Mayor-Elect Glenn Cunningham made crime and tax abatements key issues in his campaign, and now some officials hope the outgoing administration will hold off on making decisions regarding those issues until Cunningham takes over July 1.
At Monday’s City Council caucus, the council willingly postponed discussions of two proposed 12-year tax abatements on industrial projects in town. Tax abatements act as incentives for developers to build in blighted areas, allowing them to pay pre-determined amounts rather than fluctuating taxes. Some candidates in this year’s election, including Cunningham, believe that the city may have been too generous with its abatements. Council members said Monday that it would be fair to postpone discussions on those two abatements until Cunningham’s administration takes over next month.
The Cunningham transition team expressed its concern last week with a different matter: personnel. On June 8, a lawyer representing Glenn Cunningham, Matthew Burns of Jersey City, sent Mayor Bret Schundler a letter asking him to hold off on police promotions or any other personnel changes in city departments. The letter indicated that Cunningham heard that Schundler was “preparing to promote a significant number of persons in the Jersey City Police Department.”
Schundler’s chief of staff, Tom Gallagher, said last week that he knew of no specific plans to promote officers. Cunningham’s transition team spokesman, Bill Ayala, also said that he didn’t know specifically of such plans, but that the memo arose “out of a conversation that Glenn had with the mayor. Glenn had requested that Mayor Schundler refrain from making any appointments and promotions until Glenn comes into office and conducts a review of city services. The response from mayor’s office was that Mayor Schundler is still the mayor until July 1 and would still exercise his authority until that time.”
Gallagher said that Schundler should, indeed, get to make such decisions if he feels it’s necessary.
“We’ve pledged to meet with the transition team and pledged to help with a smooth transition,” Gallagher said Wednesday. “But the mayor didn’t make any commitments. The mayor is mayor until July 1 as a matter of law. That doesn’t mean we have anything planned.”
Gallagher added, “We foresee no major changes in the closing weeks of the administration. However, given some service regulations, the city has 2,500 full-time employees, and sometimes transfers are necessary just to keep government working in an efficient and effective manner. We’re not going to agree to a wholesale restraint of the mayor’s powers, but we did agree to cooperate to make a smooth transition.”
Attorney Matthew Burns wrote to Schundler, “The mayor-elect wishes to have the opportunity to undertake a complete review of the organizational structure and budget status of the Police Department. Your actions at this time would seriously affect the orderly transfer of administration… There is no significant reason to do this during the remaining three weeks of your tenure.”
The letter was sent to more than 40 city officials, agencies and boards, including the Ellis Island Commission. The letter also expressed Cunningham’s wish for an “orderly and cordial transition.”
Takes over July 1
With the mayoral runoff having taken place less than a month before new mayor is to take office, the transition team has less time than in other towns to prepare for the change. Ayala said that the team will occupy several rooms in City Hall to work on transition issues.
A transition chairman has been named – Bernie Harnett of the law firm Schiller, Harnett and Squeo.
But who will get the top positions in the new administration? “Glenn has just started his search,” Ayala said. “We’re just reviewing that right now …we have to do a review of all the departments. There may be some reorganizations. We don’t know if we will have to fold different departments. We want to study the Anderson [Consulting] report that just was commissioned by the [state] Department of Community Affairs that had cost-saving recommendations.”
Ayala said Cunningham’s inauguration on Sunday, July 1 is likely to be held at the railroad terminal at Liberty State Park.