JERSEY CITY – Mayor Steven Fulop has directed the city Law Department to begin the process of dissolving the Jersey City Parking Authority. Next week, the Fulop administration will present to the City Council a resolution to retain the law firm of Weiner Lesniak to investigate operations at the authority.
The dissolution of the city’s autonomous agencies and the absorption of their functions back into the city was a campaign promise Fulop made when running for mayor earlier this year. The mayor has long argued that getting rid of the city’s autonomous agencies will cut municipal costs, improve accountability, and streamline services.
The City Council last week approved a controversial measure introduced by the Fulop administration to merger the Jersey City Incinerator Authority, another autonomous agency, with the Department of Public Works.
By dissolving the Parking Authority, the mayor plans to move its functions into a traffic and parking division within the Jersey City Department of Public Safety. Under the plan, parking enforcement personnel would also be given additional ticketing abilities to enforce quality of life issues.
To dissolve the Parking Authority the city must first do a study as a way to inform the council how to proceed. This study must also be submitted to the state Local Finance Board. Any plan to dissolve the Parking Authority would also have to be formally approved by the City Council.
The administration wants to retain Weiner Lesniak to draft a detailed report on the operations and finances of the Parking Authority, including the services and functions provided; the number of employees, salaries, titles and collective bargaining agreements; outstanding debt and assets, as well as areas of duplicative services with other city departments or agencies.
“Generally speaking, autonomous agencies create unnecessary layers of bureaucracy and duplicative services,” Fulop said in a press statement Thursday. “This will be a win for the taxpayers and residents. It was a campaign pledge that we are committed to moving forward. We were elected with a mandate to reduce waste and find areas where services could be consolidated or merged, with the goal of providing better services at a lower cost. This is a first step in that process.”
The resolution to retain the law will be voted on at the next council meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 25.
Our Digital Archive from 2000 – 2016
