Jersey City’s eviction proposal will help lawyers but not solve the real problem | Opinion

Last week, the Jersey City Council introduced an ill-advised right-to-counsel ordinance that is the wrong answer to a real societal issue.

Instead of helping Jersey City residents, City Hall is in effect creating an employment program to hire lawyers. The council members sponsoring this ordinance have decided that employing lawyers is more important than the real issues facing Jersey City tenants. The city would be better served through provisions that create affordable housing, jobs, rental assistance, and easy access to local services.

At the start, it should be noted that there is an affordable housing ordinance already in place. By failing to adopt a budget in a timely manner, the city lost the ability to access funds otherwise available for the creation of more affordable housing units. Before trying to raise additional monies for affordable housing, the first questions should be: What happened with the money already raised, where did it go, and why did the city not take advantage of funds otherwise available before burdening property owners with a new fee?

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