Jersey City Ward C Councilman Rich Boggiano and challenger Kevin Bing are again sparring over parking issues, while his opponent wants a one-on-one debate before the December 7th runoff.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“Kevin Bing knows that his plans will remove hundreds of parking spots from our neighborhoods, but now that he’s in the runoff he’s too scared to admit it,” Boggiano said in a statement.
“Everyone knows where I stand — I’ve always been against trading parking for bike lanes, and I always will be. Instead of making false attacks on my character, Kevin should answer these very simple, policy-based questions and come clean about his ‘war on cars’ policy agenda.”
On Friday, the incumbent said the runoff race “is a referendum on whether residents in Ward C want more bike lanes or more parking spots,” which Bing, in part, referred to as “Trump-style demagoguery” that shows a clear divide and conquer strategy.
The Boggiano campaign called the response a “laughable” one that should be embarrassing to Ward C voters.
Bing responded that his platform calls for advancing the Vision Zero traffic safety plan (which the councilman voted for) and that Boggiano’s claim that new bike lanes would eliminate 70 parking spaces isn’t rooted in any tangible facts.
” … It seems clear that Councilperson Boggiano wishes to brand himself as a single-issue candidate obsessing over parking and is ready to tell voters that he’s willing to maintain the status quo – even if it comes at the cost of street safety. It’s impossible for me to respond to Boggiano’s bogus claims because he cites no source on how adding bike lanes on Baldwin Ave would remove parking spaces,” he explained.
“Our platform isn’t exclusively based on adding bike lanes, but rather reimagining our streets so that seniors, children, and others aren’t killed and maimed because of the unsafe traffic design. Per the NJ State Police, twenty two people have died on Hudson County roads due to fatal crashes in 2021.”
Bing added that if Boggiano is inclined to get him on the record on Ward C issues, he’d agree to a debate he challenged him to earlier today, requesting this reporter to moderate.
“In the general election, Boggiano only participated in a debate with a moderator who endorsed him in 2017 and to nobody’s surprise endorsed him again in 2021,” he said.
“Boggiano did not attend the Journal Square Community Association’s candidate forum, despite having months of notice in advance. I hope the councilperson will not make the same decision and attend the debate I have invited him to today.”
In response, Boggiano campaign spokesman Phil Swibinski said not to expect a debate until Bing can take a clear position on bike lanes and parking spaces.
“Kevin Bing is a typical politician who won’t even answer simple questions about his plan to eliminate hundreds of parking spaces, so until he’s willing to be up front about his plan to trade parking spaces for bike lanes Councilman Boggiano is going to remain focused on serving his constituents and meeting voters where they are,” he said.
Bing is a classic out of touch white yuppie who thinks he knows what’s best for the rest of us.
It’s laughable to hear Boggiano ask these “policy-based questions” of Bing when he doesn’t even have a policy platform posted anywhere.
Bing: High level platform with links to detailed policy documents at https://www.bingforjc.com/issues
Boggiano: a photo and a copy-paste of his bio from the Jersey City website at https://www.stevenfulop.com/meet-rich
Ward C voters can clearly see who is really avoiding answering policy based questions. Rich won’t even agree to a fair debate!
Jersey City needs more police officer and less BIKE LANES. The bike lane nonsense is offensive and takes away parking in an already crowded city. And to be honest, these “bike lanes” aren’t even used.