Matsikoudis: I’m the only mayoral candidate looking forward to beating Fulop

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Former Jersey City Corporation Counsel William “Bill” Matsikoudis says he is different from other potential mayoral candidates because he is not “beholden” to Steven Fulop, unlike Assemblyman Raj Mukherji (D-33) and Jersey City Freeholder Bill O’ Dea (D-2).

[fve]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2jz31v7vvE[/fve]

Matsikoudis explained that his experience in public service is what really fueled him to run for mayor because he has not been “particularly happy with the way the city has been run for the past couple of years.”

He called Fulop’s appointments within his administration “atrocious” and criticized the mayor for having to dismiss six staff members who got caught up in scandals.

Matsikoudis also believes that most of the mayor’s appointments had political motives, mentioning former Police Chief Robert Cowan.

Cowan only held that position for 10 months and “this devastated the morale in the police department,” the former City Hall employee said.

But Matsikoudis pegged the reval as Fulop’s biggest example of a lack of leadership, since it caused “poor people, largely of color in the city’s less developed areas, to essentially subsidize the wealthier home owners in the city.”

Furthermore, he also does not agree with the way abatements have been given out by the city.

“An abatement should never be given unless it absolutely necessary to get a development to happen.”

He would like to see a law revision making abatements share proceeds with the schools which can be a good revenue source to prepare for the possible cutting of state funded school aid.

Matsikoudis predicts that he will be running against Fulop in 2017 because his “gubernatorial ambitions will run up on the rocks.”

He also said that he agrees with the only current declared gubernatorial candidate, Phil Murphy, filing an Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) complaint against Fulop, since it is obvious he is using his ELEC account – designated for a mayoral run – to campaign for statewide office.

While he referred to Mukherji and O’Dea as “friends,” he added that they are “beholden” to Fulop and have already publicly expressed that they will not seek the mayor’s seat if Fulop does.

A city spokeswoman did not return multiple inquiries seeking comment.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly mentioned current Jersey City Police Chief Philip Zacche.


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8 COMMENTS

  1. Bill, these abatements started en masse when? Oh right, while you were there. Wait, it gets better. Since you are a licensed lawyer, you should have known that in order to invoke tax exemption there must be blighted area declared. When did that happen? Looks like you are incompetent lawyer as well.

    The above should have been mentioned by miss Josue, but I don,t expect interns working out of mom,s basement to know subject they are writing about.

  2. Yah!!!…an articulate candidate who is extremely knowledgeable about the real issues. Speaking about the issues..I didn’t hear Bill Matsikoudis say about JCPD Chief Phil Zacche’s appointment being political? That was an excellent appointment by Mayor Fulop and shouldn’t be criticized. He has brought up the moral on the department. Fulop may have made a mistake with Cowan but he more than rectified it with the selection of Chief Zacche. But the reality is I didn’t hear Matsikoudis criticize Chief Zacche’s appointment in anyway. I would have to hear Bill Matsikoudis actually discuss that issue, which wasn’t done in this interview. Chief Zacche is the first person mention in the article but he was discussed in the interview. Based on the juxtaposition of Chief Zacche’s name in the article be the first appointment by Mayor Fulop, one would think that its prominence would indicate that at least a sound byte would exist of Matsikoudis’ position on Chief Zacche. I find that odd so say the least. I also find it difficult to believe that such a remark is attributed to Matsikoudis without providing the proof? Why don’t you play the portion of the interview where this occurs? Maybe because it isn’t true I’m thinking?.

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