Dear Editor:
I request you to consider converting the three council-at-large seats to full-time based on a base salary and bonus model.
This change shall bring more balance and accountability to the legislative branch, particularly when the executive branch is operating full-time.
The base salary for these positions could be increased by $10,000 per year and funded by decreasing $5,000 of each ward councilperson’s salary. This should not make any difference to the ward councilpersons, particularly when they have proven that they could raise thousands of dollars in campaign contributions.
We need at least a three-member full-time legislative body to serve us, during these hard hit times. Jersey City is the economic engine of the state and can definitely open plenty of opportunities if we have dedicated legislative body. When Alaska, Alabama, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina and South Carolina could bring the unemployment rates down by 2 percent, particularly in these hard times, we at Jersey City can also do it. At this point of time, we have no accountability at the legislative level. We need dedicated legislative body with certain measurable performance parameters like: attendance, ethics, open and transparent governance, low taxes, crime reduction, affordable housing, thin efficient governance by balancing the supervisor-to-worker ratio, governance cost reduction, producing budget on time, union contract negotiations and collecting un-collected revenues like parking fees, food licensing fees, etc., Metrics collected on these parameters could be used to render an annual bonus of maximum $25,000 based on new revenue generation excluding property and water/sewer tax increases, which should be approved by the ward council persons.
I would appreciate if you consider, study, and implement this as soon as possible.
Riaz Wahid