Hudson County Commissioner Bill O’Dea (D-2), a candidate for Jersey City mayor, discussed a number of topics including rent receivership and new development at a well-attended affordable housing Town Hall last night.
By Daniel Ulloa/Hudson County View
O’Dea elaborated on points made in his affordable housing plan released in April, noting that the city needs 3,700 affordable housing units to meet growing demand. He also said landlords are gaming the system to get their units to be exempt from rent control.
“Those landlords that aren’t good, we have to go after them and one way to go after them is a program I’m gonna talk about tonight called rent receivership. It was a program that existed back in the 80s and 90s when I was a councilman and it was a damn good program,” he explained.
“We stepped into buildings, when violations went unaddressed, we took over the management of those buildings, we got those buildings fixed up. We made sure that rent control stayed in place and as soon as landlords knew that’s what existed, a lot of landlords knew that it was better for them to do the right thing and fix their violations.”
O’Dea recalled working with Joel Brooks, a Democratic Socialists of America member and Ward B council candidate Joel Brooks – who has traded endorsements with O’Dea – in January 2022 to get the head back on at a Duncan Avenue building, as HCV first reported.
The mayoral hopeful also recalled encountering broken elevators in recent memory, including at 630 Bergen Ave., 503 Garfield Ave. – who faced sanctions from the state – and 2555 John F. Kennedy Blvd.
Furthermore, O’Dea exclaimed that rental building unit rates should be more transparent, like the price of houses and buildings, as well as that new projects should aim for 20 percent affordable housing, as he said in April.
He also mentioned that he criticized anyone who would ask for less during an appearance of HCV Live & Uncut back in October, as well as that the city’s Landlord-Tenant Office needs more inspectors to be effective.
Later, O’Dea explained how affordable housing is defined by Average Median Income (AMI) and the different levels and that even more affordable workforce housing is often needed.
His workforce housing proposal, which he unveiled at an April press conference shortly after he released his affordable housing plan, calls for five to 10 percent workforce housing at new projects.
O’Dea further explained that more special housing is often needed for domestic violence victims, along with those with special needs.
“The city is not doing a great job about identifying vacant buildings,” he added, continuing that enforcing minor fines on vacant buildings incentivizes landlords to rent to tenants.
He acknowledged that the increase in the price of land makes it harder to build affordable housing, noting that only 30 percent of someone’s income is supposed to go towards housing in an ideal world.
O’Dea also believes that the city’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC) could loan developers money to build affordable housing units via a long-term repayment plan.
He noted he works for the Elizabeth EDC and has done many creative projects to increase affordable housing in the city.
“ … The JCRA just doesn’t have enough resources,” he declared.
During the question and answer session of the Town Hall, Charles Reeves stated he has had issues with finding affordable housing after spending time in prison, despite having a clean record for the past 15 years.
O’Dea suggested getting his record expunged to improve his chances, with his Ward A council candidate Pam Johnson, the executive director of the Hudson County Anti-Violence Coalition, stating that she could held him with that.
“Give him a chance. I would expect Steve would do that at the housing authority,” O’Dea said to applause.
Portside Towers East Tenant Association President Kevin Weller noted the idea of fining bad landlords would generate money, in the case of his landlord, Equity Residential, to the tune of $150 million.
O’Dea committed to enforcing fines against landlords if elected mayor, as long as they have a reasonable amount of time to address violations, something along the lines of 30 to 45 days.
He also pledged to do whatever was possible to fight unconscionable rent increases, which he defined as anything over 10 percent.
The majority of O’Dea’s council slate was on hand, with at-large candidates Kristen Zadroga Hart and Saundra Robinson Green present, as were Ward C hopeful Tom Zuppa and Ward E candidate Dan Israel.
The event was hosted at the Jersey City Education Association headquarters, located at 1600 John F. Kennedy Blvd. in Ward A.
The other declared candidates for mayor in the non-partisan November 4th race are former Gov. Jim McGreevey, Ward E Councilman James Solomon, Council President Joyce Watterman, and ex-Board of Education President Mussab Ali, and Police Officer Christina Freeman.
