Issue 138: The recap issue
(Wait, isn't every issue a recap issue? Whatever... also JC Fridays! Civic education! and more!)
Hello!
I ran out of time this week with way too much going on personally, so here’s a newsletter that’s more of a recap than anything else.
I heard from a lot of you last week that you would like coverage about the race for Congress in NJ-08. After getting your feedback, I reached out to the two “big” candidates in that race, Congressman Rob Menendez and Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, and they both enthusiastically agreed to answer a questionnaire on various issues (similar to what I did for the JCBOE candidates) that are important to voters in this district. I haven’t been able to reach the other candidates who are declared just yet, and I’ll continue to reach out to them and I really hope they will participate too. Since I want to time this for the filing deadline — aka, when we’ll know who is actually running (in terms of the other candidates) and who is just saying they’re gonna run — the post on all of this won’t be til April at the earliest. But I’m very happy to give you this update and let you know that we’ll have some input from Rob/Ravi at the very least, hopefully with some more folks also adding their voices.
I’ve reached out to various members of the community who are involved in local activism to get their feedback and ideas for questions for those candidates. If you have an issue that is especially concerning to you, hit “reply” to this email and let me know your thoughts.
For those of you wondering about the race in NJ-10 (JC’s other congressional district), the reason why you haven’t heard much about it is that Rep. Donald Payne is running unopposed so far (as far as I can tell — there may be some long-shot candidate that has been trying to get things together for a run, but there’s no serious challenger that has announced any intentions for his spot). Part of the issue with why Payne is probably not going anywhere until he decides he’s had enough of being in Congress is, of course, that he is deeply entrenched with the political machine. But also, check out where his voting record falls based on this chart from govtrack.us:
I’m not really wild about Payne being so propped up by the machine, but it’s hard for someone like me to get too angry about it, because he mostly votes the way I would want any congress member to — which is to say, he’s pretty left. I mean, compare him to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who mainstream media would have you believe is practically a Communist (she is not):
They’re not that far apart. That makes things hard for a challenger from the left to really poke too many holes in the guy’s career. (By the way, Govtrack is a great website with a lot of really useful information. They don’t yet have a chart for Rob Menendez’s voting record — he probably hasn’t been in Congress long enough for them to generate one, although they do have other links and information if you’d like to review his record — but meanwhile, if you’re watching the US Senate race and would like to know more about Andy Kim, it’s fascinating to see where he falls on the chart as opposed to someone who is often mocked online like Payne. I’ll have more about the Kim v Murphy race another time.)
Lastly, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Andy Kim will be in town and having a meet-and-greet with Ravi Bhalla. It’s at JC Theater Center on Barrow on Friday, Feb 23 at 6pm; RSVP here.
More politics, more races, more stuff… coming soon. I genuinely was not expecting things to ramp up quite this quickly!
Announcement, events, etc
St. Peter’s University will be hosting a series of workshops open to the public about taxes and local budgets. The one coming up this Thursday sounds spicy (well, if you find municipal budgets spicy — and I promise they can be!), and is hosted by friend-of-the-newsletter Brigid D’Souza, aka Civic Parent. Want to know why Jersey City taxes keep going up? Brigid has you covered. The lecture is at 7pm on Thursday and free, located at 2641 JFK Boulevard.
***
The Ali Leadership Institute (co-founded by former JCBOE President Mussab Ali) is looking for 16-22 year olds “passionate about helping others; civic-minded leaders who want to change their community from a grassroots level.” They’re building out their 2024 cohort, and you have until March 1 to apply. A small stipend is available, and participants gain experience interacting with “thought leaders in government” and “leadership skills.” Go to alileadership.com for more info
***
Tina Nalls of beloved Jersey City institution Community Treasures needs our help getting her truck fixed so that she can continue to do the pick ups and drop offs that her organization provides. Community Treasures provides clothing and household items to people in need, and without a working truck it’s really hard for them to continue with their mission. If you’re able, please consider a donation.
***
Friday, March 1st marks the return of “Jersey City’s premier quarterly arts festival,” JC Fridays. For more info and a listing of events, go here: https://www.jcfridays.com. A highlight of the event includes Mardi Gras at Moore’s Lounge(189 Monticello), 6pm-midnight, including jazz by Winard Harper.