Op-Ed: I ran against Jersey City Mayor Solomon. Now I’m cheering his team

In an editorial, Hudson County Commissioner Bill O’Dea (D-2), who ran for Jersey City mayor last year, explains why he is cheering for Mayor James Solomon’s team.

In New Jersey people are not used to seeing former political opponents (though I prefer to call us competitors) writing op-eds praising each other – especially in Hudson County where politics is often very personal.

James Solomon and I ran a hard-fought campaign for Mayor of Jersey City, and while we agreed on much in policy, we did not agree on everything.

I have spent four decades in Jersey City and Hudson County public service — as a Councilmember, as a County Commissioner, and as head of the Elizabeth Development Corporation — and I have seen too much to be easily impressed.

But what Mayor Solomon is doing right now deserves to be recognized. He is doing something this city has needed for a very long time. He is hiring the best people for the job, and he is doing it on the basis of competence, not politics.

For decades, Jersey City has too often filled critical leadership positions based on who you knew, who you grew up with, and who delivered for whose campaign.

We have hired people because they were owed a favor, or because their family had a name. And we have all paid the price.

We see it in our broken roads. We see it in our dirty streets. We see it in a $255 million budget deficit — a hole this big does not get dug overnight, and it does not get dug by accident.

It is the result of years of mismanagement by people who were never qualified for the job. And we see it in the corruption scandals that have made Jersey City and Hudson County a national punchline.

That cycle has to end. Mayor Solomon is ending it. The extent to which he set up an open transparent interview process is unprecedented during my tenure in Hudson County public service.

While is always the case, where you cannot make everyone happy, you cannot criticize a process that invited resumes and did multiple interviews for the top candidates before a final recommendation was made- that is refreshing and at this point in time needed in Jersey City.

Look at who he is bringing in. Linda Ivory-Green, the Director of Health and Human Services, has spent more than 30 years protecting the health of Jersey City residents.

She started with this city as a health educator, worked her way up through every level of the department, and was selected as one of just forty leaders nationwide for the Kresge Foundation’s Emerging Leaders in Public Health program.

She is a graduate of New Jersey City University. She is one of ours, and she earned this job a thousand times over.

Look at Acting Deputy Public Safety Director Loren Hart. Born and raised in Jersey City.

23 years in the Jersey City Fire Department. He came up through the ranks the hard way — firefighter, captain, battalion chief, deputy chief — and there is not a firehouse in this city where he is not respected.

Look at Peter Vincent, the new director of recreation and youth development.

A Jersey City native who has spent his career building up our young people — 14 years at New Jersey City University, current Director of Athletics at Centenary University, and a coach who has worked alongside Hall of Famers to develop generations of student-athletes. It’s leadership like Vincent’s that we want supporting our kids.

And then look at where Mayor Solomon has gone outside Jersey City government to find the talent and the new ideas we need.

Ruby Choi, the new business administrator, brings 16 years of senior leadership across four New York City mayoral administrations, most recently helping oversee a $7 billion technology portfolio for the City of New York.

James Leavy, the new director of public works, spent twenty-five years at the New York City Department of Sanitation, starting behind a sanitation truck all the way to running the Manhattan command — one of the most complex urban operations in the country.

Anthony Ambrose, the public safety director, is a nationally respected voice on safety because of his record lowering crime for the City of Newark.

These are serious people with impressive resumes, and the kind of leaders Jersey City should have been recruiting all along.

That is the standard Mayor Solomon is setting. Homegrown talent where it makes sense. Outside expertise where we need a fresh approach.

And a single, non-negotiable test for every hire: are you the most qualified person to deliver for the people of Jersey City?

We have a $255 million deficit to dig out of. We have city services to rebuild. We have public trust to restore. None of that gets done with the old playbook.

Mayor Solomon has built a great team. We should let them get to work.

— Bill O’Dea is a Hudson County Commissioner, the former Ward B Councilmember in Jersey City, and head of the Elizabeth Development Company. In 2025, he was a candidate for Mayor of Jersey City.