funding;
Since the beginning of the Urban Enterprise Zone Program, the JCEDC has served as agent for the City of Jersey City in administering the Urban Enterprise Program. JCEDC has relied on the administrative budgets permitted by the state UEZ statute to hire the professional staff that has managed and administered the over $122 million in UEZ funded economic development projects since 1993. These administrative budgets have been totally dependent upon the amount of sales tax collected in the Jersey City UEZ.
The JCEDC, through its administration of the UEZ program, finances and administers programs that pay for police, CCTV, SIDs, job-training programs, neighborhood business improvement, repaving of roads and other local projects that would otherwise be paid for through local taxes.
The Governor?s proposed budget for FY 2012 eliminates any future funding for UEZ projects or administrative costs, but permits the use of unexpended funds to administer projects and potentially wind down the Zone. Legislators are currently working on a counter budget proposal that would fund the UEZ; no final decision has been made, so calling for the closing of the JCEDC at this time not only is premature but also irresponsible. Mayor Healy testified in Trenton last week in support of measures that will keep the UEZ funded and we hope the full Council supports those efforts.
The County of Hudson would likely not choose to absorb the cost of running the JCEDC and incur any surviving liabilities and/or other obligations, when any funds to pay for them must remain in Jersey City;
Jersey City has 39% of the population and 32% of the land mass of Hudson County. The city services almost as many people ? and nearly a third of the land ? as the rest of the county. Jersey city needs its own economic development corporation to advocate for it, and it warrants the special focus the JCEDC provides to all of Jersey City
The disintegration of Jersey City?s economic growth and development will ultimately result in the disintegration of Hudson County?s economic development, which will then further increase the tax burdens of the taxpayers of Jersey City; and,
As New Jersey?s second largest city, Jersey City requires the individualized focus the JCEDC brings to its economic development efforts and should not have to compete with the needs of Hudson County?s other 11 municipalities.

For more than thirty years, the JCEDC has worked hard to foster economic development, administered over $150,000,000.00 in initiatives and thrived through several different economic cycles. The JCEDC has earned the respect of the business community and has been a key factor in the Jersey City?s economic growth, improving and revitalizing commercial districts and neighborhoods, fostering the growth of small businesses and microenterprises, funding job-training programs, and providing supplementary safety and security programs. There are numerous ways the City may continue capitalizing on having the JCEDC work with the City in spurring economic development and leveraging the municipal budget.

Sincerely,

Steve Lipski
CEO

Jersey City Councilman Fulop calls for merger of two city departments with Hudson Country departments to end "redundancy," and Councilwoman Lopez agrees on one proposal; Mayor Healy raps Fulop's "ignorance"

Thursday, May 19, 2011
By TERRENCE T. McDONALD
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Two Jersey City City Council members announced Tuesday they want the city and Hudson County to consolidate certain services, including their cultural affairs departments and their economic development corporations.

"The redundancy of services between the county and city basically means that Jersey City residents are taxed twice for the delivery of those services," said Downtown Councilman Steve Fulop.

Under the plan, the Jersey City Department of Cultural Affairs would be consolidated into the Hudson County Cultural Affairs and Tourism department, while the Jersey City Economic Development Corp. would be consolidated into the Hudson County Economic Development Corp.

This year, the city has proposed a $715,263 budget for the Department of Cultural Affairs.

The JCEDC, an autonomous agency operating with funds from the Urban Enterprise Zone, operates with a roughly $900,000 budget this year, according to Steve Lipski, its executive director.

Ward C Councilwoman Nidia Lopez said she likes the idea of combining the EDC offices, and hopes the city can "look at it as a possibility."

Lopez differs with Fulop on merging the city and county cultural affairs offices. The city's department is staffed by "dedicated" employees, and should remain separate, Lopez said.

Mayor Jerramiah Healy is a fan of neither plan, and blasted Fulop for his "ignorance."

The city and county cultural affairs departments duplicate no services, and consolidating them would do nothing but spend city money on county programs, Healy said.

"This proposed consolidation would also threaten Jersey City's position as the economic engine of the state, as we would relinquish our ability to market our city as a destination for new business," he said.

The fact that Jerry had this angst-ridden press conference regarding this proposal speak volumes about his concern for Fulop's growing popularity. I just hope these misguided rants continue because to most they only show a desperate man trying to hold on.

The reason Healy is so upset about the idea of a possible merger is that Jersey City Cultural Affairs is run by one of his favorite supporters, Maryanne Kelleher.

applause to t-bird. If only half of the comments here were as witty and concise.....

Cultural affairs does not plan anything.They just give you the permission to hold an event.If you want to close your street for a block party the form should be available in the clerks office.
As for the constant Flag raising at city hall for every holiday we could just get those two guys at the security check point to raise the flag,they ain't doing anything else.
You could walk into city hall with a Uzi and they would wave you on in.

t-Bird,

No doubt that was a mess of a press release by Healy but, not knowing anything about the particulars of what the two agencies do, he could have a point. Just because they have the same names does not mean they do the same things. If the country basically just provides grants that is very different from organizing events and marketing the city and one would have to think about that.

Less redundancy is better but you should be sure that the agency that takes over actually has the capacity to perform the work.

@moobycow

I like the way you think buddy. I never understood why anyone calls the state "Jersey", IMO it should reference the city. BUt i think we really should annex all of the towns around us, even up in Bergen county seeing as more people from up there are depending on JC.

Wow - that Healy rambling mess was something out of the Col. Kurtz playbook, near the end. Maybe it's just me, but if the Puerto Rican and St. Patrick's Day parades and the couple of festivals a year were done out of the county instead of the city, neither my identity nor my culture would be altered.

It is funny though - at this point Fulop could put out a press release that says only: "The sun will rise in the east tomorrow" and Healy would feel compelled to put out a 500 word Pavlovian screed about how the council doesn't control the sun and that Fulop is only trying to ally himself with the sun for political gain. It's formulaic at this point. If I were Fulop, I'd put out something every day just to see what jackassery Healy would respond with.

Jersey City mayor: consolidation proposal would 'strip' residents 'of their culture and identity'

Tuesday, May 17, 2011, 5:21 PM
By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal

A plan by two council members to consolidate some city and county agencies would 'strip the good residents of Jersey City of their culture and identity,' Mayor Jerramiah Healy said in a statement.

Earlier today, Downtown Councilman Steve Fulop and Ward C Councilwoman Nidia Lopez said they want the city to explore consolidating services to save taxpayer dollars and eliminate duplication of services.

Both want to fold the Jersey City Economic Development Corp. into the Hudson County Economic Development Corp, while Fulop wants to combine the city's and county's cultural affairs departments, too.

Their proposal was slammed in a statement released by Healy, who said the plan was nothing more than a "self-serving press release" designed to further Fulop's "personal, political agenda."

The city's and county's cultural affairs departments are similar in name only, Healy said.

"The Jersey City tax dollars that are dedicated to the Division of Cultural Affairs go directly back to support Jersey City-based cultural events, programs and institutions, while the bulk of HCCA work is spent administering county-wide grants from the state and federal government," Healy said.
Merging the city's and county's EDC agencies, meanwhile, would "threaten Jersey City's position as the economic engine of our state," Healy said.

"Councilman Fulop has shown his ignorance not only for the basic principles of municipal government, but for the way our city works and how our communities thrive," Healy said.
Full statement below.

Statement of Mayor Healy Regarding Councilman Fulop?s Press Release on Merger of City EDC & Cultural Affairs with Hudson County Offices

Once again, Councilman Fulop is illustrating his ignorance of our city?s rich and lengthy history. Jersey City is a city of the First Class, the most diverse city in the County, and the economic engine of the State. Every year, we hold dozens of events celebrating our diversity and our civic pride and showcasing the variety and depth of our artistic community.

It is these types of events that not only contribute to our pre-eminence as a cultural destination, but that serve to unite us as a community.

This measure by Councilman Fulop and Councilwoman Lopez would serve to strip the good people of Jersey City of their culture and identity, and would transfer the autonomy of our EDC ? an independent non-profit that receives no funding from city property tax dollars ? to a county agency that is responsible for several other municipalities. In fact, this proposal would dedicate Jersey City taxpayer dollars to funding arts and economic development in other towns aside from Jersey City.

Councilman Fulop has issued a campaign press release in the attempt of gaining political traction, but has instead turned his back on our varied cultural and ethnic groups, our visual and performing artists, and our small business community. This proposed consolidation would also threaten Jersey City?s position as the economic engine of the state, as we would relinquish our ability to market our city as a destination for new business.

Merging services between a city and county or two municipalities, for example, makes sense when in fact there is a duplication of services. It was my administration that took the lead on this by merging the City Office of Veterans Affairs and the service of weights and measures inspections with the County when duplications existed. My staff continues to meet with their counterparts in neighboring municipalities to discuss the potential for shared services and as we downsize government we are eliminating the duplication of services.

However, while the Jersey City Division of Cultural Affairs and Hudson County Cultural Affairs have similar names, their missions are completely different. There is no duplication of services. The Jersey City tax dollars that are dedicated to the Division of Cultural Affairs go directly back to support Jersey City-based cultural events, programs and institutions, while the bulk of HCCA work is spent administering county-wide grants from the state and federal government.

Likewise, the Jersey City Economic Development Corporation serves to administer the largest and most successful Urban Enterprise Zone program in New Jersey and supports our four Special Improvement Districts, as well as a number of other programs. Both of these offices have served as a model for others around the state and in other parts of the country.

The preliminary research by our Law Department indicates that the City Council does not have the authority under the Faulkner Act to negotiate contracts; rather, that is a function of the Executive Branch of government. Councilman Fulop has shown his ignorance not only for the basic principles of municipal government, but for the way our city works and how our communities thrive, all to once again get a self-serving press release in the paper to further his personal, political agenda.

This is how Jerry would handle it:

Jersey City mayor: consolidation proposal would 'strip' residents 'of their culture and identity'

I would like to state for the record that I was not a resident of Jersey City when this guy was elected. What an embarrassment he is.

Heck, we're already "Jersey City", I say we consolidate the whole state into one streamlined county/city. We would only be slightly more populous than NYC.

We seriously do have too many layers of government so any time we can peel one back it makes sense.

More logic from Fulop and Lopez. Interested to see how Jerry deals with this one considering all the cronyism that is involved in alot of these redundant positions.

Lopez, who hasn't always seen eye to eye with Fulop must be thinking about the future and his potential Mayoral appointment.

I am 100% in agreement with this. I used to live in Maryland and many different municipal functions were transferred to the county level long ago. Services did not suffer and a lot of money was saved.

As to how far Fulop will get with this is anybody's guess, but I'm glad at least one council member is in agreement with him and finally seeing how he knows what is best for Jersey City.

No doubt that Vaughn and Sottolano will come up with their dumb excuses because even though this is a good idea, they can't admit a good idea came from Fulop.

Richardson support this if there is a way for it to make her look good. Donnelly of course will do whatever Healy wants him to do.

Ahmad and Brennan are the wild cards, no idea what they will do.

Don't stop there! The Jersey City Redevelopment Agency, and the Hudson County Development Agency should be consildated. And the members of the JCRA or the public leaders in postion to make decisons should have their records probe. Who is public official number 4-- my bet it's Mike Scotolono.

I agree ...just make Hudson County one entity and elminate more of the redundancies, especially as people retire.

I support Councilman Fulop on this redundant issue; "culturel affairs" should be eliminated.

Thank Fulop!!!

Finally somebody is thinking the right way in our local governments. Just one question, why can't we just consolidate all of Hudson County into JC. This would still be the same concept because the different agencies would have to absorb each other, just like the JC EDC & HC EDC.

I know this idea has been brought up plenty of times but never really got a good answer other than it is stupid or wouldn't work. I always figured why have so many government bodies around this area, which is such a small area to begin with.

Way to go Steven Fulop!!! Good to see some collaboration from other council members too. Hopefully this is a nice easy win for the taxpayers!

article about it on NJ.com