Political Insider: Mayor Fulop pays us a visit
By Agustin C. Torres | The Jersey Journal
on August 09, 2014 at 6:55 AM, updated August 09, 2014 at 6:56 AM

When Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop was asked to The Jersey Journal offices for an editorial board meeting, he was reluctant. He had already sent Public Safety Director James Shea and Police Chief Philip Zacche to discuss the anti-crime initiatives of the city. The mayor had an interview upon completing his first year in office with Journal reporter Terrence McDonald.

How did the meeting with the mayor go? Well enough for the Journal to consider several articles in the near future that stem from the session. As for me, here are a few observations that probably won't become headlines.

How well you are doing as an elected official is sometimes how people perceive it. It becomes a theme.

"Any city deals with the same thing crime, education, taxes, jobs,? said Fulop of the challenge he has taken on by becoming mayor. ? We?re working on those things.?

There are the more stubborn issues. He says the public perception of crime will not change overnight but that his administration is working hard to overcome it. It is also a learning process. He notes that after several police sweeps, the operation is providing diminishing returns.

?Police are smart, but bad guys can adapt,? he said. ?The types of infractions you?re getting on these sweeps are of less quality. We continue to adapt. We?ll figure it out. Overall, one would be hard pressed to say that it?s not moving in the right direction ? perception of crime will not change overnight.?

What about the city?s jobless rate (8 percent in July)? ?Jersey City is doing great, the numbers have dropped compared to state and nation,? Fulop said. ?That said, the south side of the city is the most difficult.? It is here where the mayor likes to say that the city is doing some ?very hard block and tackling.? The mayor said even simple job requirements for some job applicants, such as passing a drug test, is very hard.

For the more troubling areas of the city, there is that perception that Downtown gets everything.

When the city announced that it provided 40-plus units of affordable senior housing Downtown, the mayor said he wanted to show that the waterfront area can sustain a more diverse population. Fulop?s Facebook page received the complaint, ?Downtown gets everything.? Again.

?That perception has been going on for decades, even before I got here,? the mayor said. He notes that there was a time when Downtown was perceived as one of the worse areas of the city.

?If you look at where we put our resources, whether it?s the park dollars we?re spending, new police officers (where) we?re spending, whether it?s the $20 million annex and infrastructure (in the Hub) - to the point that you would think the people in Ward E would get upset,? Fulop said. ?Obviously they?re not.?

Then again it?s perception.

The mayor was asked whether the Downtown residents were upset when five Canadian tourists were mugged while walking on Christopher Columbus Drive between Marin Boulevard and Warren Street in June.

?Hardly.? He suggested that it could be because some of the folks Downtown are somewhat disengaged from their surroundings. Also because it?s a pretty safe area. They did not react when the city provided the aforementioned affordable housing, just as most of them would have had no idea there was a mugging down the block. Fulop calls this disconnect with life in Jersey City another challenge.

He has been touting the need for branding the city. Is it happening and what form will it take?

Fulop said he deliberately did not get personally involved with the day to day branding operations. He wants to avoid accusations that it was political, like those tossed at Gov. Christie?s ?Stronger than the Storm.? He said the branding is at the focus groups stage where people give their perception of the Big Apple and how others perceive Jersey City and the surrounding area.

Initially, the city will be hyped through social media, providing the county seat with an escalating footprint using influential people with huge followings who can communicate and push things that are happening or attractive to visitors.

We wondered if Justin Timberlake would be tweeting from the Liberty National Golf Club.

Fulop said that there about 6,000 housing units under construction, 15,000 to 20,000 more in the pipeline -- making it about 25,00 units of one-two-three-bedroom units in a few years. The challenge for the city is convincing 50,000 to 75,000 people to move into Jersey City. He said such a population expansion will help provide for the city budget.

OK, here?s where we disagree. I believe it?s the same trap many fell into when they promised the same thing when pitching the waterfront development, several decades ago.

Perhaps the mayor believes that it will be different. I presume it is because there are changes ahead for the older part of the city, starting with Journal Square and even the Marion sections of the city where real estate prices seem to be creeping up, as a result of planned skyscraper building. There?s a perception that big changes are coming.

Thanks mayor, let?s talk again.

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