Op-Ed: As moms, we know the importance of making Jersey City affordable

In an editorial, five Jersey City council candidates running on Ward E Councilman James Solomon’s ticket Mamta Singh, Denise Ridley, Lorena Loayza, Dawn Giambalvo, and Veronica Akaezuwa explain why being moms makes them understand affordability.

As mothers (and mothers-to-be), we know better than most that it’s not easy raising children, especially now.

Beyond the legitimate fears every parent has right now about the state of the world, raising a child in Jersey City comes with its unique concerns about how to weather double-digit rent hikes and untenable property tax hikes, even though we’re not getting our money back in city services or youth opportunities.

Trash piles up on our streets. Our roads are still unsafe for pedestrians. Green and community spaces are lacking.

Working families deserve so much more than what we’ve been getting.

That’s why we’re running for City Council on James Solomon’s slate, the only campaign where every single City Council ward candidate is a woman, where diversity is present, where none of our candidates take developer money, and where our platform is guided by a simple vision: We’re building a future for our children right here in Jersey City and we’re here to stay.

So what does that future look like?

In short, a more affordable city – one that makes generational investments in our children, ensuring our schools are fully funded and we have the opportunities we need to build businesses and communities.

It’s a city with safe streets and a public transit system that’s clean and reliable, so our kids can get to school and we can get to work cheaply and safely.

It’s a city where everyone pays their fair share to build a city for all of us, especially the corporations and developers that have gotten away with not paying what they owe in taxes to fund our schools.

To get there, we have to start with the basics: building homes that working families can afford. For too long, new construction in Jersey City has been built for profit, not for people. This is unacceptable.

Team Solomon’s housing plan will require developers to build affordable apartments under $1,500 and $1,000 a month, and build workforce housing for frontline workers like teachers, police officers, firefighters, and healthcare workers.

We also have to cap the predatory rent hikes we’ve seen from landlords. Every single one of us knows another family who have been forced to move because their landlords have hiked their rents to an unsustainable degree, often with barely more than 30 days’ notice.

That’s why we support Team Solomon’s push to treat unconscionable rent hikes as the violations they are, hold lawbreaking landlords accountable, and strengthen rent control protections to keep families from being priced out by corporate landlords.

But it’s not just tenants facing the affordability crisis. Even families who own their homes are being squeezed, with property taxes climbing even though city services aren’t improving.

Every year, we’re told there’s no money for better sanitation or safer streets, but there’s always money for tax breaks for luxury developers or contracts for the same vendors who are letting trash pile up.

The truth is, Jersey City has been spending our money recklessly and rewarding insiders while passing the costs to the rest of us, a hidden corruption tax that working families pay every single day.

James’s “Make Sh*t Work” plan lays out how to root out that corruption, cut waste, and finally deliver the basics we’ve already been paying for: clean streets, timely trash pickup, and responsive city services, including a 911 operator system that actually works.

Affordability also means investing in our kids directly. We’re so proud that Team Solomon has pledged 1,000 summer youth jobs to give teenagers meaningful work, mentorship, and income while keeping them safe and engaged.

These aren’t just jobs; they’re an investment in the next generation of Jersey City families, an investment that gives our children a strong foundation for a bright future.

As mothers, we’re running because Jersey City can, and must, do better.

Our children deserve so much more than developers and political insiders profiting off of the sale of their futures.

With James Solomon at the top of our ticket, we have a chance to choose something different: a city that actually works for the people who live here, where families can build stable lives, where our kids can see a future for themselves, and where every dollar we spend builds the kind of community we’d be proud to raise them in.

It’s time to put families and residents first, and that is exactly what we will do.