Jersey City mayor-elect hosts forum seeking 'big picture' ideas

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
June 05, 2013 at 8:43 PM

About 200 Jersey City residents packed City Hall tonight to sound off on their hopes and ideas for the upcoming administration of Mayor-elect Steve Fulop.

It was standing-room only inside the City Council chambers, with all seats on the benches filled and individuals standing or seated in any space they could find.

Fulop sat on the sidelines for most of the event, taking notes and offering brief responses.

The mayor-elect said he didn?t want to take center stage tonight. The forum, the first of four scheduled before Fulop takes office July 1, was intended to solicit thoughts on the city?s direction, he said.

?Let?s talk big picture, about the things that you need,? he said to the crowd of hundreds. ?And then we?ll figure out how to get it.?

There was no scarcity of ideas: a better city web site; lower taxes; more recreation programs for teens.

City man Colby Swanson brought down the house with his comment.

?I have a dream that I can walk into the building department one day and get help,? Swanson said to a rousing ovation.

Fulop, 36, currently the Ward E councilman, won a resounding victory over outgoing Mayor Jerramiah Healy in the May 14 citywide election. When he is sworn in next month, he will become one of the city?s youngest mayors.

Many of his supporters tonight said they are optimistic about the city?s future.

?I?ve lived here for 11 years and until this year I never really felt any hope for the future, and now I do,? said Robert Webb.

It wasn?t all sunshine and lollipops. At least one Fulop critic, substitute teacher Telissa Dowling, said it?s ?very difficult? for her to believe Fulop doesn?t support privatization of the public-school district.

During the mayoral campaign, Healy?s campaign warned that Fulop supported privatization, a charge Fulop disputed.

?I want to believe and I need to believe,? Dowling said. ?But what about the people who didn?t agree with you? What are you going to do for them??

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