Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy continually touts his desire for cleaner streets, a need for more police, and his hopes of making Jersey City a “world-class” city that will surpass Newark in terms of population. But it is possible Healy, 58, will outline other initiatives in the speech he is expected to give at his inauguration on July 1 at 10 a.m. at New Jersey City University. That day he will start his second four-year term in office.
“We are working hard on all fronts.” – Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy
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Crime
On Election Night, the first thought on Healy’s mind was combating crime. In his speech, he said he will keep focusing on “The same issues we have been addressing for four and a half years – [we’ll] continue to hire more cops, keep guns out of our city, and put in more crime cameras.”
Healy took the most stinging blows on crime when he ran for reelection, as residents at various public meetings complained they were seeing increases in homicides and other types of crimes, even as Healy and Police Chief Thomas Comey claimed that crime was going down. As of the end of last week, 15 homicides have occurred in Jersey City since Jan. 1, with 12 of them solved.
The department is also dealing with rampant gunfire in the community by carrying out Operation Ceasefire Jersey City, whose aim is to work closely with gunshot victims and people living in communities with high rates of shootings, and to stop people who are committing gun violence and get them off the streets. Some critics mentioned the program during the mayoral election, asking why it wasn’t more active.
Development and housing
Healy has offered various proposals as to how his administration will deal with housing and development issues in Jersey City.
During a post-election dinner on June 9, Healy defended his proposal for a citywide amnesty for landlords who have illegal apartments in their buildings and homes. These illegal apartments are usually in basements, attics and even in some cases, garage spaces. The amnesty would allow these apartments to be recognized as legal, and for landlords to pay more taxes on them.
However, he has faced opposition from the public, and even from some city officials, who feel there should be increased enforcement to crack down on this type of apartment.
“Just because they are illegal apartments, you just don’t want to kick out families living in these apartments,” Healy said. “They’re in there, they are a fact, and we should make sure [illegal apartments] are up to code and landlords pay their fair share of taxes.”
Various political observers believe Healy needs this plan so he can bring more revenues into the city’s coffers as the city faces a minimum budget deficit of $15 million that will be harder to bridge than in previous years.
Healy said once the Planning division, Zoning division and the Law Department are able to work out how to make the illegal apartments legal entities, then legislation will be submitted to the City Council to do so.
Education
In the past year, Healy has pursued state legislation that would have transformed Jersey City’s nine-member elected school board into a hybrid board, with three mayor-appointed members, three members from local colleges, and three who are elected. That earned him criticism from the public, most memorably from former Mayor Anthony Cucci, who in turn did not receive support from Healy and other elected officials when he ran unsuccessfully for another term on the Board of Education. The legislation is still pending in the state Legislature.
On Election Night, Healy said he wanted to work “more closely” with Jersey City schools superintendent Dr. Charles Epps to make the public schools better, and to work with a school board with two newly elected members. Police officer Sean Connors and businesswoman Patricia Sebron both earned the support of Healy and other local politicians. It is possible the school district, under state control since 1989 due to low test scores, will be returned to local control in coming years.
Healy did not offer specifics on how he would “work closely” with the school board.
Earlier this month, Healy was pressed for specifics about his closer working relationship with the school district, but did not offer any more than he did on Election Night. He also seemed to back away from the hybrid board idea.
Historic preservation
During the kickoff of the stabilization of the old Hudson and Manhattan Powerhouse on June 11, John Gomez, the founder of the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy, hailed the city for moving forward on preservation. Saying that the stabilization of the 101-year-old building and its eventual renovation will become of the “nation’s great preservation projects,” Gomez also commended Healy for launching the project during his administration by referring to him as the “preservation mayor.”
After the kickoff ceremony, Healy said he was looking forward to the stabilization and eventual renovation of the Powerhouse being completed by 2013, when his current term ends.
He also wants to see the Loew’s Jersey Theatre in Journal Square, celebrating its 80th anniversary in November, start renovations before the end of this year. The City Council got the ball rolling at its May 20 meeting by passing an ordinance that allows for the complete renovation of the Loew’s Theatre, which requires access to city funds and grant money. It also keeps in place the Friends of the Loew’s, a group that has maintained the theater for more than 20 years.
“We would like to see the Loew’s thrive and succeed,” Healy said. “It’s preserved … we need to get air conditioning and sprinklers in there, and once that’s done, we want to get some private sector help in there to bring in entertainment and shows to make it self-sustaining.”
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonrreporter.com.