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COPYRIGHT 2006, GET NJ
With the exception of the communications from the Mayor's Office,
this material may not be copied or reproduced.
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GLENN D. CUNNINGHAM MAYOR CITY HALL JERSEY CITY, NJ 07302 TEL:(201) 547-5200 FAX:(201) 547-4288 |
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October 27, 2003
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Welcome everybody and a special welcome to Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Susan
Bass-Levin.
Thank you for being a special friend to Jersey City over the last two years and thank you for coming up
today as we celebrate Jersey City's graduation from the "Distressed Cities" program.
When I first became Mayor, Jersey City was in terrible financial shape. The State Department of
Community Affairs informed me that the previous administration had left Jersey City with a $54 million
dollar deficit.
The state had control of all hiring and financial decisions in Jersey City, and we had to endure being
labeled a Distressed City. All of this was because of the prior administrations reliance on financial
gimmicks and questionable accounting practices.
As Mayor I wanted to change all of that. I also wanted to accomplish 3 very basic things.
First, I wanted to make Jersey City safer.
That meant we had to hire new police and firefighters and give them the resources they needed to make
Jersey City safer. For years our uniformed services who are responsible for keeping us safe were told
that they were the source of Jersey City's problems.
The past administration had cut their manpower and put off or canceled much needed equipment
upgrades.
My administration changed all of that.
I any proud that our Police Department is fighting crime like never before. We have been able to
replenish our ranks in the Police Department with 50 new recruits who will soon be walking the beat.
And with competent and dedicated professional leadership, the Police Department has instituted a
Sustained Anti-Drug initiative which has resulted in over 8,000 arrests.
The Police Department is working like never before to make our streets safer.
We have also replenished the ranks of our Fire Department with 50 new firefighters. And in order for
them to do their jobs effectively, we have upgraded our Fire Department with 8 new Fire trucks. In just
two years we have dramatically increased the Fire Department's ability to respond to any emergency.
And all of this has paid dividends.
Because our police is more pro-active we have seen a 12.7 percent reduction in quality of life calls to the
Police Department. Morale is up in both departments and more good news is on the way.
We will soon announce the groundbreaking for a new police and fire station on Communipaw avenue.
We will also build another fire station and renovate two older ones in the next two years.
It is a shame that the prior administration allowed our public safety facilities to become eyesores in our
neighborhoods.
In the next two years they will become the cornerstones of a rebirth in Jersey City's Golden
Neighborhoods.
The Second, thing I wanted to accomplish was to build on the development of our wonderful gold coast
and start to build golden neighborhoods. That has been a challenge with the economic slowdown.
However I'm proud that in Jersey City, construction of new buildings continues along our waterfront and
we are seeing signs of development in our neighborhoods such as the facade improvement program on
Communipaw and Van Horne, and the new housing going up on Sip Avenue .
The Third thing I wanted to accomplish was to make the government of Jersey City to work better and to
keep the tax burden down. Well I can tell you that we are learning to do more with less. And a large part
of that success has to do with the City workers assembled today.
The prior administration made city workers the scapegoat for its mismanagement and said that they were
the source of the problem.
Workers were not compensated fairly for the jobs they did and they were denied a raise for several years.
The prior administration wouldn't even meet with the union leadership to discuss working conditions and
a fair salary.
Well, I take great pride that our administration has negotiated fair, 4-year, labor agreements with all of
its labor unions
We've been able to manage emergencies.
We were able to swiftly clean Jersey City's streets after one of the top five blizzards of the last 100 years.
That work was done by city workers.
And on September 11th Its our fire department, emergency personnel and police made us all proud by
becoming the lifeline to our sister City after the World Trade Center fell.
We also calmly made it through the "Blackout of 2003" this summer.
In Jersey City we have met every challenge and we have done it with the hard work and professionalism
of Jersey City's workforce.
And we have done it all with a good friend in Trenton who helped us right this ship and correct the
mistakes of the past administration.
Since she took office in 2001, Commissioner Levin has been a friend to Jersey City.
Commissioner Levin and her staff have always had an "open door policy" for Jersey City.
With her help, we have been able to develop a long term financial plan for Jersey City that has helped us
correct some of the mistakes of the prior administration and pave the way for good government.
Even though in these tough economic tines we had to endure a reduction in state aid, we have been able
to keep taxes stable and provide the essential city services that our residents need.
Jersey City was placed in the Distressed Cities program in 1999. That plan called for supplemental aid
to the city to assist in payment for city services and it also included a State Audit of the city and its
approval of government hiring and spending practices.
Well, for the record I just want to say one thing. While it was the boy who grew up in Westfield and
made tons of money on Wall Street who put us in the Distressed Cities program , it was the KID from
Orient Avenue who walked the beat as a cop and served his country as a Marine who took us out.
As I said earlier, when I became Jersey City's mayor in 2001, I inherited a $54 million deficit. On top of
that, state aid was reduced from $17 million in 2001 to just $2 million this year.
We tightened our belts and got creative. With the help of Commissioner Levin and her staff, we
refinanced the city's debt at the current historically low interest rates, and we have passed the savings
onto Jersey City taxpayers.
We refinanced over $122 million in bonds, resulting in a savings of $14 million this fiscal year.
As a result, the State Local Finance Board praised Jersey City for putting together a long-range fiscal
recovery plan. I am proud to say our hard work has paid off.
Best of all, we hired 60 new police officers and 50 new firefighters, and purchased new fire engines and
new police cars – all without raising property taxes.
We have also extended the franchise agreement with the Municipal Utilities Authority which has given
us the ability to plan for tax stability for the next three years.
During this difficult economic time when the state is trying to close a $5 Billion deficit and our sister city
New York is facing the prospect of laying off thousands of city workers, Jersey City was able to provide
tax stability for the next three years and hired new police and firemen and women to keep our city safe.
We are increasingly developing our Waterfront and Our Golden Neighborhoods, building new affordable
and market rate homes throughout the city.
Jersey City is on the right track. And in Trenton we have had a friend and partner in this success in
Commissioner Levin.
Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my pleasure to welcome and introduce the Commissioner of the Department
of Community Affairs, Susan Bass-Levin.
But in our neighborhoods......
I am very proud that Jersey City has been a safe harbor for development and jobs in this recent economic
slowdown and with the economy set to rebound next year, Jersey City's best days are ahead.
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