Recently elected At-Large Councilman Rolando Lavarro, in an effort to make good on his campaign promise, has started the process of creating a citizens’ advisory committee to the municipal budget that he says will help the budget more closely reflect the concerns of citizens that often get lost in the “politicized” budget-making process.
“Priority-based budgeting,” explains Lavarro, who also calls it outcome-based budgeting, “is an approach to budgeting that is proactive about the types of services that we think of as our highest priority for the city. These are the goals we really want to achieve.”
“The purpose is to get a different perspective on what types of priorities we hope to establish,” he added. “Hopefully we’ll find that kind of input can achieve a budget that meets most people’s basic expectations of what they are looking to see.”
Although Lavarro acknowledged that Mayor Jerramiah Healy outlined his administration’s priorities, the councilman cited former Freeholder William Braker, who at a crime rally said “show me your budget and I’ll show you your priorities,” and argued some of what was being said by City Hall and what was being paid for didn’t add up.
In particular, Lavarro pointed to the perception of crime – he was recently appointed to the Public Safety Committee – and what he saw as insufficient funding in the budget to replace the police officers the city expects to retire. The city, however, maintains that since retiring officers make much more than new-hires, the budget already has sufficient funding.
“The purpose is to get a different perspective on what types of priorities we hope to establish,” he added. “Hopefully we’ll find that kind of input can achieve a budget that meets most people’s basic expectations of what they are looking to see.”
But the problem, according to the city, is that the committee just adds another layer of unnecessary “bureaucracy.”
“The Council will be holding departmental budget hearings which are open to the public and there will be a special meeting of the council devoted solely to the budget where residents can ask any question,” said Mayor Healy. “To create a ‘citizen’s advisory committee’ adds an unnecessary level of bureaucracy to what is a thorough, open and transparent process.”
And yet, what the mayor describes as a “thorough, open, and transparent process” is precisely what Lavarro sees as lacking.
“The whole idea about [outcome-based budgeting] is to eliminate some of the politics inside of the budget, or minimize it. I want to look at things more rationally and reasonably and to achieve the goals that we want to see,” he said. “We want more objective voices.”
In fact, in 2011 the good-government group Civic JC held a forum to recommend how best to communicate the city’s priorities in a budget precisely because of concerns over transparency. The state also enacted a number of laws to increase transparency in the budget making process that Ward E Councilman Steve Fulop said were “in many ways related to the Jersey City budget practices that have been a disaster.”
“I commend the governor for being proactive on this and not letting places like Jersey City continue to punish tax payers. This will help,“ he said at the time.
Although Lavarro acknowledged some of the specifics need to be worked out still, he saw someone like Dan Levin, a former council candidate and good-government activist, as the kind of populist figure who could help address what he thinks is lacking in the budget-making process.
When reached for comment, Levin said he envisions the advisory committee as akin to the Environmental Commission, a group that would be filled with various experts that could facilitate the dialogue between the city and its citizens. The group would better interface with the community and then make recommendations to various departments.
“The public hearing is not enough,” said Levin. “It tends to be poorly attended and is limited in what can be done.”
“It seems like the administration only wants to work within what they already have,” he added.
The challenge facing such a committee, says Levin, is “finding out what people really want.” To accomplish this, he pointed to the Board of Education’s survey used to help look for the district’s new superintendent. It’s a model he sees as potentially useful in better communicating what is missing in the city.
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