Statement from the RTC JC Campaign Committee ahead of April 12th’s Council Meeting

Statement from the Right to Counsel Jersey City Campaign Committee

Ordinance First Presented: April 12th, 2023

On Wednesday, April 12th, 2023, the Jersey City Council will share its first reading on two key pieces of legislation: Right to Counsel (Ord. 23-030) and collecting Developer Fees to Fund Affordable Housing (Ord. 23-029), which will fund Right to Counsel. We thank everyone on our policy team who crafted these ordinances through months of research and to all volunteers who provided input and reached out to our neighbors and communities. Our demands remain the same: free, legal representation for all tenants facing housing court to stop eviction and enforce renters’ rights, provided by a permanent office in the city government.

Jersey City has the opportunity to pass a truly universal Right to Counsel, and to join San Francisco, New Orleans, Boulder, and Kansas City in providing crucial legal aid for tenants regardless of income. As Democratic Socialists, we believe it to be necessary that policymakers move away from programs to rights: just like Medicare should be for All, Housing should also be for All. Radical change comes from the bottom-up, and we believe in policy that has been crafted with community input that meets need without any barriers in place. We must set the path forward for true housing justice by establishing a universal Right to Counsel that covers every and any tenant in Jersey City regardless of income.

While in the process of working with council sponsors, the laws around our funding mechanism (fees on new residential development) were interpreted in a way that imposed means-testing. As the ordinance currently stands, only people who make below 80% of the Area Median Income (about $64,000 a year for individual earners) are eligible for service. This allows many renters who need protection to fall through the cracks. A single legal interpretation is standing in the way of real, transformational change. Other changes were made to the policy since receiving Mayor Steve Fulop’s support, such as phasing in development fees instead of full collection from the start. 

There is a clause in place in Ord. 23-030 that authorizes the Director of the Right to Counsel Office to expand services to any tenant residing in Jersey City provided that they are paid for by another source of funding. We urge the city council to be creative and intentional in finding another source of revenue that does not place undue burden on everyday, working people in Jersey City. Currently, our campaign is having discussions on this topic.

We will continue to build up mass support for a universal policy through our field work: making phone calls and knocking on the doors of our neighbors to engage them on this very important issue. We urge supporters to gather at the council meeting on April 12th and push for Right to Counsel to be passed in its fullest scope. Housing is a human right, no evictions without representation.

Solidarity,

The Right to Counsel Jersey City Campaign Committee