5 Questions With A Jersey City Official: Rolando Lavarro

JERSEY CITY, NJ — Jersey City is the second-largest city in New Jersey and has a municipal government to match its size. The City Council consists of nine members who are meant to be the voice of the people of Jersey City. Aside from ward representatives, there are two councilors at-large.

Councilman Rolando Lavarro is one of Jersey City's councilman at-large, and he has served nearly 10 years on the council. Lavarro was sworn in on November 21, 2011, becoming the first Asian American in the history of Jersey City to serve on the Municipal Council. Lavarro is a lifelong Greenville resident and is chairperson of the Jersey City Municipal Alliance to Combat Alcoholism and Drug Abuse.

He discussed AAPI hate crimes, gun violence and the council's relationship with the Jersey City Board of Education with Patch.

Here are five questions and responses with Jersey City Councilman at-large Rolando Lavarro:

1. As the first Asian-American councilor in Jersey City, how do you think the city is handling the national rise in AAPI hate crimes and what more do you think could be done?

"While the nation has seen a rise in reports of AAPI hate crimes, Jersey City has not even as NYC across the river has seen significant increases. While the JCPD has been responsive in investigating the few reported AAPI hate crimes in 2021, the City could do more to address the general concern and fear amongst the AAPI community. A group of AAPI concerned residents and community leaders have formed a coalition – The JC AAPI Coalition. It is representative of Jersey City’s diverse Asian American communities, and this coalition has articulated seven asks of city officials. The City should recognize the voices of this coalition and work to empower and realize those asks.

Recently, one of the members of the coalition, hosted a self-defense training. It was very well attended, especially by Asian American women and seniors, demonstrating that safety concerns are very real and permeating the AAPI community. Those fears and frustrations should be recognized and given voice."

2. The last few months, Jersey City has been hit with back-to-back incidents of gun violence and homicides, what can the council do to find a solution?

"The City Council’s role is two-fold. First, there was a recent Jersey City Times report entitled While Press Says Otherwise, Crime Is Up Under Mayor Fulop. The City Council needs to hold the Administration and the Department of Public Safety for the reporting of crime data. We need to be a demand for transparent, comprehensive reports of crime data and trends, and not simply accept press releases. To that end, data should not be the final measure of public safety success. The community’s feeling of safety should be the measure of success. I raised this issue in a prior Public Safety budget hearing. It was never acknowledged or addressed.

Second, the most significant thing we can do is to empower the community in addressing the gun violence and to do so with our power of the purse. The City Council is responsible for the budget. We need to fund community driven solutions that tackle the gun violence and get to the root of the problem. We need to fund programs that help establish relationships between credible messengers, the mentors and the young men and women who are at risk of falling into a cycle of crime and gun violence; and we need to fund tangible, real pathways to get out of these situations, so they have real alternatives rather than what is being offered by the streets.

The recent mass shooting injured six and claimed the lives of two young men. These shootings aren’t a reflection of our policing per se. Rather it’s a reflection of our priorities as a City. We need to prioritize these young men and women as if they are children of our Jersey City family. We need to prioritize them because they are our family. We need to own them as our children, and the City Council can own them by putting our money where our mouth is."

3. As a lifelong Jersey City resident, what do you see as the council’s best option for increasing affordability in Jersey City and expanding homeownership?

"Last October, the City Council enacted an affordable housing ordinance that requires certain private developers to provide a paltry 5% of on-site affordable housing in their private developments. The ordinance was described by the Fair Share Housing Center as “the worst in the state of New Jersey.” So, we should begin there. That policy needs to be completely overhauled, demanding more affordable units, and stripping out all the loopholes for the developers to get out of providing on-site affordable units. Jersey City residents are being forced out as all sections of the city outside of Downtown are rapidly gentrifying. Our people deserve more from their city, and they will get more.

While the current Bayfront development will decidedly help in increasing affordability units in Jersey City, it’s not nearly enough to address our affordability crisis. We need to look to do more to increase affordability with future phases of the Bayfront development by increasing the number of minimum units for very low-, low- and moderate-income residents and by creating affordable ownership opportunities. We also need to look at using our limited public lands to build affordable housing rental and ownership opportunities. We also need to look to Newark to see what they are doing to keep residents in their city as they incentive development. They are doing several good things that we can adopt here in Jersey City."

4. How do you see the council’s role in its relationship with the Board of Education?

"I’ve said this on multiple occasions: The City Council must decide. Are going to own the school funding crisis or not?

By own, I’m not saying take the 'blame,' like we caused the school funding crisis. We did not. We all played some part in today’s school funding crisis. Rather, what I’m talking about, is about taking responsibility.

I have raised my hand and said I am responsible. I am my children’s keeper. I am part of the village.

Once we do that, then we must ask ourselves if our goal is to have a fully funded, adequacy school budget. If the goal is to have that, and that is my goal, then we need to look to align our city and school budgets so that we are jointly funding our shared priorities. I have openly advocated for a participatory, priority-based budgeting process which would align our priorities and ensure those priorities are funded via a very democratic and participative process. This may mean potential reductions in expenditures on both sides – City and schools – and it means finding new revenue sources. Last but not least, I’ll add that throughout this process, we must make sure we minimize the impact on Jersey City’s working families that are struggling today.

Practically speaking, for the 2021-2022 school year, the schools have adopted their budget with a tax increase from the school levy. If we are going to minimize the impact on Jersey City’s taxpayers, that means the city must reduce the levy on its side of the accounting ledger so that taxpayers aren’t hit as hard. The Mayor can do that with the introduction of his budget, and the City Council can do the same once we receive his budget. For my part, I intend to do everything I can to focus the 2021 budget on our immediate priorities and reducing the city tax levy to offset the increase in the school levy.

But what we can’t continue to do is to kick the proverbial can down the road. We need to take responsibility for a fully funded adequacy school budget and solve our structural school budget problem."

5. What is your goal as councilor at-large for 2021?

"My goal is to address each of the issues – AAPI hate crimes, crime and policing, affordability, and school funding – in 2021. My goal, leading into the election, will also be to make sure these issues and solutions are highlighted. I hope the voters will take notice and will hold the candidates to account. Despite what other officials will want everyone to believe, Jersey City is in crisis.

We have an affordable housing crisis that is pushing Jersey City’s working families out in droves.

We have a school funding crisis that has failed our children and their families.

We have a crisis of faith as residents from the Southside, who have long felt that their needs have been neglected but has worsened such that many simply feel ignored and disrespected by their City and its leadership.

My goal will be to raise the level of conversation on these issues, centering the people of Jersey City within that conversation, protecting Jersey City’s communities, and standing up for them."

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