Issues
Housing as a Human Right
UNIVERSAL RENT CONTROL
Jersey City tenants’ deserve a city council that fights for greater affordability and stability for all. Joel will fight to enforce and expand rent control to every eligible rental unit in the city, eliminating exemptions for buildings with four or less dwelling units. Loopholes and illegal rent increases have allowed corporate landlords to exploit massive profits from working people, often while ignoring maintenance and safety concerns. Landlords avoid rent control laws by dividing up buildings which ought to be subject to rent control into separate condominiums, and leasing them out beyond the limits that rent control would provide. Universal rent control will make sure every tenant has the protections they deserve, and will simplify Code 260 enforcement, which our city has failed to do.
BUILD SOCIAL HOUSING
To ensure the housing crisis never hits our city again, we must aim our sights higher than 10-20% affordable units for renters earning 80% Area Median Income. The social housing model provides us the path forward, ensuring equitable distribution and affordability through two tiers of mixed-income housing: (1) city-owned units built and staffed by public workers, and (2) city subsidized buildings built in collaboration with non-profit developers, heavily regulated for sustainability, tenant protection and higher affordability requirements. When people think of social housing, we should think of quality, dignified homes that are owned and operated for the public good, not private profits. If we are serious that housing is a human right, then Jersey City must develop a housing wealth fund to invest, administer and build our own social housing: high quality, permanently affordable, and community-controlled housing for all.
FULLY FUND RIGHT TO COUNSEL
We need to fully fund JC’s new Office of the Right to Counsel, which was recently won by a DSA-led campaign to make sure that every renter has access to legal defense in housing court against unfair evictions. Joel was a dedicated fighter for the campaign, knocking doors and speaking out at city council, making sure that developers pay tens of millions into our city’s affordable housing fund every year.
Universal Childcare
The cost of child care is a major contributor to the cost of living crisis experienced across the country. The fight for greater state funding must also be one for universal childcare. We can leave behind our current system of means-tested vouchers and fight to fund a universal childcare system, free at the point of service, fully staffed and able to serve all residents throughout the city. NYC’s Pre-K for All and 3K for All has led the way and it’s time that our families, communities and children are provided the same level of service and care. Joel proposes we take this policy all the way and offer childcare for children 0-2 as well. Together we can fight for greater pay and staffing for childcare workers, for a program that provides high-quality early childhood education, for a city where families work to support each other and provide the care needed for our children and our future.
Fund Our Public Schools
MORE STATE FUNDING
Organizing for more state funding is necessary to ensure Jersey City gets the resources we need to provide quality education for all of our students. As a city council member, Joel will not only fight to have big corporations pay their fair share and fund the BOE budget, he will also organize residents to win changes in Trenton - funding schools based on the number of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch, as opposed to tax brackets, could bring in the money we need and our kids deserve.
Public Services That Meet Our Needs
OUR CITY BUDGET
If you want to know a city's priorities, look at its budget. Residents in Ward B and across Jersey City deserve power over our budget, which means transparency and being involved in decision-making. Joel will fight to bring working people into the process through participatory budgeting, and will organize the community's active involvement through mass meetings. Our city council should not just get elected and then tell the people what they did. Our elected officials should organize ordinary people to help shape city priorities directly.
MUNICIPAL SERVICES FOR US, NOT FOR PROFIT
We walk around sidewalks and streets full of trash, with open construction on lead pipes, and then get hit with surprise sewer and water rate hikes. The Jersey City Municipal Utilities Authority should be run municipally, not contracted out to private companies profiting off of residents' basic necessities. Joel will fight for a plan to phase out private contracts from our municipal utilities like Veolia, and from trash pick-up, and to bring utilities decisions to transparent, public participation.
Mobility For All
MUNICIPAL TRANSIT COUNCIL
Working people rely on mass transit every day, yet our city is plagued with infrequent bus times and no-show buses, on top of limited routes, light rail service, and PATH infrastructure stops. As we face more fare hikes, we need to build local power to make NJ Transit listen to working people. Joel will agitate and fight for greater frequency and reliability of service. Let's form a Municipal Transit Council made up of riders and residents that works with our Transportation Planning Division, organizes the community around transit needs, and fights for the statewide changes necessary to win mobility for all.
BETTER LOCAL TRANSIT
Ward B lacks the same level of transit service that can be seen throughout the rest of the city, with only one light rail connection. At the same time, our bus routes have great potential for service, providing connections to every ward in the city, as well as Newark and several other municipalities throughout Hudson County. This makes slow speeds, no-show buses and delays an even bigger let down for Ward B residents, especially commuters. Together we can collaborate with the County government and improve bus speeds and performance by implementing dedicated bus lanes on JFK and Bergen Ave, operating during peak periods.
SAFER STREETS
Our streets should prioritize the safety and ease of kids walking to and from school, families carrying home groceries, and working people stepping outside for a breath of fresh air. Safer streets designed for mass transit, walkability, and bikes are a must. Joel knows what it's like to walk to work, bus to work, bike to work, and drive to work; every commute needs to be accounted for in planning our road use. Taking available grant money for the Manhattan Ave-Franklin Ave bike lane is an example of a community benefit not only for cyclists, but pedestrians and drivers, too. Lanes like these help reduce traffic deaths, and the more opportunities we create for folks to get around without single-passenger vehicles, the less traffic there is and fewer occupied parking spots there are for folks who rely on their cars. Working with local advocacy groups is key to creating safe and complete streets, Joel will collaborate with Hudson County Complete Streets and ensure swift and effective implementation of the city and county Vision Zero Plans.
West Side for All
REDEVELOPMENT
Redevelopment plans are city council ordinances, and can be revisited and revised. Joel will review every redevelopment plan that touches Ward B to see if we need better guarantees of community benefits like open space and affordable housing. Joel will help residents organize to fight for real community benefits in any new redevelopment plan or zoning change.
PROTECTING SMALL BUSINESSES
We don’t need another Starbucks on the West Side (unless it’s unionized). Joel will work with the West Side Partnership to protect and nurture small business, and in new developments to ensure women and minority owned businesses can grow.
LANGUAGE JUSTICE
Many renters are monolingual Non-english speakers and the applications for rent control and failure to provide services (and many others) are English only and online only. Joel will fight to ensure all Jersey City residents can access these resources to ensure their rights are protected.
LINCOLN PARK AND THE VIEW
Joel was at the meetings where residents were promised access to the replacement for Casino in the Park. Working with county officials, we need to open the View to the public for more community use.