The three candidates for mayor in the upcoming May 11 election faced off in a debate that is currently available to watch at the Bayonne Community News website, www.hudsonreporter.com.
Mayor Mark Smith, Assemblyman Anthony Chiappone, and Leonard Kantor answered a series of seven questions covering a variety of issues that included development, municipal spending, ethics, and other subjects, and managed to still take jabs at each other during the 90-minute exchange.
Here are some of the highlights:
What they’d do with the former Military Ocean terminal:
Mayor Mark Smith, who has served as mayor since winning a special election in November, 2008, said that the prior administrations had mismanaged development of the former Army base, and that he had inherited a flawed development plan that was also mired in a lawsuit brought by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Other setbacks included the recession and a number of prior agreements that represented an unworkable plan, he said.
The vision was for development of more than 6,000 housing units during a time when the market could not support them.
“The first thing I did was to name a new executive director to the Bayonne Local Redevelopment Authority and charged him to settle the Port Authority suit,” Smith said.
But Assemblyman Anthony Chiappone charged that Smith, as mayor, has been continuing the bad business practices of the past, noting that the city’s municipal budget depends upon a land deal at the MOTBY that has yet to take place. The budget includes $28 million that is expected from the deal.
“Some say the deal fell through,” Chiappone said, claiming that the city residents will face a stiff increase in taxes if this turns out to be the case.
Chiappone agreed that the city’s economic health rests on the proper development of the MOTBY, but said the Smith administration is following a pattern set by previous administrations for behind-closed-door-deals and development opportunities for a select few developers – who are not made known to the public until after the deals are concluded, Chiappone said.
But Smith claimed the city had no deal in place for the Harbor Station sector yet – but is currently negotiating with several entities.
In an exchange that seemed to weave through the debate, Smith turned around and blamed Chiappone for many of the development problems of the past, citing his nearly 11 years as a member of the Bayonne City Council, and more than a year on the BLRA.
In response, Chiappone said he was responsible for derailing the Port Authority deal in order to bring in more bidders on the property, which resulted in the city getting $40 million more from another developer than it would have received had the sale to the Port Authority taken place.
“I never got a thank-you for getting the city that $40 million,” he said.
Jobs for you – and jobs in City Hall
Although Kantor sharply disagreed with some plans for development of MOTBY, he kept clear of the sharp attacks, saying that the focus should be job creation, and adding that a plan should be put in place to create a viable commercial district that would bring high paying jobs to the city.
He criticized Mayor Smith’s plans to create malls, which he said produce only low-paying jobs.
But Smith countered that while the jobs might be lower-paying, they could serve as employment for young people coming into the job market or older people who might want a second job.
While Smith claimed he is in the process of downsizing municipal government, Kantor said it is not enough. He said he did not see any real savings to the taxpayer, calling for a moratorium on raises and hiring.
“I would never call for the laying off of police officers,” said Kantor, who is a retired police sergeant. “I think we can reduce the number of employees in the city through retirements and not replacing them.”
Economic recovery
Smith said that his plan for the city’s economic recovery is a combination of cuts in spending and an effort to increase the tax base by seeking more businesses to develop in Bayonne.
“We need to grow the tax base that will provide recurring revenues,” he said. “There has been no unnecessary borrowing or bonding since I took office.”
But Chiappone said the Bayonne Municipal Utilities Authority took out a $3 million bond recently, and he said that by depending on $28 million deal at MOTBY to balance this year’s budget, Smith is violating his own promise not to engage in one-shot revenue deals.
Chiappone also noted that the city regularly passes its annual budget at the end of the year, instead of before the year starts, the way school boards are required to.
Smith said his administration is currently seeking permission to change the budget year from a fiscal year to a calendar year, which would deal with a lot of problems Chiappone has questioned in the past.
Among the other issues, the three candidates addressed issues such as ethics and corruption, the new master plan, and the impact of development on the Broadway business district, and even a more personal question. Check out www.hudsonreporter.com to watch the debate and comment.