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You misunderstood my post. It had nothing to do with whether there is more uncollected garbage in some "3rd world countries", but rather had to do with tim879's attitude. tim879's comment boils down to the following - "JC is not a 3rd world country, therefore I shouldn't be thankful that I don't live in a mound of trash." The corollary is that if tim879 were to live in a 3rd world country he should be thankful that he doesn't live in a mound of trash. Why the higher standard for those living in JC? In effect, tim879 seems to be saying that because he lives in JC HE DESERVES more and better than people living in countries that he deems to be "3rd world." Hence my comment about his sense of "entitlement." The fact that living in a "3rd world country" has nothing whatsoever to do with garbage collection in JC supports this. Based upon the other comments posted in this thread, many others seem to agree.

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With respect to your first comment:

The reason we don't have mounds of garbage lying about is because the garbage trucks that you complain about are busy picking it up. But you have a problem that.

Further, assuming you were born in the U.S. (correct me if I'm wrong), what did YOU DO to deserve being free of garbage more than someone living in a "3rd world country"? Sorry you have such a sense of entitlement.

With respect to your second comment:

Yeah, you'd drive down another street, but you'd complain about having to do it.

How ironic that Stevie H., who wants to put $5 million homes on the Embankment (thereby rendering them completely inaccessible to the neighboring residents, many of whom are poor), is now claiming to be a champion for Jersey City residents who are poor.

Way to be Stevie - you sincere, conscientious and generous man!!

If only there were more people like you . . . .

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Buy earplugs.

And stop complaining.

And be thankful that you aren't wallowing in mounds of your own garbage because someone picks it up for you.

You live in one of the most densely packed urban areas in the world.

I'd wager that if trash were picked up at the hours you'd prefer you'd still complain that they are blocking traffic.

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The overwhelming majority of people don't read the terms and conditions before signing up for a credit card.

I didn't read mine, for example.

However, if we don't read them, or if we do read them but don't understand (the jargon in those things is often quite difficult, if not impossible, to comprehend) - - - - - then perhaps we shouldn't sign them.

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There's nothing that I hate more than people trying to enjoy their "buzz" from behind the wheel of a car.

Have you ever read the terms of your credit card agreement?

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I'm going to be a bad pupil and disagree with teacher - I hate the new plan, as I've hated all of the other ones.

Remember, the alternative not low income housing (although that would be a better use than Hyman's proposal), but a park that EVERYONE can use, that respects the history of the embankment, the neighborhood and Jersey City in general. Our city's industrial past and railway center is part of what makes J.C. unique. It's a wonderful part of our heritage.

Remember, there has been a ruling that Hyman never properly purchased the land is therefore not the rightful owner of the Embankment.

Remember that Jersey City is woefully short public downtown green spaces.

And yes, "hopefully" you'll take a dip in the pool, if your new neighbors deign to let you onto their private property.

More luxury housing is the last thing needed in Jersey City.

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I'm surprised you use the park, don't you have a bathroom at home?

As for your pet, I look forward to seeing him in the dog run.

I think that the problem is one of the toilets, which is running, but only slightly. However, I don't see how that would add up to a usage of tens of thousands of gallons in only two months.

My most recent bill from United Water was greater than the all of the bills for the preceeding year combined. I am assuming for now that this was due to a leak in my house. A United Water representative told me that they are contracted out by Jersey City, which is usually very unforgiving with respect to these types of situtations, and therefore have very little discretion to reduce the bill. Has anyone been in this situation before? If you got the bill reduced, how did you do it?

Thanks.

I received a Healy '09 promo flyer in the mail called "Believe Your Own Eyes". Inside it says "change is at work in Jersey City." He then lists what he calls "change you can see facts". I found some of them quite problematic, if not laughable.

He lists the following:

- a 24% decrease in violent crime. Problem - hasn't violent crime gone UP in the last year? Also, notice how he hedges by referencing only "violent" crime. What about property crimes? Have they gone up or done?

- over 1,000 "dangerous" guns taken off the street. Good, but has there been an overall reduction or increase in crime using guns?

- more than 1,000 kids enrolled in programs to keep them safe from gangs. Sounds good, but just what are these programs and, more importantly, how exactly have they kept kids safe from gangs? Is there any evidence that the programs have worked?

- over 100 new jobs created by forcing developers to train and hire JC residents. A paltry 100 jobs, given all of the construction in JC over the past few years, makes we want to vote for anyone but Healy. Plus, the idea that he "forced" developers to do anything strains the imagination given how the city has been over backwards for developers by giving them tax abatements, etc.

- the Jersey City One Stop program helped 934 Jersey City residents find a job. Yes. And how?

- 940 units of affordable housing built. Ok, but how many units of affordable housing were destroyed over that time? The really important question is not how many units were built, but rather has there been a net INCREASE in affordable housing in JC during his term?

- municipal tax rebate stable for two years in a row. How's that deficit doing? Also, given those tax rebates to developers and the increase in the city's population and their needs, how much longer is this going to last?

- 4 new Green Initiative Laws passed to make JC a national leader in green building. Healy passed on the opportunity to get (and someone can correct me as to the proper amount) $2 million in no-interest funding for the Embankment for no apparent reason.

- 2,635 children and 800 adults immunized. Good. But I'd like to know how many children still need to be immunized, i.e. what is the percentage of the city's kids who still need immunization?

- paved 10 miles of streets every year. I don't know how many miles of streets JC has, but given that the city has 15 square miles of land, I imagine that at this rate it will take 20-30 years to pave all of the city's streets. Since I am just pulling this figure out of thin air, perhaps someone who knows how many miles of streets JC has can make a more accurate calculation.

In short, Healy's flyer makes me want to vote for someone other than Healy.

I would love to hear anyone else's comments on the above list of "change you can see".

Peace

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How do others feel about this post? Not only does this attempt at humour fail miserably, but the callousness of this comment is striking.

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Perhaps it's hyperbole in your opinion because you don't know of any people who are hungry, but according to the following news article (and the department of agriculture, over 30,000,000 Americans are hunger or at risk of hunger. That figure is greater than the entire population of Canada.

Americans' Food Stamp Use Nears All-Time High

By Jane Black
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 26, 2008; A01

Fueled by rising unemployment and food prices, the number of Americans on food stamps is poised to exceed 30 million for the first time this month, surpassing the historic high set in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina.

The figures will put the spotlight on hunger when Congress begins deliberations on a new economic stimulus package, said legislators and anti-hunger advocates, predicting that any stimulus bill will include a boost in food stamp benefits. Advocates are also optimistic that President-elect Barack Obama, who made campaign promises to end childhood hunger and whose mother once briefly received food stamps, will make the issue a priority next year.

"We soon will have the most food stamps recipients in the history of our country," said Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center, a D.C.-based anti-hunger policy organization. "If the economic forecasts come true, we're likely to see the most hunger that we've seen since the 1981 recession and maybe since the 1960s, when these programs were established."

The Agriculture Department is set to release the new numbers as early as this week. Agency officials declined to confirm the figures but outlined them in a briefing last month for advocates and administrators of state food stamp programs. Breaking the symbolically important 30 million mark comes on the heels of government data showing that 11.9 million people went hungry in the United States at some point last year. That included nearly 700,000 children, up more than 50 percent from the year before.

Food pantries and other charitable organizations are also reporting an increase in demand from those in need. Visits to local pantries are up by 20 to 100 percent over the past six months, and calls to the Capital Area Food Bank's hunger hotline have jumped 248 percent. Most are from people who have never used food stamps or a pantry before, said Lynn Brantley, the organization's president and chief executive.

Analysts attribute the jump primarily to rising unemployment, which hit 6.5 percent in October and is predicted to increase to 8 percent by the end of 2009, but rising food costs are also a factor. Although prices have fallen from the levels of this past spring, they remain high. In October, the consumer price index for food and beverages had jumped 6.1 percent over last year. Staples such as eggs and bread rose even faster.

For low-income families, who spend a higher percentage of their monthly budget on food, that rise has been particularly painful. Food stamp benefits are adjusted for inflation only once a year, and as of September, the maximum benefit fell $64 a month short of the cost of the thriftiest, USDA-established diet for a family of four. The annual adjustment in October of 8.5 percent largely brought the benefit in line with food costs again, but the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan policy group, estimates that if current inflation persists, by December benefits will again fail to match the cost of the thrifty food plan.

"At a time when we have more people turning to the food stamp program, it is less and less able to meet their basic food needs," said Stacy Dean, the research center's director of food assistance policy.

To qualify for the food stamp program, whose name was officially changed last month to the Simplified Nutrition Assistance Program, recipients must have an income below 130 percent of the federal poverty level, or less than $27,564 for a family of four. The benefits, which average $109.93 a month per person, are based on a plan set by the government to represent a low-cost but nutritionally adequate diet. Participants apply locally to receive an electronic card that is used like an ATM card to buy food at most grocery stores and some farmers markets. The maximum benefit for a household of four is $588 a month.

At the Department of Human Services on H Street NE yesterday, the benefits office was busy. D.C. resident Harry Washington, 54, had come to apply for food stamps after losing his job at a Dupont Circle restaurant that closed for renovations last month. Over the past three years, he has received food stamps several times to tide him over between jobs. "This all has been going on awhile. It just depends where you are on the totem pole whether or not you have felt it," Washington said.

Jaqueline Hawkins was also there to sign up. The 47-year-old broke her hip last November, forcing her to leave her job at a Whole Foods Market. Hawkins received short-term disability, then unemployment benefits. Both have run out. "I came for food stamps because my other options have expired," she said. Hawkins plans to begin looking for work after Jan. 1.

Benefit applications are up around the Washington area. In the District, the number of applicants in October was 7.5 percent higher than last year's. In Arlington County, the average number of food stamp applications in the past six months is up 17 percent over applications during the same period last year.

At the Arlington Food Assistance Center, meanwhile, the number of clients has jumped by 25 to 35 percent over last year, said Executive Director Christine Lucas. Lines for food, sometimes with as many as 95 people, begin forming around 7:30 a.m., even though the food pantry does not open until 10.

On a recent morning, one of the early arrivers was Alvaro Ascencio. The 45-year-old, who lost his construction job after 12 years, was hopeful he would find work soon and had turned to the pantry as a stopgap. "If I didn't know about this, I wouldn't know what to do," Ascencio said through an interpreter.

To tackle the problem, supportive lawmakers are pressing to include a temporary bump in food stamp benefits in the next stimulus package. Similar proposals failed to pass twice this year, but there appears to be broad support now for an increase of 10 to 20 percent, advocates and lawmakers said.

Economists say an increase in food stamp benefits would help the economy overall by concentrating relief on those most likely to spend the money quickly, pumping dollars into an economy desperate for demand. According to Mark Zandi, chief economist of the rating agency Moody's Economy.com, every $1 spent on food stamp benefits generates $1.73 of economic activity, more than extending unemployment benefits or offering state fiscal relief.

"Congress has been focusing on the impact on the financial markets," said Dean at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. "We want them to focus on the supermarkets and help 30 million people."

In 2009, the new Congress will also have to deal with renewing the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act, which includes school breakfast and lunch programs and the Women, Infants and Children program that provides money for specific foods such as milk and infant formula. The act is due to expire in September 2009, and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who chairs the Agriculture Committee, has long been keen to expand eligibility and strengthen mandates for nutritious food in these government-funded programs.


View all comments that have been posted about this article.

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It's amazing. Schiff was/is dead on. Meanwhile Laffer, who was heaping scorn upon Schiff during the debate (not unlike some of the people on this board criticizing Fast Eddie), now looks quite foolish. Check out the following interview of Laffer by Bill Maher re: the Laffer/Schiff interview a couple of years hence, and watch how Laffer tries to backpedal - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3WjgKUf-kA&feature=related. If it weren't so tragic it would be quite Laffable.

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Thanks.

I've seen print ads for properties downtown advertised as being in the "McNair District", and I have heard at least one realtor reference the "McNair District".

To all people considering moving downtown, especially Hamilton Park.

Beware the realtors who try to sell you on the area because you will live in the "McNair School District".

There is no "McNair School District".

The school takes only the top kids from all of the Jersey City schools, and I believe the class is divided equally among four groups - black/white/asian/latino.

This is nothing new for current residents and readers of this list, but I wanted to put it out there again so potential residents don't get suckered by unscrupulous realtors.

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You should write editorials for the New York Post.

I'm not positive about this, but I believe that the earliest lot map goes back to 1873 or so.

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I love sweet, sensitive guys.

Camden is cheaper.

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I agree completely.

And your point in posting this is?

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The comparisons aren't fair.

The Giving Tree.

Where the Wild Things Are.

Took me about 10 min.

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Dead Serious.

Epps has done a lot of good for a lot of people in this city.

Don't be haters.

Epps is the man.

If he can't do it, no one can.


See below.

Charles T. Epps, Jr.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Charles T. Epps Jr. (born June 13, 1944) is an American Democratic Party politician, who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2006-2008, where he represented the 31st legislative district, having taken office on January 10, 2006. Epps was elected to the Assembly on November 8, 2005, filling the seat of fellow Democrat Anthony Chiappone, who lost in the primary in his bid for re-election and had held the seat in the Assembly since 2000.

Contents [hide]
1 Biography
2 Criticism
3 District 31
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Biography
Epps is the Jersey City Superintendent of Schools.[1] Epps defeated the incumbent Chiappone in the Democratic primary with the support of the Hudson County Democratic Organization.[2]

Epps served in the Assembly on the Environment and Solid Waste Committee and the Health and Senior Services Committee.[1]

In 2000, the State Board of Education approved Epps as the new State District Superintendent for the Jersey City Public Schools. Epps, who had served as the district?s Associate Superintendent for Community and Support Services since 1998, was recommended to the board by Commissioner David Hespe. Epps has dedicated his entire education career to the Jersey City School District. Since joining the district as a teacher of grades six and seven at the Whitney M. Young School in 1967, Epps has worked his way up through the ranks of the district as a teacher, supervisor, principal of adult evening programs, and director of funded programs.

Many of Jersey City's record nine Best Practices awards received from the New Jersey Department of Education in 1998-2000 were for programs overseen or founded by Dr. Epps.[3] He took a leadership role in the district's efforts to reduce the drop-out rate, which had fallen from a high of 14.6% to three straight years at 10% or lower, starting in the late 1990s.

Epps has served as Chairman of the Hudson County Community College Board of Trustees, where he helped establish the Opportunity Knocks scholarship program allowing graduating seniors in Jersey City to attend Hudson County Community College tuition-free.

Epps has long been active in the community and serves on several advisory boards, including the National Conference on Community and Justice, the Hudson Cradle advisory board, the Hudson County Schools of Technology advisory board, and the Jersey City welfare board. In 1999, he was recognized by both the NAACP (Outstanding Educator award) and the National Urban League (A Man for All Men award) for his contributions to Jersey City and its public school system.

Epps received a B.A. in Education at Bishop College in Dallas, Texas, followed by a Masters degree in Education from Seton Hall University and a doctorate in education from Rutgers University.[1]


[edit] Criticism
There is much criticism of Mr. Epps' pay as superintendent (over $210,000 annually), particularly because Epps also is a member of the New Jersey Legislature ($49,000 annual pay) and the Jersey City Public Schools is one of the lowest performers in the state.

As the Trenton Times editorialized about Mr Epps in an unsigned attack on double-dippers in state government: "Assemblyman Charles Epps Jr., D-Jersey City, spends at least two days a week at the State House, which is time when he's not back home running the troubled Jersey City school district, for which he receives $210,520 a year as superintendent."

In May 2006, Epps fell under attack by Assembly colleagues after the New Jersey 101.5 radio station reported on lavish expenses incurred by Epps on a trip to England -- including a $500+/night hotel room -- all paid for by taxpayers. A number of politicians called for his resignation as evidence of his fiscal irresponsibility surfaced. [4]


[edit] District 31
Each of the forty districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the New Jersey General Assembly. The other representatives from the 31st Legislative District for the 2006-2007 Legislative Session were:

Assemblyman Louis Manzo, and
Senator Joseph Doria

[edit] References
^ a b c Assemblyman Epps' Legislative Website, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed July 30, 2007.
^ Donohue, Joe. "Voters unseat two assemblymen: Handlin beats GOP veteran Azzolina as Epps ousts Democrat Chiappone in primaries", The Star-Ledger, June 8, 2005. Accessed August 1, 2007. "Another departing incumbent will be first-term Democrat Anthony Chiappone in Hudson County. Chiappone, a Bayonne council member, became vulnerable after the May 2004 death of his chief ally, Jersey City Mayor and state Sen. Glenn Cunningham. He was defeated by Charles Epps Jr., the Jersey City superintendent of schools and the party's preferred running mate for Assemblyman Louis Manzo (D-Hudson)."
^ Hudson County: Best Practices Award Winners, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed August 4, 2007.
^ He broke his own rule: Epps' London trip violated $$ limits he implemented, Jersey Journal, May 13, 2006.

[edit] External links

Epps is a good man. He is our man. Leave him alone.

To TaZMaNiO:

Hey Big Boy - don't you have anything better to do with your time than to bleat about "sheeple"?

Just craving for attention you ain't getting elsewhere, huh?

Do us a favor, please just play with your Ag/Au/Pu and Swiss bank accounts in silence.

Instead of posting on JCList, why don't you equip your bedroom with wall-to-wall mirrors (ceiling included)?

That way you can bask in your glory and enjoy your inflated sense of superiority without the need for the rest of us.

Oh wait a minute, you do need us.

'Cause otherwise it wouldn't be any fun bleating, would it?

Does anyone know how property taxes are calculated?