Arrogant NJ mayor pulls ‘do you know who I am?’

Steve Fulop is the mayor of New Jersey's second-largest city, Jersey City. He's been under fire for years after he canceled a reassessment in 2014 which would have had property owners with rising values paying a fair share of the tax burden.

More recently he's accused of putting an undue burden on homeowners in certain areas of Jersey City based on his cancelation of a revaluation of property assessments in 2014. Essentially, more affluent homeowners were paying far under what most would call a "fair share" of the burden and less affluent sections of the city were paying a lopsided percentage of the city revenue.

The mayor's fight on behalf of wealthy voters cost middle and working-class taxpayers more than $200 million in additional taxes according to one report. The taxpayers also footed the $4 million dollars legal bill for the Mayor's crusade. And as former state Sen. Mike Doherty reported, NJ taxpayers have sunk "billions" into Jersey City because they haven't paid their fair share.

Maybe part of the problem is the character of the guy in charge in Jersey City. Perhaps some of what the mayor saved in taxes enabled him to build a beach house, not in New Jersey, but in Rhode Island. Narraganset to be specific. A town where my family and I spent many summers visiting our family who lives throughout New England.

A little more than a year ago, Fulop picked a fight with the local government in Rhode Island to limit parking on the street in front of his fancy home. He was soundly rebuked by the town council as the parking situation on streets with mainly second homeowners helped boost the local economy.

Fulop even tried to pull the "do you know who I am?" stunt to get his way. This classic arrogant Jersey politico approach reflects poorly on him and New Jersey. Here's the pull quote from the article:

In an email to a Narragansett councilwoman, Fulop opened his email with the “unrelated point” that he met her brother, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, “via our NJ congressional delegation when I visited them in Washington as I currently serve as the Mayor of Jersey City, NJ.

Fulop is likely to run for governor in 2025. I'm thinkin' we can do a lot better.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Spadea. Any opinions expressed are Bill's own. Bill Spadea is on the air weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m., talkin’ Jersey, taking your calls at 1-800-283-1015.

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