Dear Editor:

As a resident of Jersey City I find it necessary to offer the following comments in regards to the adjustment of longevity payments for the mayor and other officials. It must be recognized that the mayor served in various capacities in the past years within the Jersey City Police Department and in the City Council, and this consideration is no different to the longevity payments of federal, state, county and municipal employees. In other government arenas, this type of longevity matter is handled through the executive offices and not subject to legislative approval.

Further, the following areas of consideration must be examined in regards to this circumstance: 1. The population of the City of Jersey City is approximately 243,000 people as per the 2000 Census report. The mayor is the Chief Executive Officer of the City and is responsible for the health, safety and general welfare of the population. Is this task far more responsible and demanding than private section corporate managers earning millions of dollars each year and only responsible for the manufacture of a product, not the care of human beings? 2. The mayor is responsible to direct the city workforce consisting of full-time paid police and fire departments and other city service employees consisting of several thousand employees. 3. The mayor serving our City for the past eight years is a multi-millionaire and spent the majority of his time away from the duties of our City as he was touring the country touting his charter and school voucher programs and was extremely busy running for the office of the governor. Our current mayor is devoted full time plus to the operation of the City, and his efforts are here with us in Jersey City.

I sincerely believe that the media should devote more time and space supporting the efforts of our Mayor Glenn D. Cunningham and reflect upon the issues as cited in this correspondence and provide positive reenforcement to assist Glenn in his quest to make Jersey City a truly first class city within our state and nation.

Robert B. Knapp