Ward F candidates stress need for organizing its communities

Friday, April 17, 2009
By AMY SARA CLARK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

At last night's Ward F City Council candidates forum at the Mary McLeod Bethune Life Center the candidates discussed the dire need for economic growth, crime prevention and affordable housing in the Bergen Lafayette section of Jersey City.

Although the questions varied, the answers given by incumbent Viola S. Richardson and challengers Ronnie-Calvin Clark, Omar Barbour, Calvin Hart, La Vern Webb-Washington and Tyrone Ballon often came back to the same issue: the need for Ward F residents to take back their communities.

"We're a bunch of fingers and we will never get anything accomplished unless we become a fist. . We need to band together and make this district what it used to be," said Hart, who is running on Harvey Smith's slate, in answering a question about the King Drive Redevelopment Plan.

"We have to take back our communities. We have to organize ourselves, our churches, synagogues, our mosques, our block associations," said Barbour, who is running independently.

Another common theme was the need for Ward F to have a watchdog in City Hall, especially when it comes to appropriating stimulus funds.

"Where are the watchdogs? We have to make sure those resources are filtered into Ward F and have someone there fighting here for us," said Ballon, another independent candidate.

But still, differences emerged.

Richardson, seeking re-election on Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy's ticket, touted her record. When discussing economic development, she brought up the city's 18-month-old apprentice program, which requires developers building tax-abated projects to hire Jersey City apprentices for 20 percent of the jobs.

On housing, she pointed to the affordable housing that has come to Bergen Lafayette since she took office, and on crime, she said she brought the Big Brothers and Big Sisters programs to the area.

Clark, who is running on Louis Manzo's slate, often focused on the need to make sure Ward F is tapping into available state funding programs.

"There are smart growth loans given by the state of New Jersey," he said. "I would make sure every potential business owner is tapped into that program."

He suggested that developers be required to donate money to a recreational trust fund and schools be made available for recreation programs after school.

Hart, Ballon and Barbour frequently called for oversight to make sure developers provide the jobs and affordable housing units they're supposed to.

Webb-Washington, an independent, focused on the need for more job training and for the churches and community members to get involved, as she is, in improving the neighborhood.

"We have to begin getting involved," she said. "We need to stop playing politics and play community.

Nearly 200 people came to the forum, which was sponsored by the Martin Luther King Drive Merchants Association. A second forum will be held Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Fred W. Martin School, 59 Wilkinson Ave.