As the waterfront continues to generate development, Jersey City-based contractors and vendors continue to feel left out of the new prosperity. For Mayor Glenn Cunningham, this problem is nothing new.
When Cunningham was first entering the work force, he wanted to be an iron worker. But after taking the required test to join the union, he was told that he failed. Instead, he became a police officer.
The following year, he was informed that he was misled about his scores and that he was eligible to join the union. He would have become the first African-American to join that Northeast iron worker’s union. By that time, however, Cunningham had already grown into his policeman status, and turned the offer down.
Now, a coalition of minority contractors from Jersey City have approached him with the same problem. They say they have been consistently turned down for contracts and jobs that the waterfront development has brought to Jersey City. But as far as Cunningham is concerned, the problem exceeds the issue of race.
In general, he said, developers are not using Jersey City residents for any of the jobs associated with development. In addition, businesses that move to Jersey City rarely use local vendors.
At the request of a coalition of minority contractors, Cunningham sat down two weeks ago to discuss ways of resolving this dilemma. Although there have been signed agreements between developers and city officials to guarantee that a certain amount of business would be directed locally, enforcing these promises has not been easy, contractors say.
The meeting included Kabili Tayari, the director of the Economic Opportunity Office, community activist Steve Pinkney, and other locals desiring a shot at the lucrative construction contracts development brings.
According to Tayari, the administration will sift through tax abatements that have already been given out and then question the owners as to how they are following through with their promises.
The general consensus among these parties is that developers are getting too much for nothing. Currently, the developers receiving tax abatements are required to give 20 percent of the construction jobs and vending contracts to local residents. Half of that 20 percent is supposed to go to minority contractors, including women.
But that does not appear to be the case. For example, the 30,000 jobs that businesses have brought to Jersey City in the past four years, only 1,600 are Jersey City residents, according to the New Jersey Department of Labor.
Cunningham said that many of these developers fly in construction workers from as far as Texas to do the jobs.
"The bottom line is that workers are often brought from out-of-state to work on projects here in Jersey City because we don’t have people trained and actually in unions," he said. He added that the Economic Opportunity Office will provide job-training programs that are geared for the types of jobs that the construction jobs on the waterfront demand.
Taking a step forward, Cunningham devised a diplomatic approach for resolving the dilemma the city has historically had with incoming developers. First, he asked the contractors to form a representative committee that could serve as a voice for local contractors. Cunningham made it clear, however, that the committee should reflect the diverse makeup of the city.
The second step, he said, would involve a meeting with the newly formed committee of contractors and the department directors that are linked to development. During this process, Cunningham said the administration would be able to decipher which developers are in violation of their agreements. The final step is to approach the developers and demand compliance.
In addition, the administration is also looking at an overview of the city’s vendors, and wants waterfront businesses to consider these vendors when making purchases for office supplies, furniture, and other equipment.
"A Marine never leaves anybody behind," Cunningham said. "We have to make sure our small contractors and minority contractors aren’t left behind also."