By David Cruz
NJ Today
Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop’s biggest challenge today was the weather. Planning a block party and outdoor inaugural takes optimism, which is one thing the 36-year-old chief executive has plenty of.
“I feel excited. I feel motivated. I don’t feel overwhelmed at this point. I feel that there’s a lot to do and there are a lot of opportunities to really do some meaningful stuff in a short period of time, so it’s more excitement than anything else,” Fulop said.
As workers hurried to prepare for the official inauguration outside, the mayor prepared for the ceremony inside, stopping to talk with us about priorities and plans, which include reforming public safety and creating educational and employment opportunities city-wide.
“I think that there’s an opportunity to really focus on the social service component of it, so when you talk about re-entry programs, job training, making sure that people have a pathway to be linked to the jobs and at the same time to encourage investment and give good incentives that people can actually see and reap benefits from those incentives here by investing in Jersey City, so what we’re gonna try to do is link those two components together,” Fulop said.
The mayor will have a 7-2 majority on the city council, which was also sworn in today, indoors. That will make getting his agenda implemented a bit easier.
“One of our greatest challenges right now is kind of managing some of the expectations, but I’d rather kind of shoot for the sky and shoot for the unachievable on some level and fall a little bit short than to settle for mediocrity, which I think has kind of been the norm over the past decade or so,” said City Council President Rolando Lavarro.
“My expectations are that there is a lot of things that we can kind of change right out of the gate and move quickly on, and some of the changes are going to be more structural, more long-term. And I hope the public gives us a little bit of time to work through some of those longer-term things,” said Ward E Councilwoman Candice Osborne.
“He’s very smart and he’s ambitious,” said Ward D Councilman Michael Yun. “I believe that he is very good. We’re fortunate to have him as the mayor of Jersey City.”
On day one, the mayor’s top priority is avoiding the rain. For a new mayor, it’s a good lesson in the limits of power.