Hudson County is facing several serious issues in the upcoming June Democratic Primary. Particularly in Jersey City where there has been a lack of representation for several years. Over these last several years we have seen a steady increase in taxes, while our elected officials have fallen asleep regarding major issues. Our county tax has seen an 8 percent increase while our Jersey City tax has increased by an astronomical 22 percent. If you ask our County Executive he will blame the tax increases on our elected officials in Jersey City. If you ask our Mayor, he will blame the tax increases on our elected officials in Hudson County. Now we have our city leadership joining our county leadership in support of Column "A" and our absent State Senator Nick Sacco of North Bergen in the primary. I guess they want to join forces to become the Jersey City "Tax" Team. During this time period while we have been having problems with taxes rising steadily, the County Executive sold off the "old" Jersey City Medical Center buildings to a developer at a mere price of 3 million dollars while we still have over 30 million dollars of bonding debt. This developer will convert these buildings into "luxury condos" which will be sold for well over $400,000 a unit while having the luxury of tax abatements. If there are 500 units sold, this developer will make in the "hundreds of millions" of dollars after construction costs. I ask, is this proper and fair representation from our elected officials?
Now take a look back at last winter when in the "Heights" we almost lost a bus route on Central Avenue. When this was brought to my attention by Michael Yun (Garden State News) we initiated contact with New Jersey Transit and started the process to prevent this "huge" loss to our residents. (Note: Assemblyman Vincent Prieto of Secaucus assisted and attended). After about two weeks, with no bus service (on Central Avenue) and attending another meeting with New Jersey Transit, our elected official decided to get involved. This was after denying any knowledge of this major issue. The Central Avenue Merchants Association then put together an emergency meeting for our resident to generate support and to demand that our officials stand up for the Central Avenue Bus Route. Why did it take our local elected officials this long to get involved! I ask once again, is this proper and fair representation from our elected officials?
All of this, and much more, has taken place under State Senator Nick Sacco's watch (or lack of watch); I guess he forgets about the hard working people of Jersey City. I have taken a pledge to run for "our" state senate seat in the 32nd Legislative District, hopefully you can join me in support of my Column "B" Team on June 5th and bring needed representation to Jersey City!
Sean Connors
Jersey City Heights
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