October 29, 2025 • 37 mins
Local change starts where we live, and today’s conversation dives into the messy, human, and fixable parts of city life. We sit down with Kristen, a lifelong Jersey City educator and athletic director running at-large, to talk about trust, safety, and housing—three pressure points that shape daily life more than any national headline. She shares why she spoke up when the community was hurting, how empathy builds social glue, and what it takes to turn schools into neighborhood hubs after the last bell rings.
We unpack a broken relationship between City Hall and the Board of Education, then get specific about coordination that actually helps families: opening school gyms and arts rooms for evening programming, building better bridges for funding, and acknowledging the state aid gap that leaves districts like ours scrambling. Safety isn’t abstract either. A high school went 18 months without a crossing guard, and we explore simple fixes—smarter recruiting, retention, and full-time cross-training—that respect both budgets and lives. Parks and green spaces also get their due; in a dense city, they are essential infrastructure for health, youth opportunity, and community.
Housing anchors the back half of the conversation. Kristen favors incentives over hard mandates to bring more affordable and workforce units online without chilling development. We discuss how supply and demand influence rent, why a 2,700-unit deficit calls for urgency, and how to align public goals with private capital to put keys in doors faster. Running at-large lets her connect ward-level needs to citywide decisions, acting as a bridge for residents who don’t feel heard. And yes, we talk turnout: early voting is open, runoffs are likely, and every ballot counts more than you think. If you care about schools, safe streets, and a fair shot at staying in your neighborhood, this one’s for you.
If this conversation resonates, subscribe, share with a neighbor, and leave a quick review—it helps more Jersey City voters find their way to the polls.
Your hosts: @lynnhazan_ and @tonydoesknow
follow us on social @ltkpod!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:01):
Hey, welcome to the Lynn and Tony Know podcast.
I'm your host, Lynn.
SPEAKER_02 (00:04):
And I'm Tony.
We are both wellness coaches andmarried with kids.
SPEAKER_00 (00:07):
Join us as we talk about all things health,
wellness, relationships, lifehacks, parenting, and everything
in between unfiltered.
Thanks for listening and let'sget into it.
Welcome to the show.
SPEAKER_02 (00:19):
Welcome back.
We're back.
And not only that, we have ourfirst uh three-peat as a guest,
even though you're only gonnaget to see it once.
But the good news is it was agreat conversation last time.
I don't think we need to try andrecreate the last one.
We got we've got enough materialhere, I think, with this
particular candidate that we canvoted today.
We voted today, which is Sundayfor everyone listening.
SPEAKER_00 (00:42):
Yes, you go vote.
Early voting is is open.
There's no excuses.
It's the difference.
No line.
I mean, it's it's just yes, it'sthe same as voting, but there's
like no line and it's quicker,apparently.
SPEAKER_01 (00:53):
If you're going away on vacation, if you're worried
about the weather, if you're soexcited to vote for someone.
SPEAKER_00 (01:00):
Yeah, we we were happy to get it.
I wanted to get it over with,you know.
SPEAKER_02 (01:03):
For sure, for sure.
Yeah.
And we did.
We actually were just out on awalk and we're like, let's just
knock this out.
And so we did.
With all that being said, I'mgonna give you a second here to
adjust.
SPEAKER_00 (01:12):
Let me read the and then we're gonna introduce.
Today on the show, we're joinedby Kristen, a lifelong Jersey
City resident, educator, andcommunity advocate.
For more than 30 years, she'sbeen a proud part of the Jersey
City Public Schools where shenow serves as athletic director
at McNarrick Academic HighSchool.
Kristen comes from a strongunion family and has dedicated
her life to giving back, whetherthrough education, coaching, or
(01:33):
community leadership.
She's been recognized as aJersey City woman of action and
teacher of the year and hashelped spearhead projects like
the Caven Point Soccer FieldRenovation renovation.
A proud mom of three and a wifeof a Jersey City firefighter,
Kristen is passionate aboutcreating better schools,
expanding affordable housing,and building more opportunities
for youth across the city.
Welcome to the show, Kristen,for the third time.
(01:53):
Thank you very much.
SPEAKER_02 (01:54):
Well, well worth well worth the effort.
Um, I mean, it's so interestingthat this is what I I find so
fascinating about localelections.
Is two months ago somebody said,What's your opinion of Kristen's
droga heart?
I said, like, I have no idea.
I know she's running, I knowwhat slate she's on, and that's
it.
And fast forward, and at thispoint, Lynn and I are fans.
We're fans of, I mean, ifnothing else, the bio reads
(02:18):
exactly like somebody that Iwould want running for office in
a local election.
You you just seem like the typeof person that is is wants to do
it for the right reasons.
SPEAKER_00 (02:30):
And you know, I think it's known that we're
there's certain issues that arevery important to us, and you've
been very vocal about thoseissues, specifically the
graffiti, the free Palestinegraffiti that was at the uh you
know, it was Eno's Jones Park, Ibelieve.
Uh there was an in thatinstance, and you, you know, you
you posted on October 7th, andyou know, that kind of being
(02:53):
outspoken in a time that we livein today is especially for the
Jewish community in Jersey City,it means a lot.
And it meant a lot, you know, tome.
SPEAKER_02 (03:01):
Yeah, and and it's for us, I think at this point,
what it what it symbolizes thatthere is nothing for you to gain
politically by speaking out atthis point.
I mean, maybe never there was,but even two years later, even
less, there's even less to gainfor somebody to speak out in
this way.
For us to see that from someonethat we don't even know really
(03:21):
was meant meant something.
It meant a lot.
And uh I I would I would love tohear a little bit about why why
you felt compelled to do it.
SPEAKER_01 (03:29):
I think I'm I'm I'm not an expert in foreign policy
or foreign affairs or anythinglike that, but I know that we
have a um strong Jewishcommunity in Jersey City, a
strong Israeli community,wherever that that crossover is.
And I think that people werehurting.
It was atrocities and it wassomething that no one should
(03:52):
ever have to see or or feel orhear or experience.
And people here, even thoughwhat I say may not change
anything in on the nationallevel or global level, I think
people need to know that theyare heard and someone empathizes
with them and sympathizes withthem and just try to help bring
some sort of healing or ease,ease some of the healing,
(04:15):
because those are things thatcan never be fully healed, I
don't think.
But I think I hopefully I showedthat I can empathize and and
just trying to bring, like Isaid, like just healing it and
know that you're heard andyou're felt and and people are
here to support you.
SPEAKER_02 (04:30):
Well, it was it was warmly received by us and by our
community.
So I feel comfortable speakingon behalf of all of them and
saying thank you for that.
Let's get into it.
Let's get into some of the nutsand bolts of why we're here.
And one of the things one of thethings I'm not even sure we
spoke about before, uh, I wouldlike to understand maybe the
(04:51):
thought process for running atlarge versus running for a ward.
And if you had a choice ordon't, at large just seems way
more intense to me becauseyou're running for votes in
every ward.
So that seems harder uh in away, but I would love to hear
what your your thought processwas on that and what it's like.
SPEAKER_01 (05:12):
I think um living in Jersey City my whole life, 54
years, I've lived in, I grewmost of my life I lived in
between wards B and Ward A.
I lived in Ward F for a timewhen I was in when I was in high
school, my family lived there.
And I think just coaching andmentoring and and being a lot of
(05:32):
the things I did were citywide.
The teaching um of the schoolsthat I w were were at the most
between Renaissance and McNairdraw students from the whole
city.
It's not just like a districtschool, a neighbor neighborhood
school.
So I think I've formed thoserelationships with the students,
with the parents, with um peopleI've coached, just my mom being
(05:54):
a teacher up in the heights.
A lot of her students and theirchildren still live up in the
heights.
So I think citywide made sensefor me.
Although a lot of peopleknocking on the door and phone
calls, they're not really surewhat an at-large council person
does.
They understand mayor, theyunderstand their ward candidate,
but at large, I kind of had toexplain that role to them a
(06:17):
little more.
So that was, I wouldn't saychallenging.
It offered an opportunity for anadditional conversation, I
think.
Um, but I think citywide, itmade sense for me.
And for our our ticket, I thinkit made sense for the ticket as
a whole.
SPEAKER_02 (06:30):
Nice.
So maybe, maybe for I'll evenI'll even say for myself and
certainly for some of ourlisteners, I would imagine.
What what are the biggestdifferences between uh I guess
your role as a city councilmember when you're at large
versus when you're representinga ward?
Obviously, we know if yourepresent a ward, you represent
that ward specifically, youadvocate for that ward
(06:51):
specifically.
What what's the difference foryou as an at-large candidate in
your role?
SPEAKER_01 (06:56):
I think for me, it would be connecting with
community groups in each ward,deferring on certain things to
the ward representative becausethey they're basically the first
line of defense for people.
They the people know the personin the ward that they elected
directly.
So a lot of times they would goum specifically to that ward
(07:17):
person, but just being able toform relationships across the
ward citywide, understand issueswhere maybe someone downtown is
fighting a development that'shappening in ward A.
But my responsibility would beto the residents of ward A in
that circumstance, haveconversations with that ward um
council person, see what thecommunity around them are
(07:39):
saying, and then try to make aninformed decision, weighing the
city as a whole.
SPEAKER_02 (07:43):
Interesting.
Okay.
And I can also, I can also see abit of you can be a catch-all
for, for example, like ifsomebody knows you and in their
ward, the person that they knewor wanted to win didn't win,
then you would be maybe more oftheir point person on the
council if they had somethingthey wanted to convey where they
may not be as comfortable withwhoever is is representing them
(08:06):
at that time.
SPEAKER_01 (08:06):
Yeah, that's true too.
I mean, people maybe theycampaigned hard for or really
wanted a a a different person inone of the ward positions and
they don't they feel like theydon't have a connection with
their ward representative, thenany of the at-larges whoever,
and you don't even have to go toyour ward person because
everyone votes on on everythingtogether.
(08:28):
So if you have a relationshipwith a different ward person,
you can go to them.
I know when I've had issues,I've gone to specific city
council people who have helpedme.
I speak at meetings a lot.
And I'll always thank the peoplethat reach back out to me with
answers or responses.
And it's not all I live in wardA, it's not always the ward A
representative that I getanswers from.
SPEAKER_02 (08:50):
Yeah, we've we've had similar experiences reaching
out to different people fordifferent reasons across the
city council.
And like you said, everyone onthe city council has as much of
a vote, whether they're at largeor in a ward.
It's all this, it's all the samelevel of influence in that
regard.
Why are you running?
Why are you uh why now?
Why are you running?
What do you hope to influence inthis city?
(09:11):
What are you seeing that you maybe dissatisfied with and want to
you want to have your stamp on?
SPEAKER_01 (09:17):
I think there's a lot of things I'm dissatisfied
with.
I have been for a long time.
There's certain things that I'mhappy about that I would like to
see more of that maybe I couldfight for that as well.
I think two of the main issuesthat are very personal to me are
the negative relationship that'sbeen going on between City Hall
and the our public schools.
(09:38):
There have been, there's been nocoordination, communication, and
it's sort of been butting heads.
And I think that it definitelyneeds to stop.
There needs to be morecommunication and coordination
and just being together becauseat the end of the day, we're
we're for the Jersey Cityresidents, whether they're
pre-K3 or 100 years old.
(10:01):
We work together, we're payingtaxes that fund the city and the
public schools.
So I think those conversationsneed to be better.
And as the athletic director, asan athlete my whole life, as the
mom of athletes, our our parks,our open spaces, our green
spaces have been horriblyneglected and not where I think
(10:21):
they should be.
The city of this size and urbancities, children and adults need
those open spaces.
And that's something that I'mpassionate about and that I want
to help upgrade within our city.
SPEAKER_02 (10:33):
Help me understand the the disconnect between, as
you put it, between city halland the schools.
Because uh when I look at it asa you know regular citizen, you
have the the boe over here, youhave city government over here,
and I I don't know what the whatthe crossover is or what the
collaborative nature of that isor could be or should be.
(10:55):
Like just help me understandlike how that would work on a
like on a municipal level.
What does it look like for foryou all on city council or the
mayor to work with the BOE andhelp improve the schools?
SPEAKER_01 (11:06):
Well, I think we need a designated recreation
center in every ward.
Every part of the city studentsshould be able to walk to a
fully functional recreationcenter.
But on top of that, we have 40recreation centers already built
into our city with public schoolspaces where they should be open
after school for the gyms or thearts rooms or music classes,
(11:30):
whatever the case may be.
And not just for children.
It could be for adults, for yogaclasses, for language classes,
for coding classes, for how tobuild a resume, how to um
conduct an interview differentthings.
So I think the funding issue hasbeen huge at the state level,
where our Jersey City publicschools have been drastically,
(11:51):
drastically underfunded on thestate level.
And it falls on the city to fillin that funding gap.
And with the abatements we'vehad with pilots, historically,
the city has not put the schoolfunding aside, put the funding
into schools that wouldtypically come from a pilot.
And I think anytime you get atax bill, it's always, and the
(12:13):
school is the reason for our ourtaxes going up.
So I think if there was somesort of relationship for the
past decade, then the schoolscan't be a scapegoat for for why
our taxes go up.
So I think those are our two bigreasons, but just um the
taxpayers are the adults andtypically the the parents in the
(12:33):
district, and their childrenare, I mean, in the city, and
their children are the studentsin our public schools.
So there's a crossover to beginwith, quality of life around the
schools.
Um, what are we is it safe forour students to to walk to
school with crossing guards?
There's no crossing guards withbike lanes, with uh street
(12:54):
safety, with cars, with policeofficers.
There's so much c I thinkthere's so much crossover just
in in the general sense of theword that our students become
our future free Yes, and everyeverything you said made
complete sense.
SPEAKER_02 (13:08):
Uh I guess what I was looking to understand was uh
from a governmental level, whatkind of collaboration is there
from City Hall to the BoE?
Like are they are theycompletely individual entities?
They don't they don't really domuch together or or is there
more cooperation between thosetwo than than there than than I
(13:33):
think there is?
SPEAKER_01 (13:34):
There well right now there's zero coordination.
And I guess on a on a generalscale, governmental wise, there
they're two different governingbodies.
The the BOE is an unpaid electedposition.
The municipal government is isits own entity, they have their
own budget, their own employees,their own ladder in
(13:55):
infrastructure, whatever theword you want to use.
So technically there's no,they're two very separate
entities, but in a city or anykind of municipality, there
should be some sort of cohesivecoordination and not um like
aggression or pitting oneagainst the other.
Does that does that answer whatyou're talking about?
SPEAKER_02 (14:16):
Yeah, yeah, definitely.
I I I wasn't I wasn't too clearon if the city council or the
mayor's office or anybody hadany influence or any say over
the board of education or ifthey were legitimately
completely separate.
What you're saying is that rightnow, city government is using
the school system as thescapegoat for why the taxes are
going up.
When the reality is that thestate funding formula is such
(14:39):
that we kind of get screwed incompared in comparison to the
rest of the state, then thecity, in order to have properly
functioning schools, needs tomake up the difference.
And that's more so why taxes aregoing up, not because, not just
because the Board of Educationis doing something maliciously
wrong.
It's also it's it's three movingparts that aren't working all
(15:00):
together at the moment.
SPEAKER_01 (15:02):
For a specific example, if you look at the city
of Patterson, Patterson has alower population than Jersey
City.
But if you look at their schooldistrict, they have about the
same number of students that areum free or reduced lunch and
special education and Englishlanguage learners, which are the
driving factors that are in abudget, those students require
(15:23):
more resources.
We have about the same.
Patterson gets about$500 millionin state aid.
We get about$120 million instate aid.
So the city has that difference.
SPEAKER_02 (15:35):
Okay, okay.
So so that allocation is basedon the needs of the specific
type of students that eachdistrict has, essentially.
Because some yes.
Okay, okay.
I don't want to get too lost inthe weeds on this, but I I I
know it comes up a lot, and Iknow I don't necessarily I kind
of glaze over a little bit whenI start hearing about it, but at
the same time, I do want tounderstand it a little bit
(15:56):
better, and I think other peoplewould probably would too.
But we won't get too far in theweeds and the and the boe stuff.
But uh, yes, so when it doescome to schools and and school
safety, we I know we had thisconversation last time, but I I
do want to touch on it again.
And you had brought up that Iforget which school was it
McNair that didn't literallyhave zero crossing guards?
SPEAKER_01 (16:18):
For a year and a half we haven't had a single
crossing guard in the in thevicinity.
SPEAKER_02 (16:22):
Why is that?
SPEAKER_01 (16:23):
There's a shortage of crossing guards.
Um, and I guess the cityprioritizes possibly younger
schools, schools with youngerstudents in it.
And even though our s ourstudents bike to school, they
scooter to school, they walk toschool longer distances,
typically elementary schools orprimary schools, students get
(16:45):
walked to by their parents ordropped off in a car pretty
close to the door.
So I think it's a falsenarrative that high schools
don't need crossing guards orhave less of a need of crossing
guards.
And I would never say pull acrossing guard from PS3 because
then God forbid somethinghappens there.
But we need to do a better jobof hiring and retaining school
(17:07):
traffic guards because they'rethey're vital to the city and
they know the students, even notjust crossing the school, but
they get to know the students,they get to know the families,
and and they're just anotherresource that we can use.
Our crossing guard retired ayear and a half ago.
She knew most of the students byname.
Any of the parents that came,she knew if there was an issue,
(17:28):
she would come inside and say,Oh, that whatever, I I overheard
this, or I think this studentneeds needs some attention
today, or is the social workeraround?
Can can they talk to thatstudent?
So I think they're they're notjust how like putting up a stop
sign and crossing the school.
They're a true resource to toour schools.
SPEAKER_02 (17:46):
That's a lovely story.
I want to I want to meet thiscrossing guard.
SPEAKER_01 (17:49):
Well, she retired, so I I wish she was still there,
but she I hope she's enjoyingher retirement.
SPEAKER_02 (17:54):
This doesn't seem like something that would be
would require that muchoverhead.
Like I this doesn't of all theissues that we have in Jersey
City, of which there are many,and some of them f I find to be
very expensive, probably.
This one does not seem like anexpensive problem.
So I'm having troubleunderstanding why it wouldn't be
relatively easy to solve.
SPEAKER_01 (18:12):
What it are we just not trying to hire people or
we're not a the the number, Ithink it was, I forget if it was
like 150, 175, we're budgetedfor.
So it has nothing to do with themoney wasn't set aside.
There, I don't know if if the umoutreach isn't isn't good or
it's not a um desirable job forsomeone.
(18:35):
I think we need to figure outhow to make it a full-time
position so that people, yeah, Iwork three hours in the morning
and then two hours in theafternoon and I have all this
space in between.
We need to figure out how tobetter utilize the um the school
traffic guard safety guard sothat they can maybe make it a
full-time job.
It's ideal for maybe someonewho's older and retired from
(18:57):
another job or in between jobsor um what whatever the case may
be.
There's certain people who maybe more drawn to it, but I think
we need to figure out a way tohire the full amount that we
need.
SPEAKER_02 (19:10):
Yeah.
Yeah, this seems like somethingthat could be solved pretty
pretty easily, even if it wasjust a matter of cross-training.
I mean, you cross-train crossingguards into that was fun.
You cross-train them intosomething else that could fill
out the rest of the day.
Outside of outside of the schoolsystems and outside of the
public safety aspect, what elseare you seeing in Jersey City
that you would want to give yourattention to if you're elected?
SPEAKER_01 (19:33):
I mean, the the easy one that everyone has an issue
with is affordability.
People are just being pricedout, the rents are are too high,
there's not enough affordableunits, 2,700 units short in
Jersey City just to meet thebare minimum of what's needed
with our um population.
Um that that number is probablya little old where people have
(19:56):
lost jobs, prices have gone evenhigher, more people are being
pushed out.
So we probably actually needmore than than what the the last
audit said.
And I think going back to publicsafety, specifically our public
safety department right now onlyhas one public safety director
who oversees the policedepartment and the fire
department.
I would like to see that splitso that there is a director of
(20:19):
the police department and adirector of the fire department,
so they both get the attentionand the equipment and the
resources that they need to besuccessful.
SPEAKER_02 (20:28):
Yeah, that that seems like a lot to oversee for
for one person.
The affordability thing.
So you said we're we're 2,700units short.
How do we catch up?
SPEAKER_01 (20:39):
We need to incentivize putting affordable
units into um either existing ornew newer developments we should
require.
But also if you simply requireaffordable housing for the
develop, the developers aren'tin it for the goodness out of
their heart.
It's their business.
They're trying to make money.
(20:59):
And if they don't break even ormake money on a development,
they're not going to do it.
It won't make sense to them.
So we have to figure out ways tohelp them with funding through
the city or the state orfederal, federal grants
incentivized.
There's um aspire credits that,and I'm not a by no means an
affordable housing guru.
I've learned so much on thiscampaign.
(21:21):
But I think there's ways that itmakes sense to require, not not
necessarily require, butincentivize to a point where
developers now want to put thataffordable housing in, where
they're still bringingaffordable units or workforce
housing units, but they're notlosing money.
They're actually making the sameamount or more money than they
would have if it was all luxury,luxury units.
SPEAKER_02 (21:44):
Got it.
Yes.
So you are you are in favor ofworking with the carrot rather
than the stick, it sounds like,which I listen, I full
disclosure, I sell condobuildings every day.
That's that's what I do.
I do I not in Jersey City atall, but in Brooklyn, that's
that's what I do every day.
And I can assure you they're init for the profit, but they can
(22:05):
be incentivized to do just aboutanything like the rest of us.
My concern with a lot of thelanguage around this election
has been what if what do we doif we literally elect somebody
that alienates the entireworking class of developers and
none of them want to touch ourcity at all?
So I'm glad to hear you put itlike you're putting it.
And and I obviously you're not,as you said, an expert on on
(22:27):
affordable housing, but evenjust the mindset of, you know,
we can work with people.
They're people too.
They'll if we work with them ina way that you know isn't
patronizing or alienating, thenwe can probably get some
something done, especially whenyou said we're at almost a
3,000, maybe even more unitdeficit as is.
Like we're gonna need people tobuild these units.
(22:48):
So I I really look forward to,if nothing else, just out of
sheer curiosity, what kind ofwhat the next administration,
whoever it is, tackles thisissue, because this is not just
an issue in Jersey City,obviously.
This is an issue in a lot ofparts of the country.
So I I believe in a lot of waysthat market supply and demand
dictate price.
(23:09):
Like bottom line, supply anddemand dictate price.
The more supply, the less demandand price goes down.
Like that's how it goes.
That's how it goes across theriver when when I'm working.
Like that's just the nature ofthe beast.
Nobody's going to, I think ifyou're if you're positioning
yourself as somebody that's justgoing to lower rents, I don't
find that realistic at all.
I think you can you can flattenthe curve at best.
(23:32):
You can flatten it out.
It's it's just like promisingwe're gonna cut your taxes.
It's like, no, probably not.
You're probably not.
There's that's not realistic.
And I I want to live in areality where we're spoken to in
in terms that actually makesense and and are attainable,
rather than saying we're gonnacut cut your taxes and cut your
rent, and your utility bills aregonna go all the way back down
(23:53):
to where they're it's like, no,none of that's real.
Like we can't promise thesethings and not be able to back
any of it up.
And I like I like that you'rethinking of it in in terms of
more of a a collaborative effortand from a place of that's
rooted in reality.
Babe, I'm sorry I'm talking allover you.
I know you're on baby duty alittle bit, but it's your show.
Is it?
SPEAKER_00 (24:12):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (24:13):
You don't you wanna Politics is your thing.
SPEAKER_00 (24:15):
I'm listening.
SPEAKER_02 (24:17):
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (24:17):
I'm being an informed voter.
You're you're I already voted,but we already voted.
SPEAKER_02 (24:22):
We already voted because early voting has
started.
It started yesterday or two daysago.
SPEAKER_01 (24:28):
Yeah.
And it goes for 10 days.
So there's eight days left ofearly voting.
Then Monday, the third, there'sno voting, and then November 4th
is election day.
SPEAKER_00 (24:40):
Cool.
So there's no excuses.
No excuses.
I say I say this all the time.
If you sit on your keyboard andtroll and complain on the
internet and you don't vote,then there's no respect for you.
SPEAKER_02 (24:51):
No, you don't get to do that.
SPEAKER_00 (24:52):
You need to go vote.
SPEAKER_02 (24:53):
And by the time this is out, there'll probably be
five days of early voting left,six days, six days of early
voting left, whenever.
SPEAKER_00 (24:59):
You know, if you go early voting, there's no lines,
you can write in the poll.
SPEAKER_01 (25:03):
You can go anywhere in the county.
You don't even have to.
If you work in Union City, youcan but live in Jersey.
SPEAKER_02 (25:08):
County.
SPEAKER_01 (25:09):
Early voting, you can vote in anywhere, any of the
county.
And they basically doubled thenumber of early voting sites.
There's so many in Jersey City.
They're in every every cell.
There's no excuse.
SPEAKER_02 (25:22):
That's amazing.
Great.
SPEAKER_00 (25:23):
And you get to talk to the fun polling ladies.
What do they call them?
Polsters?
SPEAKER_02 (25:28):
Poll workers.
Pull workers.
Pull workers.
I sound like a stripper.
SPEAKER_01 (25:31):
Yeah, in the very most innocent sense of the way.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (25:34):
Oh wow.
SPEAKER_01 (25:35):
The poll were they're so sweet.
SPEAKER_02 (25:37):
They're the best.
It's like it feels like the mostold timey.
Like I'm back in like the 90s orsomething.
Like in the world.
SPEAKER_01 (25:43):
Just say the 90s was the old times.
SPEAKER_02 (25:45):
The 90s was 35 years ago.
It is now.
No, well, it's like four yearsago.
I hear you.
I hear you.
I hear you.
And I'm I, you know, I'm notgonna be disrespectful, but like
I I know I tell people I'm 40years old, and I'm like, that
doesn't make sense to me.
I don't understand how that cameto be, but here we are, and the
90s was 35 years ago.
(26:07):
Yeah.
And wood paneling was awesome.
But yeah, no, the poll the pollworkers are absolutely lovely up
here in the heights.
And let me ask you this.
This is completely unrelated toyour campaign.
This is elections in general.
We're walking in.
Obviously, there are 17 peopleon each corner of the of the
park uh campaigning.
And I'm just it seems like anodd deployment of campaign
(26:30):
capital because I I can'timagine the person, and and it
always happens, so there must bedata that backs up this spend.
But like somebody's walking into go to the polls and they're
like, I don't know yet.
And if one of these people talksto me, I will change my mind.
Like that scenario seems odd.
SPEAKER_01 (26:48):
In a governor gubernatorial election or a
presidential election, peoplewant to go in and vote for the
top office, and maybe theydidn't do research on the other
ones.
So they'll grab a piece ofliterature and be like, all
right, that's the last personthat talked to me, so I'll vote
for those.
But I think typically if we'regoing into early vote, you're
(27:09):
informed and you're you'veeducated yourself on the
candidates and you kind of knowwho you're voting for across the
board.
SPEAKER_00 (27:15):
Yeah, we were like ambushed with so many people.
SPEAKER_02 (27:18):
It's a bit overwhelming, but at the same
time, it's like I somebody mustbe stopping and talking and
making up their mind right onthe spot, or else.
SPEAKER_00 (27:26):
But it could also turn a voter away.
Like if it's like and reallyinvasive, like I could see it
could give you like the ick,like you know, they're chasing
my vote.
Like that's weird.
Like why, you know?
SPEAKER_02 (27:36):
Yeah, I could see that.
SPEAKER_00 (27:37):
It's like a creepy d dude you went on a date with and
like he just keeps calling youtype thing, you know?
SPEAKER_02 (27:42):
Oh no, the creepy dude's not working at the end.
This is the meta.
Okay, an analogy.
It's an analogy.
Okay, got it, got it.
SPEAKER_00 (27:49):
So you're on Bill O'Day's ticket.
Why?
What's the like backgroundstory?
SPEAKER_01 (27:54):
A year and a half ago, he will tell you his home
base is basically the MissAmerica Diner.
So a year and a half ago, heasked me to meet him for um a
cup of coffee.
So I met him in, I don't know,it was nine o'clock in the
morning, maybe, um, at the startof the summer.
And I thought he had an issue.
He wanted to talk to mesomething about the schools or
(28:16):
education or whatever.
And he actually asked me to torun, to consider running on his
his ticket.
And he's he said specifically atlarge.
He's like, I know all the thingyou've done, the things you've
done throughout the whole city,and I would really appreciate
and be honored if you would weif you would be on my ticket at
large.
And I was so I was taken back alittle bit, and I told him I
(28:39):
would have to go home and talkto my husband about it, talk to
my family, and see if it was theright time and the right space
for us.
And I think it just bill as awhole.
Growing up, I was a huge Mr.
Rogers fan.
And there was an episode wherehe was talking.
There was a little boy that wasscared, and he said his mom
(29:00):
would always tell him, if youever get scared and if you get
lost, just look for the helpersbecause they're they'll be there
to help you to to get you tosafety or or help you figure out
whatever your issue is.
And I feel like that's Bill.
I think he's a helper.
Anyone you talk to, wherever youare, whether it's them, their
their mom, their sister, theircousin, their neighbor, he has
(29:21):
helped someone in everyneighborhood of this this city.
And I completely respect that.
And it I'm rooted in in umservice, I guess you would say,
where I can um appreciate thefact that he he will go out of
his way.
He gives out his his personalcell phone number.
People call him at two, three inthe morning.
(29:42):
I just got kicked out, or it's adomestic violence issue, and he
will put them up in a hoteluntil they get safety, he will
get them the resources theyneed.
And and I think that's just thekind of person that I want to
work with and and work for.
Great.
SPEAKER_02 (29:55):
That's a good answer.
SPEAKER_01 (29:56):
Yeah, it's a great answer.
SPEAKER_02 (29:56):
That's a good answer.
SPEAKER_01 (29:57):
Thank you.
SPEAKER_02 (29:58):
No, I that's a that's a very glowing.
review.
I don't know him.
Like I I I don't know him atall.
So I did I I've been curious.
SPEAKER_00 (30:04):
Philo Day's like old school Hudson County.
I know he I know he's you knowhe's always he's been you know
in politics for a very longtime.
Kind of surprised that he's onlyrunning now for mayor but he's
always been around always on thescene.
He uh a comedian he's an actorright like he's like super funny
and talented.
SPEAKER_01 (30:21):
Yeah yeah really yeah yeah he's really funny he's
acted on stage yeah nice heloves to talk about his acting
acting uh experience so yeah funfact I'm gonna check out his
IMDB after this maybe we'll seehim in the zombie opera next
year.
SPEAKER_00 (30:36):
So how are you planning on balancing you know I
know this is a qu people hatethis question because it's like
why are you asking like onlywomen get to ask this question.
Well her kids are grown stillthough you're you have a family
and you have a full-time joblike it's a lot.
SPEAKER_02 (30:49):
There's a lot.
SPEAKER_01 (30:50):
How am I gonna balance it?
No sleep probably but I feellike a lot of the stuff I do now
in the city would just beenhanced by by being on the
council.
There's certain things that Igive a lot of time to but I
can't necessarily make decisionson or and it might even be less
time on certain tasks because II would know the the doors to
(31:11):
open or the peop discussions tohave or resolutions to propose
where it can make some of thethings I've been fighting for a
lot easier.
Take the the Katin Memorial Idon't know if you remember the
the fight for years on thewaterfront statue.
Yeah yeah I was one of thepetitioners that started we got
the petitions we would haveforced a an election to bring
(31:35):
that to a referendum and I can'ttell you the hundreds of hours I
spent doing that where if I wason the city council I may have
been able to have thoseconversations where that whole
aspect would have been over andand didn't need to come to that
point.
So I think um I've never beenmuch of a sleeper.
(31:56):
So this is just something elsethat I would be able to um give
like my full time because I'veso how many hours a night do you
get I'm big on the hours if I'mlucky maybe four.
SPEAKER_00 (32:09):
Wow yeah how do you function?
SPEAKER_01 (32:11):
On on a shoestring basically sometimes we gotta get
to the case my body that's whatit's used to.
I I'm an insomniac and some ofmy best work and my best ideas
come at two three in the morningand then my husband's alarm goes
off at four o'clock so he canget up and go to the gym and
then I'm up anyway.
SPEAKER_02 (32:30):
So brutal actually you know what that for I can't
even imagine.
SPEAKER_00 (32:34):
I'm a newborn and I can't imagine yeah but I've I
struggled like with for a wholeyear I was only getting like
three four hours but I was thatI was going absolutely crazy.
SPEAKER_01 (32:43):
Yeah she's running for biologically your your body
just gets what it needs or ordoesn't.
SPEAKER_00 (32:49):
I'm not saying it's healthy and I'm not recommending
it but this is my lifestyle I Ineed my sleep I take I take
medication so that I could sleepI don't care I'm not ashamed of
it.
SPEAKER_02 (32:58):
But I there is a test that I keep getting
targeted for on Facebook whereit says you may not need to get
up at 5 a.m you may need to getup at like there's your perfect
time and also you might possiblybe a genius at 2 a.m if you go
to bed at 3 like this crazystuff to justify whatever sleep
patterns you have going on butnow I sort of feel like I want
to take it and see where I land.
SPEAKER_00 (33:18):
You need a lot of sleep.
SPEAKER_02 (33:19):
It's true.
SPEAKER_00 (33:20):
I get it too Tony Tony needs a lot of sleep.
SPEAKER_02 (33:22):
Absolutely got a lot to got a lot to take care of
around here.
I had one question and it hascompletely escaped me at the
moment.
SPEAKER_00 (33:30):
I can't help you I don't read minds.
SPEAKER_02 (33:32):
Well listen ultimately we are so grateful
that you have given us the timeagain we are looking forward to
I'm honestly just lookingforward to a conclusion in all
of this.
I actually just saw you uh theHudson County Chronicles Bruce
wrote a uh a very nice articleabout you and then he's
predicting um a six personrunoff for at large is that does
(33:53):
that sound right to you?
SPEAKER_01 (33:54):
Yeah I can't imagine it's not going to be because the
way there's 15 people running atlarge and unless what the top
person gets 50% of the vote thenthey bring the next two people
with them and I don't see a aworld where one person out of 15
is going to get 50% vote.
(34:16):
My goal right now how I'mmentally preparing myself is I'm
trying to be top six at thispoint.
SPEAKER_02 (34:22):
Yeah.
And the runoffs how long howlong after the the first vote
are the runoffs months December2nd would be the runoff so we
have to deal with another monthof yeah of this nonsense no I'm
done across the board everyoneI'm deleting I'm deleting in the
internet like I am done afterNovember.
SPEAKER_01 (34:40):
And I can't imagine there's so many candidates from
mayor to all of the at-largestto every ward that I I don't
know if any of them will will befirst ballot.
SPEAKER_02 (34:51):
I I'm very interested well A I think the
problem is getting people tovote in the runoff oh the runoff
sounds crazy because like youcan win a runoff vote with a
total like I saw a statisticfrom a couple years ago where
the runoff pulled like 3,000voters like 3,000 votes are cast
which is that's nothing that's athat's a percent and a half or
(35:13):
two whatever of the totalpopulation it's just nuts.
SPEAKER_01 (35:16):
Yeah people people are are done because like I said
a lot of people go for the topof the the ballot which would be
governor that would be decidedthe sheriff the assembly the
school board those would all bedecided on November 4th and it's
just I guess trying to keep yoursupporters engaged and informed
and letting people know thatthere is a runoff because it's
(35:40):
it's right after ThanksgivingDecember.
So it's gonna be cold out it'snot it's not gonna be an easy
task but it's hopefully peopleare engaged and they they come
back out for whoever theysupport so that it's not doesn't
come down to a um 0.8% of thevote to like 0.5% of the vote.
SPEAKER_02 (36:00):
It hopefully it's representative of of what the
exactly the initial intentionswere of the whole yeah which is
tough but I do believe justbased on there seems to be more
engagement in voters maybe onboth sides of the river right
now as far as turnout goes Ithink there's an uptick in
interest.
(36:20):
I think the last presidentialelections certainly got people
paying attention if nothing elseone way or the other whether
they liked it or hated itwhatever.
And I think that what'shappening on both sides of the
river is is making more peoplepay attention and I also don't I
like you said I don't seeanybody first ballot 50% maybe
one race I don't know.
(36:40):
So people hopefully stay engagedbecause none of their choices
are are automatically throughand that'll keep that'll keep
them coming back I hope.
But if it does Lynn willprobably have quit the political
side of the podcast by then andI'll have to do it solo if I
keep it absolutely I've reachedmy my limit.
She's reached her limit yeahwell I appreciate you going on
(37:01):
this with course it's important.
SPEAKER_00 (37:03):
Yeah and we appreciate your time thank you
so much and again sorry for hertechnical difficulties but we we
did it we did it we did it rollwith the punches thank you for
the opportunity thank you forthe conversation we wish you the
best of luck yes thank you yougot this of the luck with the
with the new baby thank you somuch
Hey, welcome to the Lynn and Tony Know podcast.
I'm your host, Lynn.
SPEAKER_02 (00:04):
And I'm Tony.
We are both wellness coaches andmarried with kids.
SPEAKER_00 (00:07):
Join us as we talk about all things health,
wellness, relationships, lifehacks, parenting, and everything
in between unfiltered.
Thanks for listening and let'sget into it.
Welcome to the show.
SPEAKER_02 (00:19):
Welcome back.
We're back.
And not only that, we have ourfirst uh three-peat as a guest,
even though you're only gonnaget to see it once.
But the good news is it was agreat conversation last time.
I don't think we need to try andrecreate the last one.
We got we've got enough materialhere, I think, with this
particular candidate that we canvoted today.
We voted today, which is Sundayfor everyone listening.
SPEAKER_00 (00:42):
Yes, you go vote.
Early voting is is open.
There's no excuses.
It's the difference.
No line.
I mean, it's it's just yes, it'sthe same as voting, but there's
like no line and it's quicker,apparently.
SPEAKER_01 (00:53):
If you're going away on vacation, if you're worried
about the weather, if you're soexcited to vote for someone.
SPEAKER_00 (01:00):
Yeah, we we were happy to get it.
I wanted to get it over with,you know.
SPEAKER_02 (01:03):
For sure, for sure.
Yeah.
And we did.
We actually were just out on awalk and we're like, let's just
knock this out.
And so we did.
With all that being said, I'mgonna give you a second here to
adjust.
SPEAKER_00 (01:12):
Let me read the and then we're gonna introduce.
Today on the show, we're joinedby Kristen, a lifelong Jersey
City resident, educator, andcommunity advocate.
For more than 30 years, she'sbeen a proud part of the Jersey
City Public Schools where shenow serves as athletic director
at McNarrick Academic HighSchool.
Kristen comes from a strongunion family and has dedicated
her life to giving back, whetherthrough education, coaching, or
(01:33):
community leadership.
She's been recognized as aJersey City woman of action and
teacher of the year and hashelped spearhead projects like
the Caven Point Soccer FieldRenovation renovation.
A proud mom of three and a wifeof a Jersey City firefighter,
Kristen is passionate aboutcreating better schools,
expanding affordable housing,and building more opportunities
for youth across the city.
Welcome to the show, Kristen,for the third time.
(01:53):
Thank you very much.
SPEAKER_02 (01:54):
Well, well worth well worth the effort.
Um, I mean, it's so interestingthat this is what I I find so
fascinating about localelections.
Is two months ago somebody said,What's your opinion of Kristen's
droga heart?
I said, like, I have no idea.
I know she's running, I knowwhat slate she's on, and that's
it.
And fast forward, and at thispoint, Lynn and I are fans.
We're fans of, I mean, ifnothing else, the bio reads
(02:18):
exactly like somebody that Iwould want running for office in
a local election.
You you just seem like the typeof person that is is wants to do
it for the right reasons.
SPEAKER_00 (02:30):
And you know, I think it's known that we're
there's certain issues that arevery important to us, and you've
been very vocal about thoseissues, specifically the
graffiti, the free Palestinegraffiti that was at the uh you
know, it was Eno's Jones Park, Ibelieve.
Uh there was an in thatinstance, and you, you know, you
you posted on October 7th, andyou know, that kind of being
(02:53):
outspoken in a time that we livein today is especially for the
Jewish community in Jersey City,it means a lot.
And it meant a lot, you know, tome.
SPEAKER_02 (03:01):
Yeah, and and it's for us, I think at this point,
what it what it symbolizes thatthere is nothing for you to gain
politically by speaking out atthis point.
I mean, maybe never there was,but even two years later, even
less, there's even less to gainfor somebody to speak out in
this way.
For us to see that from someonethat we don't even know really
(03:21):
was meant meant something.
It meant a lot.
And uh I I would I would love tohear a little bit about why why
you felt compelled to do it.
SPEAKER_01 (03:29):
I think I'm I'm I'm not an expert in foreign policy
or foreign affairs or anythinglike that, but I know that we
have a um strong Jewishcommunity in Jersey City, a
strong Israeli community,wherever that that crossover is.
And I think that people werehurting.
It was atrocities and it wassomething that no one should
(03:52):
ever have to see or or feel orhear or experience.
And people here, even thoughwhat I say may not change
anything in on the nationallevel or global level, I think
people need to know that theyare heard and someone empathizes
with them and sympathizes withthem and just try to help bring
some sort of healing or ease,ease some of the healing,
(04:15):
because those are things thatcan never be fully healed, I
don't think.
But I think I hopefully I showedthat I can empathize and and
just trying to bring, like Isaid, like just healing it and
know that you're heard andyou're felt and and people are
here to support you.
SPEAKER_02 (04:30):
Well, it was it was warmly received by us and by our
community.
So I feel comfortable speakingon behalf of all of them and
saying thank you for that.
Let's get into it.
Let's get into some of the nutsand bolts of why we're here.
And one of the things one of thethings I'm not even sure we
spoke about before, uh, I wouldlike to understand maybe the
(04:51):
thought process for running atlarge versus running for a ward.
And if you had a choice ordon't, at large just seems way
more intense to me becauseyou're running for votes in
every ward.
So that seems harder uh in away, but I would love to hear
what your your thought processwas on that and what it's like.
SPEAKER_01 (05:12):
I think um living in Jersey City my whole life, 54
years, I've lived in, I grewmost of my life I lived in
between wards B and Ward A.
I lived in Ward F for a timewhen I was in when I was in high
school, my family lived there.
And I think just coaching andmentoring and and being a lot of
(05:32):
the things I did were citywide.
The teaching um of the schoolsthat I w were were at the most
between Renaissance and McNairdraw students from the whole
city.
It's not just like a districtschool, a neighbor neighborhood
school.
So I think I've formed thoserelationships with the students,
with the parents, with um peopleI've coached, just my mom being
(05:54):
a teacher up in the heights.
A lot of her students and theirchildren still live up in the
heights.
So I think citywide made sensefor me.
Although a lot of peopleknocking on the door and phone
calls, they're not really surewhat an at-large council person
does.
They understand mayor, theyunderstand their ward candidate,
but at large, I kind of had toexplain that role to them a
(06:17):
little more.
So that was, I wouldn't saychallenging.
It offered an opportunity for anadditional conversation, I
think.
Um, but I think citywide, itmade sense for me.
And for our our ticket, I thinkit made sense for the ticket as
a whole.
SPEAKER_02 (06:30):
Nice.
So maybe, maybe for I'll evenI'll even say for myself and
certainly for some of ourlisteners, I would imagine.
What what are the biggestdifferences between uh I guess
your role as a city councilmember when you're at large
versus when you're representinga ward?
Obviously, we know if yourepresent a ward, you represent
that ward specifically, youadvocate for that ward
(06:51):
specifically.
What what's the difference foryou as an at-large candidate in
your role?
SPEAKER_01 (06:56):
I think for me, it would be connecting with
community groups in each ward,deferring on certain things to
the ward representative becausethey they're basically the first
line of defense for people.
They the people know the personin the ward that they elected
directly.
So a lot of times they would goum specifically to that ward
(07:17):
person, but just being able toform relationships across the
ward citywide, understand issueswhere maybe someone downtown is
fighting a development that'shappening in ward A.
But my responsibility would beto the residents of ward A in
that circumstance, haveconversations with that ward um
council person, see what thecommunity around them are
(07:39):
saying, and then try to make aninformed decision, weighing the
city as a whole.
SPEAKER_02 (07:43):
Interesting.
Okay.
And I can also, I can also see abit of you can be a catch-all
for, for example, like ifsomebody knows you and in their
ward, the person that they knewor wanted to win didn't win,
then you would be maybe more oftheir point person on the
council if they had somethingthey wanted to convey where they
may not be as comfortable withwhoever is is representing them
(08:06):
at that time.
SPEAKER_01 (08:06):
Yeah, that's true too.
I mean, people maybe theycampaigned hard for or really
wanted a a a different person inone of the ward positions and
they don't they feel like theydon't have a connection with
their ward representative, thenany of the at-larges whoever,
and you don't even have to go toyour ward person because
everyone votes on on everythingtogether.
(08:28):
So if you have a relationshipwith a different ward person,
you can go to them.
I know when I've had issues,I've gone to specific city
council people who have helpedme.
I speak at meetings a lot.
And I'll always thank the peoplethat reach back out to me with
answers or responses.
And it's not all I live in wardA, it's not always the ward A
representative that I getanswers from.
SPEAKER_02 (08:50):
Yeah, we've we've had similar experiences reaching
out to different people fordifferent reasons across the
city council.
And like you said, everyone onthe city council has as much of
a vote, whether they're at largeor in a ward.
It's all this, it's all the samelevel of influence in that
regard.
Why are you running?
Why are you uh why now?
Why are you running?
What do you hope to influence inthis city?
(09:11):
What are you seeing that you maybe dissatisfied with and want to
you want to have your stamp on?
SPEAKER_01 (09:17):
I think there's a lot of things I'm dissatisfied
with.
I have been for a long time.
There's certain things that I'mhappy about that I would like to
see more of that maybe I couldfight for that as well.
I think two of the main issuesthat are very personal to me are
the negative relationship that'sbeen going on between City Hall
and the our public schools.
(09:38):
There have been, there's been nocoordination, communication, and
it's sort of been butting heads.
And I think that it definitelyneeds to stop.
There needs to be morecommunication and coordination
and just being together becauseat the end of the day, we're
we're for the Jersey Cityresidents, whether they're
pre-K3 or 100 years old.
(10:01):
We work together, we're payingtaxes that fund the city and the
public schools.
So I think those conversationsneed to be better.
And as the athletic director, asan athlete my whole life, as the
mom of athletes, our our parks,our open spaces, our green
spaces have been horriblyneglected and not where I think
(10:21):
they should be.
The city of this size and urbancities, children and adults need
those open spaces.
And that's something that I'mpassionate about and that I want
to help upgrade within our city.
SPEAKER_02 (10:33):
Help me understand the the disconnect between, as
you put it, between city halland the schools.
Because uh when I look at it asa you know regular citizen, you
have the the boe over here, youhave city government over here,
and I I don't know what the whatthe crossover is or what the
collaborative nature of that isor could be or should be.
(10:55):
Like just help me understandlike how that would work on a
like on a municipal level.
What does it look like for foryou all on city council or the
mayor to work with the BOE andhelp improve the schools?
SPEAKER_01 (11:06):
Well, I think we need a designated recreation
center in every ward.
Every part of the city studentsshould be able to walk to a
fully functional recreationcenter.
But on top of that, we have 40recreation centers already built
into our city with public schoolspaces where they should be open
after school for the gyms or thearts rooms or music classes,
(11:30):
whatever the case may be.
And not just for children.
It could be for adults, for yogaclasses, for language classes,
for coding classes, for how tobuild a resume, how to um
conduct an interview differentthings.
So I think the funding issue hasbeen huge at the state level,
where our Jersey City publicschools have been drastically,
(11:51):
drastically underfunded on thestate level.
And it falls on the city to fillin that funding gap.
And with the abatements we'vehad with pilots, historically,
the city has not put the schoolfunding aside, put the funding
into schools that wouldtypically come from a pilot.
And I think anytime you get atax bill, it's always, and the
(12:13):
school is the reason for our ourtaxes going up.
So I think if there was somesort of relationship for the
past decade, then the schoolscan't be a scapegoat for for why
our taxes go up.
So I think those are our two bigreasons, but just um the
taxpayers are the adults andtypically the the parents in the
(12:33):
district, and their childrenare, I mean, in the city, and
their children are the studentsin our public schools.
So there's a crossover to beginwith, quality of life around the
schools.
Um, what are we is it safe forour students to to walk to
school with crossing guards?
There's no crossing guards withbike lanes, with uh street
(12:54):
safety, with cars, with policeofficers.
There's so much c I thinkthere's so much crossover just
in in the general sense of theword that our students become
our future free Yes, and everyeverything you said made
complete sense.
SPEAKER_02 (13:08):
Uh I guess what I was looking to understand was uh
from a governmental level, whatkind of collaboration is there
from City Hall to the BoE?
Like are they are theycompletely individual entities?
They don't they don't really domuch together or or is there
more cooperation between thosetwo than than there than than I
(13:33):
think there is?
SPEAKER_01 (13:34):
There well right now there's zero coordination.
And I guess on a on a generalscale, governmental wise, there
they're two different governingbodies.
The the BOE is an unpaid electedposition.
The municipal government is isits own entity, they have their
own budget, their own employees,their own ladder in
(13:55):
infrastructure, whatever theword you want to use.
So technically there's no,they're two very separate
entities, but in a city or anykind of municipality, there
should be some sort of cohesivecoordination and not um like
aggression or pitting oneagainst the other.
Does that does that answer whatyou're talking about?
SPEAKER_02 (14:16):
Yeah, yeah, definitely.
I I I wasn't I wasn't too clearon if the city council or the
mayor's office or anybody hadany influence or any say over
the board of education or ifthey were legitimately
completely separate.
What you're saying is that rightnow, city government is using
the school system as thescapegoat for why the taxes are
going up.
When the reality is that thestate funding formula is such
(14:39):
that we kind of get screwed incompared in comparison to the
rest of the state, then thecity, in order to have properly
functioning schools, needs tomake up the difference.
And that's more so why taxes aregoing up, not because, not just
because the Board of Educationis doing something maliciously
wrong.
It's also it's it's three movingparts that aren't working all
(15:00):
together at the moment.
SPEAKER_01 (15:02):
For a specific example, if you look at the city
of Patterson, Patterson has alower population than Jersey
City.
But if you look at their schooldistrict, they have about the
same number of students that areum free or reduced lunch and
special education and Englishlanguage learners, which are the
driving factors that are in abudget, those students require
(15:23):
more resources.
We have about the same.
Patterson gets about$500 millionin state aid.
We get about$120 million instate aid.
So the city has that difference.
SPEAKER_02 (15:35):
Okay, okay.
So so that allocation is basedon the needs of the specific
type of students that eachdistrict has, essentially.
Because some yes.
Okay, okay.
I don't want to get too lost inthe weeds on this, but I I I
know it comes up a lot, and Iknow I don't necessarily I kind
of glaze over a little bit whenI start hearing about it, but at
the same time, I do want tounderstand it a little bit
(15:56):
better, and I think other peoplewould probably would too.
But we won't get too far in theweeds and the and the boe stuff.
But uh, yes, so when it doescome to schools and and school
safety, we I know we had thisconversation last time, but I I
do want to touch on it again.
And you had brought up that Iforget which school was it
McNair that didn't literallyhave zero crossing guards?
SPEAKER_01 (16:18):
For a year and a half we haven't had a single
crossing guard in the in thevicinity.
SPEAKER_02 (16:22):
Why is that?
SPEAKER_01 (16:23):
There's a shortage of crossing guards.
Um, and I guess the cityprioritizes possibly younger
schools, schools with youngerstudents in it.
And even though our s ourstudents bike to school, they
scooter to school, they walk toschool longer distances,
typically elementary schools orprimary schools, students get
(16:45):
walked to by their parents ordropped off in a car pretty
close to the door.
So I think it's a falsenarrative that high schools
don't need crossing guards orhave less of a need of crossing
guards.
And I would never say pull acrossing guard from PS3 because
then God forbid somethinghappens there.
But we need to do a better jobof hiring and retaining school
(17:07):
traffic guards because they'rethey're vital to the city and
they know the students, even notjust crossing the school, but
they get to know the students,they get to know the families,
and and they're just anotherresource that we can use.
Our crossing guard retired ayear and a half ago.
She knew most of the students byname.
Any of the parents that came,she knew if there was an issue,
(17:28):
she would come inside and say,Oh, that whatever, I I overheard
this, or I think this studentneeds needs some attention
today, or is the social workeraround?
Can can they talk to thatstudent?
So I think they're they're notjust how like putting up a stop
sign and crossing the school.
They're a true resource to toour schools.
SPEAKER_02 (17:46):
That's a lovely story.
I want to I want to meet thiscrossing guard.
SPEAKER_01 (17:49):
Well, she retired, so I I wish she was still there,
but she I hope she's enjoyingher retirement.
SPEAKER_02 (17:54):
This doesn't seem like something that would be
would require that muchoverhead.
Like I this doesn't of all theissues that we have in Jersey
City, of which there are many,and some of them f I find to be
very expensive, probably.
This one does not seem like anexpensive problem.
So I'm having troubleunderstanding why it wouldn't be
relatively easy to solve.
SPEAKER_01 (18:12):
What it are we just not trying to hire people or
we're not a the the number, Ithink it was, I forget if it was
like 150, 175, we're budgetedfor.
So it has nothing to do with themoney wasn't set aside.
There, I don't know if if the umoutreach isn't isn't good or
it's not a um desirable job forsomeone.
(18:35):
I think we need to figure outhow to make it a full-time
position so that people, yeah, Iwork three hours in the morning
and then two hours in theafternoon and I have all this
space in between.
We need to figure out how tobetter utilize the um the school
traffic guard safety guard sothat they can maybe make it a
full-time job.
It's ideal for maybe someonewho's older and retired from
(18:57):
another job or in between jobsor um what whatever the case may
be.
There's certain people who maybe more drawn to it, but I think
we need to figure out a way tohire the full amount that we
need.
SPEAKER_02 (19:10):
Yeah.
Yeah, this seems like somethingthat could be solved pretty
pretty easily, even if it wasjust a matter of cross-training.
I mean, you cross-train crossingguards into that was fun.
You cross-train them intosomething else that could fill
out the rest of the day.
Outside of outside of the schoolsystems and outside of the
public safety aspect, what elseare you seeing in Jersey City
that you would want to give yourattention to if you're elected?
SPEAKER_01 (19:33):
I mean, the the easy one that everyone has an issue
with is affordability.
People are just being pricedout, the rents are are too high,
there's not enough affordableunits, 2,700 units short in
Jersey City just to meet thebare minimum of what's needed
with our um population.
Um that that number is probablya little old where people have
(19:56):
lost jobs, prices have gone evenhigher, more people are being
pushed out.
So we probably actually needmore than than what the the last
audit said.
And I think going back to publicsafety, specifically our public
safety department right now onlyhas one public safety director
who oversees the policedepartment and the fire
department.
I would like to see that splitso that there is a director of
(20:19):
the police department and adirector of the fire department,
so they both get the attentionand the equipment and the
resources that they need to besuccessful.
SPEAKER_02 (20:28):
Yeah, that that seems like a lot to oversee for
for one person.
The affordability thing.
So you said we're we're 2,700units short.
How do we catch up?
SPEAKER_01 (20:39):
We need to incentivize putting affordable
units into um either existing ornew newer developments we should
require.
But also if you simply requireaffordable housing for the
develop, the developers aren'tin it for the goodness out of
their heart.
It's their business.
They're trying to make money.
(20:59):
And if they don't break even ormake money on a development,
they're not going to do it.
It won't make sense to them.
So we have to figure out ways tohelp them with funding through
the city or the state orfederal, federal grants
incentivized.
There's um aspire credits that,and I'm not a by no means an
affordable housing guru.
I've learned so much on thiscampaign.
(21:21):
But I think there's ways that itmakes sense to require, not not
necessarily require, butincentivize to a point where
developers now want to put thataffordable housing in, where
they're still bringingaffordable units or workforce
housing units, but they're notlosing money.
They're actually making the sameamount or more money than they
would have if it was all luxury,luxury units.
SPEAKER_02 (21:44):
Got it.
Yes.
So you are you are in favor ofworking with the carrot rather
than the stick, it sounds like,which I listen, I full
disclosure, I sell condobuildings every day.
That's that's what I do.
I do I not in Jersey City atall, but in Brooklyn, that's
that's what I do every day.
And I can assure you they're init for the profit, but they can
(22:05):
be incentivized to do just aboutanything like the rest of us.
My concern with a lot of thelanguage around this election
has been what if what do we doif we literally elect somebody
that alienates the entireworking class of developers and
none of them want to touch ourcity at all?
So I'm glad to hear you put itlike you're putting it.
And and I obviously you're not,as you said, an expert on on
(22:27):
affordable housing, but evenjust the mindset of, you know,
we can work with people.
They're people too.
They'll if we work with them ina way that you know isn't
patronizing or alienating, thenwe can probably get some
something done, especially whenyou said we're at almost a
3,000, maybe even more unitdeficit as is.
Like we're gonna need people tobuild these units.
(22:48):
So I I really look forward to,if nothing else, just out of
sheer curiosity, what kind ofwhat the next administration,
whoever it is, tackles thisissue, because this is not just
an issue in Jersey City,obviously.
This is an issue in a lot ofparts of the country.
So I I believe in a lot of waysthat market supply and demand
dictate price.
(23:09):
Like bottom line, supply anddemand dictate price.
The more supply, the less demandand price goes down.
Like that's how it goes.
That's how it goes across theriver when when I'm working.
Like that's just the nature ofthe beast.
Nobody's going to, I think ifyou're if you're positioning
yourself as somebody that's justgoing to lower rents, I don't
find that realistic at all.
I think you can you can flattenthe curve at best.
(23:32):
You can flatten it out.
It's it's just like promisingwe're gonna cut your taxes.
It's like, no, probably not.
You're probably not.
There's that's not realistic.
And I I want to live in areality where we're spoken to in
in terms that actually makesense and and are attainable,
rather than saying we're gonnacut cut your taxes and cut your
rent, and your utility bills aregonna go all the way back down
(23:53):
to where they're it's like, no,none of that's real.
Like we can't promise thesethings and not be able to back
any of it up.
And I like I like that you'rethinking of it in in terms of
more of a a collaborative effortand from a place of that's
rooted in reality.
Babe, I'm sorry I'm talking allover you.
I know you're on baby duty alittle bit, but it's your show.
Is it?
SPEAKER_00 (24:12):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (24:13):
You don't you wanna Politics is your thing.
SPEAKER_00 (24:15):
I'm listening.
SPEAKER_02 (24:17):
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (24:17):
I'm being an informed voter.
You're you're I already voted,but we already voted.
SPEAKER_02 (24:22):
We already voted because early voting has
started.
It started yesterday or two daysago.
SPEAKER_01 (24:28):
Yeah.
And it goes for 10 days.
So there's eight days left ofearly voting.
Then Monday, the third, there'sno voting, and then November 4th
is election day.
SPEAKER_00 (24:40):
Cool.
So there's no excuses.
No excuses.
I say I say this all the time.
If you sit on your keyboard andtroll and complain on the
internet and you don't vote,then there's no respect for you.
SPEAKER_02 (24:51):
No, you don't get to do that.
SPEAKER_00 (24:52):
You need to go vote.
SPEAKER_02 (24:53):
And by the time this is out, there'll probably be
five days of early voting left,six days, six days of early
voting left, whenever.
SPEAKER_00 (24:59):
You know, if you go early voting, there's no lines,
you can write in the poll.
SPEAKER_01 (25:03):
You can go anywhere in the county.
You don't even have to.
If you work in Union City, youcan but live in Jersey.
SPEAKER_02 (25:08):
County.
SPEAKER_01 (25:09):
Early voting, you can vote in anywhere, any of the
county.
And they basically doubled thenumber of early voting sites.
There's so many in Jersey City.
They're in every every cell.
There's no excuse.
SPEAKER_02 (25:22):
That's amazing.
Great.
SPEAKER_00 (25:23):
And you get to talk to the fun polling ladies.
What do they call them?
Polsters?
SPEAKER_02 (25:28):
Poll workers.
Pull workers.
Pull workers.
I sound like a stripper.
SPEAKER_01 (25:31):
Yeah, in the very most innocent sense of the way.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (25:34):
Oh wow.
SPEAKER_01 (25:35):
The poll were they're so sweet.
SPEAKER_02 (25:37):
They're the best.
It's like it feels like the mostold timey.
Like I'm back in like the 90s orsomething.
Like in the world.
SPEAKER_01 (25:43):
Just say the 90s was the old times.
SPEAKER_02 (25:45):
The 90s was 35 years ago.
It is now.
No, well, it's like four yearsago.
I hear you.
I hear you.
I hear you.
And I'm I, you know, I'm notgonna be disrespectful, but like
I I know I tell people I'm 40years old, and I'm like, that
doesn't make sense to me.
I don't understand how that cameto be, but here we are, and the
90s was 35 years ago.
(26:07):
Yeah.
And wood paneling was awesome.
But yeah, no, the poll the pollworkers are absolutely lovely up
here in the heights.
And let me ask you this.
This is completely unrelated toyour campaign.
This is elections in general.
We're walking in.
Obviously, there are 17 peopleon each corner of the of the
park uh campaigning.
And I'm just it seems like anodd deployment of campaign
(26:30):
capital because I I can'timagine the person, and and it
always happens, so there must bedata that backs up this spend.
But like somebody's walking into go to the polls and they're
like, I don't know yet.
And if one of these people talksto me, I will change my mind.
Like that scenario seems odd.
SPEAKER_01 (26:48):
In a governor gubernatorial election or a
presidential election, peoplewant to go in and vote for the
top office, and maybe theydidn't do research on the other
ones.
So they'll grab a piece ofliterature and be like, all
right, that's the last personthat talked to me, so I'll vote
for those.
But I think typically if we'regoing into early vote, you're
(27:09):
informed and you're you'veeducated yourself on the
candidates and you kind of knowwho you're voting for across the
board.
SPEAKER_00 (27:15):
Yeah, we were like ambushed with so many people.
SPEAKER_02 (27:18):
It's a bit overwhelming, but at the same
time, it's like I somebody mustbe stopping and talking and
making up their mind right onthe spot, or else.
SPEAKER_00 (27:26):
But it could also turn a voter away.
Like if it's like and reallyinvasive, like I could see it
could give you like the ick,like you know, they're chasing
my vote.
Like that's weird.
Like why, you know?
SPEAKER_02 (27:36):
Yeah, I could see that.
SPEAKER_00 (27:37):
It's like a creepy d dude you went on a date with and
like he just keeps calling youtype thing, you know?
SPEAKER_02 (27:42):
Oh no, the creepy dude's not working at the end.
This is the meta.
Okay, an analogy.
It's an analogy.
Okay, got it, got it.
SPEAKER_00 (27:49):
So you're on Bill O'Day's ticket.
Why?
What's the like backgroundstory?
SPEAKER_01 (27:54):
A year and a half ago, he will tell you his home
base is basically the MissAmerica Diner.
So a year and a half ago, heasked me to meet him for um a
cup of coffee.
So I met him in, I don't know,it was nine o'clock in the
morning, maybe, um, at the startof the summer.
And I thought he had an issue.
He wanted to talk to mesomething about the schools or
(28:16):
education or whatever.
And he actually asked me to torun, to consider running on his
his ticket.
And he's he said specifically atlarge.
He's like, I know all the thingyou've done, the things you've
done throughout the whole city,and I would really appreciate
and be honored if you would weif you would be on my ticket at
large.
And I was so I was taken back alittle bit, and I told him I
(28:39):
would have to go home and talkto my husband about it, talk to
my family, and see if it was theright time and the right space
for us.
And I think it just bill as awhole.
Growing up, I was a huge Mr.
Rogers fan.
And there was an episode wherehe was talking.
There was a little boy that wasscared, and he said his mom
(29:00):
would always tell him, if youever get scared and if you get
lost, just look for the helpersbecause they're they'll be there
to help you to to get you tosafety or or help you figure out
whatever your issue is.
And I feel like that's Bill.
I think he's a helper.
Anyone you talk to, wherever youare, whether it's them, their
their mom, their sister, theircousin, their neighbor, he has
(29:21):
helped someone in everyneighborhood of this this city.
And I completely respect that.
And it I'm rooted in in umservice, I guess you would say,
where I can um appreciate thefact that he he will go out of
his way.
He gives out his his personalcell phone number.
People call him at two, three inthe morning.
(29:42):
I just got kicked out, or it's adomestic violence issue, and he
will put them up in a hoteluntil they get safety, he will
get them the resources theyneed.
And and I think that's just thekind of person that I want to
work with and and work for.
Great.
SPEAKER_02 (29:55):
That's a good answer.
SPEAKER_01 (29:56):
Yeah, it's a great answer.
SPEAKER_02 (29:56):
That's a good answer.
SPEAKER_01 (29:57):
Thank you.
SPEAKER_02 (29:58):
No, I that's a that's a very glowing.
review.
I don't know him.
Like I I I don't know him atall.
So I did I I've been curious.
SPEAKER_00 (30:04):
Philo Day's like old school Hudson County.
I know he I know he's you knowhe's always he's been you know
in politics for a very longtime.
Kind of surprised that he's onlyrunning now for mayor but he's
always been around always on thescene.
He uh a comedian he's an actorright like he's like super funny
and talented.
SPEAKER_01 (30:21):
Yeah yeah really yeah yeah he's really funny he's
acted on stage yeah nice heloves to talk about his acting
acting uh experience so yeah funfact I'm gonna check out his
IMDB after this maybe we'll seehim in the zombie opera next
year.
SPEAKER_00 (30:36):
So how are you planning on balancing you know I
know this is a qu people hatethis question because it's like
why are you asking like onlywomen get to ask this question.
Well her kids are grown stillthough you're you have a family
and you have a full-time joblike it's a lot.
SPEAKER_02 (30:49):
There's a lot.
SPEAKER_01 (30:50):
How am I gonna balance it?
No sleep probably but I feellike a lot of the stuff I do now
in the city would just beenhanced by by being on the
council.
There's certain things that Igive a lot of time to but I
can't necessarily make decisionson or and it might even be less
time on certain tasks because II would know the the doors to
(31:11):
open or the peop discussions tohave or resolutions to propose
where it can make some of thethings I've been fighting for a
lot easier.
Take the the Katin Memorial Idon't know if you remember the
the fight for years on thewaterfront statue.
Yeah yeah I was one of thepetitioners that started we got
the petitions we would haveforced a an election to bring
(31:35):
that to a referendum and I can'ttell you the hundreds of hours I
spent doing that where if I wason the city council I may have
been able to have thoseconversations where that whole
aspect would have been over andand didn't need to come to that
point.
So I think um I've never beenmuch of a sleeper.
(31:56):
So this is just something elsethat I would be able to um give
like my full time because I'veso how many hours a night do you
get I'm big on the hours if I'mlucky maybe four.
SPEAKER_00 (32:09):
Wow yeah how do you function?
SPEAKER_01 (32:11):
On on a shoestring basically sometimes we gotta get
to the case my body that's whatit's used to.
I I'm an insomniac and some ofmy best work and my best ideas
come at two three in the morningand then my husband's alarm goes
off at four o'clock so he canget up and go to the gym and
then I'm up anyway.
SPEAKER_02 (32:30):
So brutal actually you know what that for I can't
even imagine.
SPEAKER_00 (32:34):
I'm a newborn and I can't imagine yeah but I've I
struggled like with for a wholeyear I was only getting like
three four hours but I was thatI was going absolutely crazy.
SPEAKER_01 (32:43):
Yeah she's running for biologically your your body
just gets what it needs or ordoesn't.
SPEAKER_00 (32:49):
I'm not saying it's healthy and I'm not recommending
it but this is my lifestyle I Ineed my sleep I take I take
medication so that I could sleepI don't care I'm not ashamed of
it.
SPEAKER_02 (32:58):
But I there is a test that I keep getting
targeted for on Facebook whereit says you may not need to get
up at 5 a.m you may need to getup at like there's your perfect
time and also you might possiblybe a genius at 2 a.m if you go
to bed at 3 like this crazystuff to justify whatever sleep
patterns you have going on butnow I sort of feel like I want
to take it and see where I land.
SPEAKER_00 (33:18):
You need a lot of sleep.
SPEAKER_02 (33:19):
It's true.
SPEAKER_00 (33:20):
I get it too Tony Tony needs a lot of sleep.
SPEAKER_02 (33:22):
Absolutely got a lot to got a lot to take care of
around here.
I had one question and it hascompletely escaped me at the
moment.
SPEAKER_00 (33:30):
I can't help you I don't read minds.
SPEAKER_02 (33:32):
Well listen ultimately we are so grateful
that you have given us the timeagain we are looking forward to
I'm honestly just lookingforward to a conclusion in all
of this.
I actually just saw you uh theHudson County Chronicles Bruce
wrote a uh a very nice articleabout you and then he's
predicting um a six personrunoff for at large is that does
(33:53):
that sound right to you?
SPEAKER_01 (33:54):
Yeah I can't imagine it's not going to be because the
way there's 15 people running atlarge and unless what the top
person gets 50% of the vote thenthey bring the next two people
with them and I don't see a aworld where one person out of 15
is going to get 50% vote.
(34:16):
My goal right now how I'mmentally preparing myself is I'm
trying to be top six at thispoint.
SPEAKER_02 (34:22):
Yeah.
And the runoffs how long howlong after the the first vote
are the runoffs months December2nd would be the runoff so we
have to deal with another monthof yeah of this nonsense no I'm
done across the board everyoneI'm deleting I'm deleting in the
internet like I am done afterNovember.
SPEAKER_01 (34:40):
And I can't imagine there's so many candidates from
mayor to all of the at-largestto every ward that I I don't
know if any of them will will befirst ballot.
SPEAKER_02 (34:51):
I I'm very interested well A I think the
problem is getting people tovote in the runoff oh the runoff
sounds crazy because like youcan win a runoff vote with a
total like I saw a statisticfrom a couple years ago where
the runoff pulled like 3,000voters like 3,000 votes are cast
which is that's nothing that's athat's a percent and a half or
(35:13):
two whatever of the totalpopulation it's just nuts.
SPEAKER_01 (35:16):
Yeah people people are are done because like I said
a lot of people go for the topof the the ballot which would be
governor that would be decidedthe sheriff the assembly the
school board those would all bedecided on November 4th and it's
just I guess trying to keep yoursupporters engaged and informed
and letting people know thatthere is a runoff because it's
(35:40):
it's right after ThanksgivingDecember.
So it's gonna be cold out it'snot it's not gonna be an easy
task but it's hopefully peopleare engaged and they they come
back out for whoever theysupport so that it's not doesn't
come down to a um 0.8% of thevote to like 0.5% of the vote.
SPEAKER_02 (36:00):
It hopefully it's representative of of what the
exactly the initial intentionswere of the whole yeah which is
tough but I do believe justbased on there seems to be more
engagement in voters maybe onboth sides of the river right
now as far as turnout goes Ithink there's an uptick in
interest.
(36:20):
I think the last presidentialelections certainly got people
paying attention if nothing elseone way or the other whether
they liked it or hated itwhatever.
And I think that what'shappening on both sides of the
river is is making more peoplepay attention and I also don't I
like you said I don't seeanybody first ballot 50% maybe
one race I don't know.
(36:40):
So people hopefully stay engagedbecause none of their choices
are are automatically throughand that'll keep that'll keep
them coming back I hope.
But if it does Lynn willprobably have quit the political
side of the podcast by then andI'll have to do it solo if I
keep it absolutely I've reachedmy my limit.
She's reached her limit yeahwell I appreciate you going on
(37:01):
this with course it's important.
SPEAKER_00 (37:03):
Yeah and we appreciate your time thank you
so much and again sorry for hertechnical difficulties but we we
did it we did it we did it rollwith the punches thank you for
the opportunity thank you forthe conversation we wish you the
best of luck yes thank you yougot this of the luck with the
with the new baby thank you somuch
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