F or Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy to win another four years in office, he needs votes from the city's black voters.

Last week, Healy received the endorsement of state Sen. Sandra B. Cunningham, widow of Mayor Glenn D. Cunningham. He is also counting on council members Viola Richardson and Willie Flood to bring him Ward F votes.

On Thursday, I accepted the invitation of businessman Bruce Alston to visit some people in the city's black community and get their views on City Hall.

So what do they say about life under this administration?

According to people interviewed, the top two responses from this administration are "talk to my aide," also known as the dead-end, and "the city doesn't have any money."

We stopped at Monique's Techniques hair salon in the McGinley Square area. Monique Smith-Andrews' place was full of activity. Outside, she talked about her neighbors and how they all look out for each other. A few months ago her shop was robbed by a gunman and neighbors were able to finger the culprit.

Smith-Andrews noted that the curbside and street was often dirty and now jammed with papers, but the offending debris was gone. The mystery was solved a few doors down where a neighborhood woman, with a broom and dust pan, was cleaning the sidewalk and curb.

In discussing crime, she and Alston complained about the lack of opportunities for young people, including that "defiant" age, 16 to 25. They lamented the lack of city pools and community centers.

Yes, there is the Mary McLeod Bethune Life Center, but some people call the center "a rental." Space is rented unless, possibly, you are Councilwoman Viola Richardson, who has an office in the center.

Actually, some area residents say elected officials would better serve the people of their ward if their offices were in their home district instead of City Hall.

How about term limits for the mayor and City Council members?

"Some of those council people have been there for years," said Smith-Andrews. She also knows trying to get term limits would require a struggle to the death with officials.


One reason for term limits is to bring new blood into government. She and Alston started entertaining the idea of taking part in politics. Alston said he is seriously thinking about running for mayor in 2013.

At a Martin Luther King Drive tavern near the Hub and Extra supermarket, patrons dismissed the idea that this city administration has had any impact on their lives.

"They only come around at election time," one patron said, repeating an often used statement by voters anywhere in the world.

An elderly man reading a newspaper at the far end of the bar was described as a friend of former Ward F Councilman Cornelius Parker. Asked by others to compare this administration with those in the past, the senior's grimaces and gestures said it all.

Like other city residents, people on King Drive believe in the personal approach. Politicians should be able to look citizens in the eye. They should be hands-on.

Stanley the bartender asked if everyone remembers what happened to that "poor woman who lost her baby in the hospital." A half-dozen people nodded.

"No official went to her," said the bartender. "No one asked if they could help her."

It was almost as if no one cared. More later.


This article is so correct, HEALY DOES NOT CARE!!!! IT IS TIME FOR THE CITIZENS NOT TO CARE ABOUT HEALY and DON"T VOTE FOR TEAM HEALY, OR YOU WILL GET FOUR MORE YEARS OF GETTING IGNORED!

Sandra sold out Ward F for favors from Healy to help him with the black vote.