Despite objections, Jersey City Council approves measure to allow municipal salary hikes
By Daniel Ulloa/Hudson County View
Ward E Councilman James Solomon, Councilman-at-Large Rolando Lavarro, and Ward F Jermaine Robinson voted no.
“Voting on your own salaries are unethical. Everyone who runs for office knows what the job pays,” resident Esther Wintner said prior to the vote.
“We’re not voting on a council raise tonight,” responded Ward A Councilwoman Denise Ridley.
The salary ordinance before the council copied the language of municipal code and did not include a salary increase for council members. Rather, it included language that indicated past raises for the council members.
Jersey City Council Caucus again sees merits of potential director pay raises debated
By Daniel Ulloa/Hudson County View
At the caucus meeting earlier this month, Mayor Steven Fulop explained the ordinance was necessary to retain senior talent, citing the loss of former Business Administrator Brian Platt to Kansas City, Missouri.
That led to some back-and-forth between him and Councilman-at-Large Rolando Lavarro, who asked his colleagues to vote the ordinance down on Wednesday.
“I ask the entire council to oppose these amounts. This is not the time for this ordinance. It sends the wrong message. We’ve literally laid people off citing COVID,” he explained, later stating the measure “sends the wrong message to Jersey City residents.”
Team Fulop re-election efforts have $1.4M in the bank, no new potential challenger filings
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
According to a January 19th ELEC filing, the mayor’s account has a balance of around $993,591.
Fulop is seeking a third term in November and announced he’d be running again at a fundraiser back in February.
Additionally, Team Fulop, which includes Council members Denise Ridley, Mira Prinz-Arey, Rich Boggiano, Yousef Saleh, Jermaine Robinson, Daniel Rivera, Joyce Watterman, and Hudson County Democratic Organization Chair Amy DeGise, has $424,966 on hand, according to a separate filing from the same day.
Notable contributors to the joint fund include Jersey City Democratic Organization Chair Barbara Stamato, who donated $500 on October 6th, Assembly members Angela McKnight and Raj Mukherji, who gave $2,000 and $1,250, respectively, on October 7th.
Fulop discusses city salaries, bike lanes, medical marijuana at caucus, clashes with Lavarro
By Daniel Ulloa/Hudson County View
“Over the last year, we have tried to correct a lot of salary issues citywide,” Fulop began.
He explained that the city has reviewed municipal salaries and want to make sure they are competitive, pointing out that prior Business Administrator Brian Platt took a similar post in Kansas City, Missouri that offered far greater compensation.
“Rather than us picking a number we think is fair, we’re going to let the marketplace dictate that and be competitive with our sister cities in the region. Our goal is to make sure we are compensating people fairly,” the mayor added.
Solomon erupts on Fulop, who returns fire, over adding Boggiano to re-election team
Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop and Ward E Councilman James Solomon.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“Mayor Fulop governed JC in 2020 as a Chris Christie-esque triangulator. He avoided serious police reforms. He treated Black Lives Matter as a political problem to solve instead of an opportunity for progressive governance. He cynically waited the activists out while pretending to care about their concerns,” Solomon said during a Reddit AMA this afternoon.
“He passed an affordable housing ordinance that’s significantly weaker than all similar ordinances in New Jersey. He embraced ‘reopening’ from COVID instead of following clear public health guidance such as throwing up his hands over the cases during the Thanksgiving holiday. That right-of-center agenda is exactly what Councilman Boggiano supports so their deal is not a surprise to me.”