So, the guy who wrote the pay to play law, to much fanfare, doesn't want to follow it

Mayor Fulop, Suez (formerly United) Water and the old checkbook are getting each other in trouble anymore. See, you'll recall when councilman Fulop did that great thing of creating a Jersey City pay to play law to help clean up government that was so good it was adopted by the state of New Jersey.

That's a fine accomplishment. Know what might be more impressive? Following your own damned law. Our play tonight comes in three acts, directed by Jersey Journal Terrence T. McDonald.

Act I The Money Flows
Suez and its political action committee gave Fulop's re-election bid at least $10,800 in the last four years, plus another $1,000 to the Fulop-controlled Jersey City Democratic Committee, campaign reports show. Those amounts exceed contribution limits placed on some city vendors by the city's pay-to-play law. (Add to this the generous 10K contribution to Fulop's SuperPAC in his canceled run for Governor)

Act II The Word Salad
Asked to comment, Suez spokeswoman Madeline Power said, "The Suez Political Action Committee ensures that all of its contributions comply with local, state and federal laws."

Act III Salience
Craig Holman, a lobbyist for the Washington group Public Citizen, helped draft New Jersey's pay-to-play ban, which was modeled after Jersey City's law. Holman reviewed the city's pay-to-play ban and the Suez donations for The Jersey Journal. "They would appear to be a direct violation of the pay-to-pay law," Holman said. "The MUA ... agreed to the pay-to-play policy, which it should, but is clearly not abiding by it."

So, as McDonald points out, it sounds like Fulop has no intention of following his own law or if he does at best in a slapdash fashion with plenty of excuses. Suez is willing to say anything and it would appear pay anything to keep the MUA contract that's coming up for them. This might lead some cynical reporter like Johnny to ask if Mr. Fulop meant the law he backed or if he only wanted to hurt former Mayor Healy with it.

Jersey City is not interested in becoming Flint

Jersey City will hire an independent third party from SUEZ (United Water) to check the city's water supply for lead and other harmful contaminants. Said the mayor:

The testing will be more comprehensive than the regular tests performed by SUEZ, according to the city.

"The situation in Flint is one that no community should have to experience," Mayor Steve Fulop said in a statement. "And while testing is done routinely on the Jersey City water supply residents have reached out asking for comprehensive testing and we thought it was a prudent expense to add an extra level of security for our residents, especially our young children."

Though we're frequent critics of the mayor you'll get no complaint from us here. This will be $50K well spent. If there is a problem let's attack it with vigor. Nothing will chunder property values quicker than poison water. More on what exactly the testing will be looking for at the link.

So that pothole that might have been classified as FIXED, you gotta see this

As some will recall on Sunday Johnny posted pictures of a crater of a pothole looking for a place to emerge and showed the before and after the MUA/DPW dropped a couple shovels of asphalt on it and called it good. So here we are on Wednesday and Johnny's bitching and complaining got somebody's attention:

As you can see from the ladder in the hole a couple shovelfuls of anything wasn't going to fill it. If you want anything done right Jersey City be prepared to have to see it through. Ring some phones, send some emails and when all else fails get a blog and a Twitter account.

Johnny 1 MUA/DPW 0

The FIFTH water main break in two days has really started to piss some people off

And by people we mean the mayor and most likely anyone else living in Jersey City. He's just saying what we're all thinking. In a pointed tweet this morning, Mayor Fulop said, and we tweetquote:

"A city our size needs service and care and #respect from service/utility providers. @UnitedWaterNJ #JerseyCity"

Yes United Water, we the people would also like to know how as a city we manage five breaks in two days, and we're talking large breaks. How much of your precious time and energy are put into pressure testing because it would seem when one goes another upstream isn't far behind. We'd suggest a thorough testing before a pipe bursts near a PATH station or another intersection starts looking like Niagara Falls. Capice?

Precious. Lifegiving. Water.

Downtown Jersey City remains without water this morning due to a water main break that United Water is trying to find for lack of a better word. Mayor Fulop tweeted that water pressure seems to be really low near Grand and Warren so this is where United Water is centering their search. Nine Jersey City schools will be let out at 12:45 because of the water main break, and the city has issued a boil water advisory for what trickle you may have or will hopefully soon be getting back.

A boil water advisory means boil your water for one minute before using unless it is for say washing clothes, taking a shower or washing dishes.

So downtown, cutoff from the rest of the civilized world yet so close to the teeming skyline of New York City, slides closer to chaos, rioting, and dogs and cats living together unless Batman can get the water main fixed. We're setting the over/under on the time it gets fixed at 2:30pm.

The boil water for downtown CONTINUES today and may extend into Wednesday

Way to go United Water! Yes fans of drinking clean water, brushing your teeth and cooking food, the folks at United Water gave a 6am update and that along with last night's report by the Jersey Journal tells us this could be a while. United Water listed this number (201-767-9300) for media inquiries, just tell them Johnny sent you and he's kind of media. Besides, are you really going to get any info calling the main line?

The boil water advisory continues for the downtown area of Jersey City

The Jersey Journal will help you out with a map of where the advisory is (Roughly from the Turnpike to Hoboken to the Hudson River to Grand) exactly and more particulars like what stage in the fix up United Water is in.

More as the United Water news merits on this internet infotainment outpost.