The Race for Jersey City Mayor.

0:00 Speaker 1 Sunday morning. What’s happening in New Jersey? What is this morning? Is a good friend, Governor Jim McGreevy of New Jersey and is running for mayor of Jersey City. But I’m still gonna call him governor even if he wins for maya governor, Governor Jim McGreevy, give us an update. What the heck is going on in Jersey?

0:22 Speaker 2 John? How are you doing? I hopefully you and Marigo are doing well.

0:25 Speaker 1 No Jersey and we’re healthy.

0:30 Speaker 2 No, Well, that’s what counts, right John. At the end of the day, health is wealth, and you’re healthy and you’re good and you’re grateful. But no Jersey City is good. I mean John, for me. You know, this race, this mayor’s race, is about pocketbook issues. It’s about bread and butter issues. Unfortunately, Jersey City property taxes went up a

0:52 couple of years ago, was the highest increase in the state. And the same thing whether it was rents or property taxes. So we just have to be committed to holding the line on government spending. The mayor wants to spend on this French museum, the Pompadou Museum, and respectfully, I think we have to control what we spend. We have to

1:16 live within our means. We have to control costs or else you’re going to just drive working families out of Jersey City. So I think part of it is financial responsibility. Second is education, John. You know, we’ve got to make sure that schools work, that we’re preparing our children for the future. And Jersey City schools have to improve. I mean,

1:40 there’s some good county schools, there are a couple of good there’s some good schools in Jersey City, but we’ve got to lift all those votes so that kids can compete. And then last one, I mean we have to have safe and clean streets. We’ve got to support ramp up nine to one one, make sure that our police have

1:59 the tools necessary. So I think this race is what I tell people, is about bread and butter issues. Back to basics, affordable government, living within our means, to control property taxes and rents, having good school systems so kids learn the basics and do well. And then the other areas that I’d like to see is to do some

2:22 job training. Not everybody has to go to college, whether it’s HVAC or plumbing or welding or CDL. I think the old vocational education is important. And the third part is third point is obviously police public safety, make sure we’re safe, make sure communities are safe, and then we respond to those issues. So it’s affordability, it’s education, and

2:49 it’s public safety. It’s about as basic an old fashioned as you can get.

2:53 Speaker 1 John Well, you know, basically you want common sense, and you and who have common sense? And and I don’t know what happened to our country where all of a sudden, you know, crime in the streets was okay. It’s never been okay what happened?

3:13 Speaker 2 And yeah, no, and it’s and it shouldn’t be okay. And and then for the people that whether people suffering or addiction or people that are suffering from mental illness, they should be in a place that obviously is addressing their needs. But clearly their needs are not being addressed on the street or in an alley way. And that’s

3:35 not the way it should happen. I mean, whether it’s it’s mental illness or whether it’s addiction, it’s sickness. It’s illness, and it should be appropriately treated, whether it’s a in a step down facility, but there’s an appropriate way to do it. And so what I believe is that, you know, whether it’s for a family that’s walking down the street

3:55 or shopping, that you need to have safe and secure streets because I you know, so I was with a group of parents the other day and they literally said, for their fourteen year old daughter, they don’t let her walk home from school anymore because they’re afraid of who she’s going to meet and what’s going to happen. And

4:15 I remember, John, when you know, I went to grammar school and went to high school. We would ride our bikes all over, we would go wherever, and you were, you were unafraid because you knew there was safety. And so there’s ramifications to having people candidly that are suffering from being in the community or literally living in the

4:38 in the streets or where they should not not only for themselves, but for the general community. So, you know, as an old man said to me, once common sense, John, it’s not so common.

4:51 Speaker 1 I heard that. I heard that a few times before, especially from from the Governor Patterson in New York.

4:59 Speaker 2 So yeah, and so it’s just getting back to basics, making sure that Jersey City is affordable, so that the expenses don’t drive us out, making sure that kids have a good quality education so they can go on whether it’s college or to a job, and making sure that streets are safe and they’re well paved and they’re lit,

5:19 and so it’s just making sure that the city works and works well and getting back to those fundamentals, getting back to those basics. I mean, we don’t need a French museum. What we need is good quality schools, and what we need is a city that’s affordable. So part of that is is not saying yes to everything. You

5:37 can’t do what everybody wants to do. You have to live within your means.

5:44 Speaker 1 Well, Governor McGreevy, if I lived in Jersey City, I’ll be voting for you and definitely voting for you. And regardless if you become mayor of McGreevy, I’ll still call you governor.

5:56 Speaker 2 Thanks my friend, Thanks John, and give my love to Margo. Okay, take care all right, take care goubless. Thanks Sean,