In an editorial, Jersey City resident Nick Zurawski details how he supported Ward E Councilman James Solomon, but his choice for mayor is Hudson County Commissioner Bill O’Dea (D-2).
Facebook photo.
I have supported Councilman Solomon for years. In 2021, I voted for him. Last year, I urged him to run for mayor and donated to him multiple times. I was even cheering along in the crowd at his announcement event!
But his disappointing campaign has made it clear: Jersey City cannot afford to have Mayor Solomon.
When I proudly wore my “Solomon for Mayor” gear, I hoped that he would run a serious campaign full of some of his best ideas – standing up to the powerful on behalf of the people, implementing effective housing policy, and championing safe streets.
Unfortunately, whether it has been a genuine change of opinion or just pandering to earn votes, his campaign has been anything but that.
Councilman Solomon claims to stand up against powerful interests to fight for affordable housing, but it is hard to square that with his opposition to 150 affordable homes at 150 Bay Street.
Given his campaign rhetoric, you may wonder why he is the only candidate for mayor to oppose this affordable housing project.
Based on his public responses, which almost perfectly mirror the exact language used by wealthy downtown condo owners, it’s apparently because many of the people who own the multi-million-dollar homes next door don’t want more neighbors.
Let me say that again because it bears repeating: Councilman Solomon is standing alone to block hundreds of affordable homes simply because a handful of the richest people in the entire city want him to. Does that sound like “for the people, not the powerful” to you?
The problems with his housing policies certainly do not begin and end with 150 Bay.
Did you know that since he helped pass the strict 15% affordable housing requirement downtown, not a single affordable unit has been built there under that ordinance?
Despite the clear evidence that 15% has not worked downtown, a hypothetical Mayor Solomon would double down on these failed policies by increasing it to 20%!
The only good news about this, if you can call it that, is that it cannot get worse than his status quo of zero new affordable downtown homes.
With seemingly no sense of irony, one recent Solomon ad depicted him searching the city for affordable homes only to find none. The councilman would be well advised to first check his own ward and wonder whether he is part of the problem.
Even on street safety, arguably his signature issue, his recent embrace of Councilman Gilmore has left street safety advocates like me bewildered.
Whether you agree with Councilman Gilmore and his skepticism toward dedicated bus lanes or are more aligned with the views of groups like Bike JC, Better Blocks NJ, and SafeStreetsJC, the most troubling part to me is that Councilman Solomon seems to be running a campaign that is trying to be all things to all people.
Want more affordable housing? He says he’ll fight for that (offer may not apply in case of opposition from his rich friends – sorry)! Want less affordable housing near your multi-million-dollar condo?
He’ll fight for that too, claiming with a straight face that a 50-story building would be “out of scale” in a whole neighborhood of high-rise apartment buildings downtown.
Believe in reducing car dependence and making our streets safer? That’s Solomon’s number one issue! Unless, of course, you don’t believe in that, in which case did you know he’s running with Frank Gilmore, whom Solomon is openly proud to say shares his views?
Because Councilman Solomon regrettably seems to be more interested in grandstanding than governing these days, on November 4th, I will cast my vote for Commissioner Bill O’Dea to be our next mayor.
He has already spent much of his life dedicated to public service in Jersey City, and he is utterly uninterested in the types of pandering in which Councilman Solomon has engaged these past few months.
Councilman Solomon, a wealthy relative newcomer himself, wants to make it harder and more expensive for new people to move here. Commissioner O’Dea, a lifelong resident, seems to want affordability for residents and newcomers alike.
I do not agree with Commissioner O’Dea on everything, but it is clear he is far and away the most knowledgeable candidate on housing policy, which is the single biggest factor in the cost of living.
Commissioner O’Dea will fight to build the kind of housing Jersey City needs and tell the truth along the way.