The City of Jersey City has uploaded a job posting for the director of the division of housing preservation, signaling that Shyrone Richardson will be moving to a new role.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
” … For tens of thousands of our residents, especially renters, the difference between stable housing and displacement often comes down to whether the rules are actually enforced. That’s what this role is about,” Mayor James Solomon wrote on LinkedIn.
“The Director leads a team of roughly 25 staff responsible for rent control enforcement, housing code compliance, short-term rental regulation, lead paint remediation, and vacant property acquisition. Done well, this work keeps families in their homes, holds bad actors accountable, and makes Jersey City safer and more affordable.”
He added that the city is looking for someone with strong management skills and “deep experience in housing regulation or tenant protection,” also noting that the salary range is between $103,000 to $145,000, with full benefits included.
Richardson, who earns a salary of $103,000 according to public records, has had a strained relationship with the tenants of Portside Towers, who have complained for over three years that he does not enforce rent control rules against negligent landlords, dating back to his role as rent leveling director.
Portside Towers tenants have a pending $400 million federal lawsuit against their landlord, Equity Residential, alleging “a systematic pattern of fraudulent concealment” regarding rent control, as HCV first reported.
At a Jersey City Rent Protection Special Investigation Committee hearing earlier this month, Richardson said he has four employees, received about 1,500 landlord registrations last year, and that his office primarily deals with rent control issues.
“If it’s not subject to rent control, there’s not much we can do. We suggest they file an illegal rent petition,” Richardson said at the April 13th hearing in response to a question asking about the process for filing a complaint with his office.
He added that it’s the jurisdiction of the municipal prosecutor’s office to make sure that a landlord abates violations they were fined for.
City spokesman Nathaniel Styer noted that Richardson’s time as a municipal employee will continue once a new director is hired.
“Shyrone Richardson is staying in his role until the new hire takes over. He’s a valued member of city service and will continue on staff,” he said Wednesday evening.
About two weeks after declaring that the city was facing an over quarter billion dollar deficit, Solomon issued a citywide rent control audit via executive order, as well as calling for the maximum penalties for housing violations.
He recommitted to making these issues a priority as recently as Tuesday, when Jersey City Together member asked the mayor to recommit to campaign pledges around improving school funding and affordable housing.
Also on the campaign trail, Solomon pledged to make a deputy mayor for affordable housing, with Keshav Poddar announced as the deputy mayor for housing and economic development in January, both as HCV first reported.
“Shyrone Richardson is staying in his role until the new hire takes over. He’s a valued member of city service and will continue on staff,” he said Wednesday evening.
Even the Trump administration pushes that line. A result of our litigious society.