For the second time in as many weeks, the City Council voted on Wednesday 5-3 against approving an ordinance that will save the city money this year but cause it to pay more toward its debt in future years.
This time, city employees and members of the public were in the audience to offer comments on the plan and to complain about the bickering between the City Council, who rejected the plan, and the mayor, who supports it.
The plan would allow the city to pay less of its $700 million debt this year, but would have made it pay more in future years. The idea was to keep city spending down this year.
Now, there may have to be layoffs or a tax increase to pay for the city budget, which has a $20 million deficit due to increased debt payments.
Those voting for Mayor Glenn Cunningham’s plan included council members Viola Richardson, Steve Lipski and Jeremiah Healy. Lipski said the restructuring would provide a "consistent, no-joke measure to the budget so that we can worry about our children, but if we can’t take care of ourselves, we then can’t take care of our children."
And just as before, those who voted in the negative – William Gaughan, Harvey Smith, Mary Donnelly, Mariano Vega, Peter Brennan – did so because, they said, restructuring was fiscally irresponsible. Taking longer to pay would mean adding more interest to the long-term debt, a total estimated at $187 million over the 30 years that the debt would be spread out if restructured.
Gaughan, speaking after Lipski, scolded the mayor for blaming previous administrations for the financial woes of the present. He also remarked that the mayor "can’t have it both ways" because on one hand, Cunningham says the city is $20 million in the hole, but on the other, he recently boasted that Jersey City is solvent and need no longer be in the Distressed Cities Program.
The mayor and Business Administrator Carlton McGee presented the plan to the public again last week. This time, they did it before the actual council meeting got underway. And again, McGee was under fire by council members who questioned things like the amount of time the administration took to submit the restructuring plan to the City Council. McGee, in turn, questioned the council’s knowledge of bond finances.
This time, many in the audience had their five minutes of fame to express fears, concern and downright anger over the decision to reject Cunningham’s plan.
<B>Wanted employee support for plan</b>
Cunningham had encouraged city employees and the general public to come an hour early and fill the Council Chambers before the next scheduled council meeting to voice their disapproval over the decision to reject the plan.
While there weren’t hundreds of "revolutionaries," as the Mayor referred to those whom he implored to attend, there were scores of attendees to show a concerted front in favor of the mayor’s refinancing plan.
Before the meeting commenced, a number of attendees expressed their concerns about possible layoffs and pay cuts as tax increases.
<B>Don’t lay us off</b>
Fred Greene, an investigator for the city’s Board of Health for the past seven years, came early to the meeting. Greene had a few choice words for those on the council who voted nay instead of yea.
"They may not agree with the mayor but they are going against our wishes," he said. "They’re working for us. We’re not working for them." Greene remembered taking a $200 pay cut one year when former Mayor Bret Schundler was in office and recalled especially a particular councilman who served at that time as well.
"[Councilman] Gaughan is up there hollering about what Glenn [Cunningham] is doing," Greene said, "but he was up there in the council when Schundler was doing these pay cuts."
William Gaughan has been a special target of the administration, as evidenced by the jeers and boos that accompanied most of his remarks during the evening. Cunningham also had placed ads in the local press referring to Gaughan as the "taxman."
But Gaughan, known for his fiery personality, struck back at his detractors during the evening’s proceedings, and even had a gallery of supporters standing in the back of the chambers.
<B>Forty speakers</b>
There were 72 speakers officially listed for the public speaking portion of the meeting, but as the night wore on, it dwindled down to over 40 speakers who stepped up to address the council.
One of the first speakers was former Mayor Gerry McCann, who spoke out in favor of the plan and also scolded some of the council persons who voted in the negative.
Then there was Violet Robinson, who was almost in tears as she spoke of the stabbing of her close relative of hers, which she blamed on a lack of police presence.
Robinson expressed her fears about an impending budget crisis that would possibly take more police officers off the streets.
"I am sick and tired of the bickering, when we have so many problems right now," said Robinson.
Two letters were heard in the Council Chambers, both conciliatory, practical and at moments poetic in their pleas for this plan to be considered and put into action.
Andre Morris, a city employee for the past three years who currently works in the Department of Health and Human Services, and who also heads the youth organization YC3 (Young Concerned Citizens for our City), read from a letter he had been composing for some time addressing the issue of the youth of Jersey City being affected.
"I’m here representing youth, the lost youth of Jersey City, that continues to get ignored because of political egos and the unnecessary agendas you formulate," said Morris, who later admitted to the Reporter that this speech was originally aimed towards a specific councilperson. He said he was convinced to tailor the letter to address the larger picture.
Maryann Kelleher-Arango read from her letter, which described the plight of her elderly parents who still reside in Jersey City and are paying high property taxes on a modest income. Kelleher-Arango, who also works in the Department of Health and Human Services, made three suggestions in her letter on what the city can do to avoid the drastic budget measures: One, petition Gov. Jim McGreevey for an increase in funding to the city based on the votes he received from the city. Two, the City Council should submit their proposals for a refinancing plan. Three, accept the mayor’s plan if an alternative has not been proposed.
As she paraphrased Jeremiah Healy’s comments regarding the refinancing plan, "While it may not be the utopian plan, it’s the best plan we’ve got."
<B>Other issues</b>
The rest of the meeting saw several key issues put on the table including resolution 10-V to hire another financial advisor to help consult on the city’s debt restructuring. But that was immediately withdrawn due to immense criticism during the public speaking portion. The controversy was due to the mention of Dennis Enright of NW Financial Associates based in Jersey City as a possible financial advisor. His credentials were immediately taken to task by former City Councilman and current County Freeholder Bill O’ Dea for Enright’s handling of many county and city transactions including the sale of 120 acres of contaminated land.
Also, there was debate over a resolution for the closing of St. Paul’s Avenue near State Highway 139 in the Heights section for a 30-day period due to complaints by residents about excessive traffic going through the street, which serves as a shortcut for many drivers to the highway leading into the Holland Tunnel. Proposed by Councilman Lipski.
That resolution was challenged by Healy and Gaughan, who felt that the road had been closed long enough and needed to reopen again but that resolution passed.