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GLENN D. CUNNINGHAM MAYOR CITY HALL JERSEY CITY, NJ 07302 TEL:(201) 547-5200 FAX:(201) 547-4288

This year has been a remarkable challenge for City workers. We've had to overcome one of the 5 worst blizzards of the past hundred years. But our workers at the Department of Public Works, the Jersey City Municipal Authority and the Jersey City Incinerator Authority met the challenge to keep the snow cleared from our streets. I take great pride in recognizing their accomplishments. They really came through for all of us.

And after the thaw, Public Works crews worked tirelessly to fill in the potholes that plagued our streets.

We can all be proud of the work they have done. The fact is that of all of our departments, Public Works is the most understaffed. When I was City Council President in the 1980's, Public works had over 400 employees. Today it has under two hundred.

Our Department of Public Works has been busy maintaining Jersey City's infrastructure and we rely on them every day to clean our parks, maintain our roads and to build new facilities.

On Martin Luther King Drive the new community center is about to open and a new public library will soon be built. Plans are also underway for a new police Station and Firehouse on Communipaw Avenue.

At Gateway park we are installing a new surface for the practice field, and Pershing Field will get new sod, and a irrigation system.

We have recently completed the Sgt. Anthony Park expansion which includes a new Dog Run for our four legged friends.

We are about to break ground on the rehabilitation of Rev. Ercel Webb Park in the Lafayette section and upcoming rehabilitation of J. Owen Grundy Park at Exchange will see the replacement of the wood deck and the installation of new lighting.

The rehabilitation of Bayside Park has been authorized with $1.5 million in Capital funds, and the park on Oak Street and Ocean Avenues will also be rebuilt this year.

While our Police Department works to clean up the streets from crime we have to work on an another issue that is just as important to the quality of life for our residents, We need to work on making Jersey City a cleaner place to live. We have to fight trash in our streets and on our sidewalks.

We need to make sure that nobody dumps on Jersey City. That means we have to do two things. We have to stop big trash companies from illegally using Jersey City as a transfer station, and we need to enlist all of Jersey City's residents in the fight against littering.

The Jersey City Incinerator Authority has applied for funding under the state's Urban Enterprise Zone Program and the Clean Communities Program to help us clean our neighborhoods. These services are essential if we are going to achieve our goal of making all our neighborhoods "Golden."

The JCIA will partner with Public Works to use their mechanical sidewalk sweepers to help this program. In addition, Clean Communities funding will allow us to work with schools, community groups and block associations to organize clean-up programs in. each Ward, to provide brooms, rakes, shovels, bags and containers for the disposal of the garbage collected. We need community participation and support if we are going to be successful.

To help with this clean-up, the JCIA will provide employment to approximately 30 additional shape-up workers. Some of these individuals will be part of our second chance program.

After this year's harsh winter, our Pothole Crews filled in 10,000 potholes on 230 miles of city streets.

And now that the warm weather has come, we are continuing with the most ambitious street paving project in Jersey City history. Some of the funding for this project comes from the city's capital fund, but we've also acquired state grants to assist with road work.

We've already resurfaced 30 streets this year. Crews are currently resurfacing other parts of Jersey City like Montgomery Street's resurfacing project.

As we work to re-pave Jersey City's streets we must take action to keep them clean. We need to upgrade the Jersey City Incinerator Authority's aging fleet of street sweepers. Right now they are prone to frequent break downs. We are prepared to purchase new street and sidewalk sweepers to clean our neighborhoods. But the City Council still has not acted on a critical bond ordinance that would allow the Incinerator Authority to purchase this equipment. There is no excuse for their inaction and I call upon them now to pass Ordinance number 02-113. As we work to improve the quality of life in Jersey City we cannot live with trash strewn streets. If they fail to act, every dirty street and sidewalk is a testament to their inaction.

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