Jersey City voters rejected another term from Mayor Jerramiah Healy, instead electing Steven Fulop to lead the city. The mayor-elect told NJ Today Managing Editor Mike Schneider that he wants to move Jersey City forward, which includes changes to the police department and after school programs.
“I think there’s a sentiment in Jersey City that we’re a tale of two cities. There’s the waterfront, which has seen tremendous progress and then there’s the rest of the city that’s kind of been left behind. So much of what we campaigned on is bringing the rest of the city up to par and expectations that are acceptable to residents,” Fulop said.
The mayor-elect blames a lack of forward thinking with regard to the police department structure and economic incentives for the discrepancy. He said he has put together a detailed plan that he calls “politically dangerous” that he’s proud to be able to implement.
Fulop said he’s investigating how to skew tax abatements and offer incentives for people to go to different areas of the city. Changes to the police department are important, according to Fulop, because it is the backbone to development because people have to feel safe. “There’s certain areas of the city you know where you have gunshots daily. It is a problem obviously. You’re not gonna see investment there. So they go hand in hand,” he said.
Keeping schools open later for after school programs is another action Fulop hopes to take. He said residents in the waterfront area won’t have to pay more. “The tax abatement policy right now doesn’t pay for the schools so we’re going to use that to subsidize some of the after school programs,” he said.
Another area for funding is the city’s building department, according to Fulop. “We have the busiest building department in the state of New Jersey for the last five years. At one point I understand half of the permits pulled in the entire state were coming from Jersey City. So there’s an opportunity there to really use that asset that we have to move the city forward,” he said. “We are gonna have going in the ground in the next year 5,000 additional units. To put that in perspective, right now we’re 40,000 units as a whole city. So 5,000 growth is a huge opportunity to capitalize and get some of the dollars into the schools.”
Changes to the police department include the decentralization of command, which Fulop said would increase accountability, and redrawing some district lines so the problem areas have better communication. He also wants to incorporate policing tools used in other large urban areas.
Last week, a 12-year-old boy was fatally shot in a Jersey City park. “There is obviously a gangs, drugs, guns problem over there,” Fulop said. “I think that you need to give children an opportunity to go places other than the street corners. I think that we need to continue to be aggressive on holding the police accountable, partnering with some of the community churches, community groups.”
Fulop said the police department has done a good job, but it can do better. Since the election, he said many members of the police department have filed their retirement papers. While a mass retirement isn’t ideal, he said it may eliminate some people who aren’t good for the department.
“The guys were gonna leave because they don’t want to do work. We’re gonna be happy to see them go. Those that have been a value to the city we’re gonna try to keep. If somebody got their job via politics, they’re probably gonna lose their job via politics and we’re not looking to carry dead weight,” Fulop said. “So the reality of the situation, we’re looking to keep the assets that are there to move the city forward and we’re gonna try to professionalize the whole process.”