Three whole units for homeless veterans in lieu of millions and a 30 year abatement

Johnny would say "Only in Jersey City" but this kind of threading the needle to hand out tax money goes on everywhere. Mayor Fulop announced his support for a new 30 year abatement (oh look, ANOTHER 30 year abatement just 22 days into his new term) and tried to couch it because the of the units to get the huge tax break THREE would be earmarked for homeless veterans. This is the kind of shitty cynical politics Johnny is just sick of. It's couched to look and sound like if you don't support this deal or question the 30 year abatement for so few units, YOU look like you hate vets. Johnny is going to turn that around on the mayor and others who would fawn over this deal and ask, THREE units? That's SOME commitment you're trying to tie your boat to mayor. Three whole spots? In the years you've been mayor and now you want to trade on three units.

Johnny's dad was a vet. One of his good friends was a Blackhawk helicopter pilot for the Army in Iraq. Johnny's support of the military and vets isn't some kind of "if we can fit it in for politics sake" commitment and Johnny's not the vet here, the mayor is.

Three units. Yet those opposed to this deal are the ones who are supposed to look bad. Don't think that's going to be the case.

Welcome you are Jersey City

Johnny working on his Yoda this morning...

When you speak of Johnny, do speak well; The failed EV parking program that encompasses the block between Marin & Provost on First St. has now turned most of those EV spots over to actual parking people actually use. With the parking crunch downtown from all the construction, residents have been forced into 'streets away from home parking.' It made no good sense to take an entire block of prime city parking, you know, the kind that pays the city back with permits and fines, and turn it over as part of Shuster's abatement "giveback" for the Art House and Jokeman. Johnny railed on this ridiculous plan from the hop. He did his research on how many EV's were sold in Hudson and Essex counties that might just need to come park on a one block section of First St. in downtown Jersey City, and not all that easy to get to. Just about the only cars seen charging were owned by Maven, the company that partnered with General Motors on the chargers. Johnny wondered that almost every time he sent his research to the city and showed how poor the plan was he'd see Maven cars charging over the next couple days. This idea comes straight from the playbook that if a McDonalds isn't selling enough cheeseburgers at a location Ronald McDonald comes in and buys 100 to get the numbers up.

Time and time again Johnny posted pictures and showed councilwoman Candice Osborne as well as Rolando Lavarro, council president, of an empty street that could certainly be used. Since this wasn't any kind of 'We'll do this for one year and see how it goes program' rather than just a bad idea for an abatement give back we're going to go ahead and say the squeaky wheel gets the grease and Jersey City gets some badly needed parking back.

The UCLA basketball team can thank Johnny now.

Jersey City Desk victory for JC taxpayers

When we're right, and we were, we're going to crow. Johnny has pointed out since the implementation, this particular EV car charging station was (a lot of the currently never-used EV spots will go back to people who can thankfully use them) an abatement "give back" looking for a place to be shoved in. This bank of chargers on First St. was one of the worst places for it, its not near any road spur, and it became quite clear, (and we're re-running the article that may have been the tipping point for JC hearing enough from the Jersey City Desk making sense) this was embarrassing. The city obviously felt we have to do something. Here is that article so all our readers can look back with Johnny and see what right looks like. It was a poor choice, and obvious poor choice by so many in JC government.

So, something they will finally do, the city council tonight votes on 16 charging stations around town, located more by road spurs and popular roadways, not buried inside tiny neighborhoods. Ron Zeitlinger with the info on the new program can be found here.

Like the four candidates for Ward E said last night, the abatement system is broken and it's badly broken. The EV's outside the Oakman for Shuster show broken on steroids.

Rather than committing to a real number on PILOT money...

...Mayor Fulop and Jersey City will now just hire an attorney to fight any plan to make Jersey City pay it's fair share of school funding since there always seems to be enough for tax break after tax break for friends of Fulop and those get rubber stamped by city council. Jersey City taxpayers pay more for the inevitable change that will be forced upon our fair city by the New Jersey legislature unless responsible people somehow figure this out at 280 Grove St.

Johnny is gonna dig deep into the Sweeney vs Fulop PILOT fight tomorrow

He can't wait. A nice juicy steak story early on a Thursday when Johnny has no morning meetings. For now dear readers here is the story we'll be discussing so go give it a read tonight and we'll talk on it on the 'morrow.

More huge tax giveaways from the mayor as an inconsistent council just says yes

Yet another huge abatement of your money just went in a huge giveaway to KRE Group to build more uninspiring condos at Ninth Street and Marin Boulevard. Yep, right there on the way to the Holland Tunnel. Yeah the main route. Someone may tell you they'll try not to interrupt traffic meanwhile delivering muffins and more Cocoa Puffs to "City Planning" to close the roads. How much traffic can Erie, oh, wait, they'll block that too.

And you're gonna pay through the nose for it. In fact, if the mayor's team on this weren't in such utter disarray over this, it could have been much worse. Terrence T. McDonald, show everyone the level of dysfunction going on on a night millions of tax dollars are being voted on:

The city initially intended to award KRE a 30-year tax abatement, but the deal was amended to 20 years tonight. Asked why, Corporation Counsel Jeremy Farrell told The Jersey Journal to ask Deputy Mayor Marcos Vigil, who declined to explain.

Left hand meet right hand. And, if you'll remember Johnny's comment about Fulop's first term being a Healy's third term, well here's more proof he was right.

"Excuse us, why did that big giant thing just go sideways?"
"Whatever."

The level of inept is so prevalent it's spilling out of the barrel into public view. Know why it doesn't seem to get the ink it should? City Council puts their stamp of approval on everything Fulop says and his spokespeople of the month are free to hide behind council. The vote for the abatement (Luckily the city wasn't giving loans too like last month) was 6-2 with Councilman Michael Yun once again realizing money doesn't grow on trees, voting no as did Candice Osborne. Councilperson Osborne is all over the map on which abatements and projects she'll vote for. Votes against a plan to have a building going up in her own neighborhood have a higher floor allowance, votes for the further financial gutting of the city for the "Pep Boys" abatements, perhaps the worst deal this council has ever signed off on, and is back to no on this deal.

It's fair to say she's trying to hold the mayor to a deal he announced last week and promptly took a week to break (Hear that NJ voters?) but sure seems to want it both ways. The long-term financial heath of Jersey City is important to ALL the residents, not just those with children would be our advice to the Osborne.

Which brings us to the king of voting for anything the mayor wants, Council President Rolando Lavarro. He's Council President. He's touted the benefit of several of the abatements downtown and around PADNA as being good for the neighborhood. Know what a PADNA birdie told Johnny? Until the last month when Council President Lavarro took a walk around the neighborhood with a PADNA official, he'd never even been there. He's touting tax breaks for a large part of the city he's never been to.

Mt. McKinley anyone? Maybe the Mt. McKinley of spending. We're beginning to think that when Mr. Lavarro was a kid someway, somehow his toy bobble heads went up and down YES and not the usual back and forth NO.

Why is a guy being charged with a DWI and fired from a "no show" job voting on other people's abatements?

So as the inept spills out of the administrative branch all over the streets, the legislative branch looks for ways you the taxpayer can clean it up.

Yep, Johnny's back from vacation...