The Jersey City Council mulled the possibility of utilizing $1 million for traffic safety upgrades during yesterday afternoon’s caucus session.
By Daniel Ulloa/Hudson County View
Ward E Councilman James Solomon explained he is sponsoring a resolution to move $1 million from the city’s surplus to the Department of Infrastructure to be used for traffic safety measures throughout the city, as HCV first reported.
“It’s non-biding. We’re asking for the administration, as well as the broader city, to … deploy significant resources to traffic safety improvements making sure our roads are safe and … deploy resources to traffic enforcement,” he noted.
“At a recent public meeting, the public safety director said he didn’t want to deploy officers to a specific traffic enforcement unit but he wanted all officers to do it. My concern is that in that system, if no one’s responsible no one gets it done.”
Ward C Councilman Rich Boggiano, a retired police detective, had a different take.
“ … Nothing is going to get enforced unless we increase the size of the police department and bring property leadership back… because what’s going on now is an absolute disgrace!” he exclaimed.
“The cops are so disgusted. They’ve had it … We’re down to 804 and I understand there’s 15 of them leaving. Something has to be done. I’m tired of listening to them complain to me!”
Boggiano has called for a police traffic enforcement division before, dating back to at least late last year.
“With this resolution where would the resources come from?” Council President Joyce Watterman asked.
“We had introduced a budget. Any amendments then could be made by the council. I know Councilman Solomon had requested a few changes,” noted Business Administrator John Metro.
“The budget director, also said that the capital, they have to work to find capital funding for the traffic engineering division … I don’t think we’ve received those details yet,” Solomon said.
Metro added that they want to finalize the capital appropriation ordinance at their next council meeting.
“Speak to the director and chief of the department, if we can get a break down of the divisions within the police department to show us how many officers they have,” interjected Councilman-at-Large Daniel Rivera.
“ … I know the director doesn’t like the motorcycle department but we have a few motorcycles there that can be fixed up.”
Metro replied that he would ask the police department for their table of organization.
“I’ll definitely ask them for their org chart,” Metro replied.
“Let’s cut it out. When I was in the north district, we had 160 some cops. We’re down to less than 80!” Boggiano exclaimed.
Ward A Councilwoman Denise Ridley also reiterated the point that Public Safety Director James Shea is against a new traffic enforcement division, with Solomon chiming in that Shea doesn’t believe they have the man power and that things are running smoothly without such a department.
“I don’t think that works. That’s what we’ve done for the last 12 years. Residents are pretty clear that’s not working,” he argued.
“Is it possible to expedite the study to reduce speed limits?” Ward D Councilman Yousef Saleh asked.
“It’s already being expedited. The mayor’s priority is to put forward that legislation … before the end of the year,” answered Department of Infrastructure Director Barkha Patel.
She noted they must coordinate with the New Jersey Department of Transportation to complete a study of the roadways, which she expects will be finished in a couple of months.
She said they would then submit the study to the NJDOT and they would get a response from them in order to introduce legislation to reduce the speed limit.
“All those delivery apps, they were supposed to give out the vests, what is the city supposed to enforce? Saleh asked.*
“The implementation is taking longer than we want, but it is moving forward. Uber and DoorDash have put the safety tests on their apps and will now be giving us regular updates,” Solomon explained.
“They handed out the vests …W e can start enforcing. They just have to wear reflective gear.”
Rivera further stated that the traffic division includes officers with radar guns to track speed limits, to it’s unrealistic to think that can happen with regular patrols.
“The study itself is about the speed limit themselves,” Patel added.
A short time later, Watterman asked if this funding is already in the budget, expressing concerns about staff potentially being cut.
“Any hard assets … that would all be qualified for capital. If we want to hire additional police staff, then we do have to shift money from somewhere else or raise taxes,” Metro replied.
The Jersey City Council convenes for their regular session on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 280 Grove St., and will also stream live on Microsoft Teams.
