Jake Ephros

Nonpartisan

Jake knows what it's like to walk to work, bus to work, bike to work, and drive to work; every commute needs to be accounted for in planning our road use. Taking available grant money for the Manhattan Ave-Franklin Ave bike lane is an example of a community benefit not only for cyclists, but pedestrians and drivers, too. Lanes like these help reduce traffic deaths, and the more opportunities we create for folks to get around without single-passenger vehicles, the less traffic there is and fewer occupied parking spots there are for folks who rely on their cars.

Jersey City must aggressively enforce rent control, and expand it to universal coverage for every rental unit in the city. Illegal rent hikes hand corporate landlords huge profits, while leaving working people on the street.

The law seems to be enforced to punish working people more than bosses and developers. Jake will fight for pro-worker city through enforced labor laws, with increased fines on employers that break laws designed to protect workers.

With the high cost of living, many Jersey City residents cobble together income through multiple jobs and "gig work." Jake wants to empower and protect gig workers with legislation that protects them against sudden deactivation from work, ensuring rights to use restrooms at restaurants and shops, and more.

Jake will work closely will Jersey City Anti-Violence Coalition leaders to not just respond to crises, but organize for a city where potentially violent and deadly police interactions do not happen in the first place. To this end, establishing a municipal, and organizing for a statewide, Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) with subpoena, disciplinary, and investigatory powers over law enforcement officials will contribute to JCPD accountability and safety for all.

If a landlord chooses to hire a certain broker service to facilitate a new rental agreement, renters should never be required to pay that cost. Let's ban the required broker fee for tenants, and save renters thousands of dollars when moving.

Jake will fight for a plan to phase out private contracts from our municipal utilities like Veolia, and from trash pick-up, and to bring utilities decisions to transparent, public participation.

As we face more fare hikes, we need to build local power to make NJ Transit listen to working people. Let's form a Municipal Transit Council made up of riders and residents that works with our Transportation Planning Division, organizes the community around transit needs, and fights for the statewide changes necessary to win mobility for all.

Jake will not stand for any attacks on our immigrant community from Trump, ICE, or other agencies that tear apart families. Let's require that employers deny ICE access to workplaces without a warrant or subpoena, create immigration-safe confidential reporting for labor or housing violations, and guarantee universal representation for affirmative and defensive immigration proceedings.

Jake will fight to bring working people into the process through participatory budgeting, and will organize the community's active involvement through mass meetings. Our city council should not just get elected and then tell the people what they did. Our elected officials should organize ordinary people to help shape city priorities directly.

The climate crisis impacts the health and safety of everyone in Jersey City. Across Ward D, increasingly hot summers means we need to expand our tree coverage more than ever. The lack of shade is a direct health risk, especially for seniors.

Taxpayers foot the bill for limited-space charter school administrators who rake in high salaries. Jersey City should not be spending more on charters than is allotted to us from the state government, and we should question why so many state tax dollars are going to schools outside the jurisdiction of democratically elected education boards. Jersey City families deserve high-quality public schools that don't turn down a single student.

The minimum wage should be the minimum, period. Workers currently relying on tips should be guaranteed fair pay for their work, before whatever tips they earn. It's time to eliminate the tipped minimum wage for Jersey City's hard-working bartenders, servers, cooks, and more. Instead of shuttering businesses, this change will put more money in more workers' pockets and help our local economy thrive.

Jake will fight for a plan to phase out private contracts from our municipal utilities like Veolia, and from trash pick-up, and to bring utilities decisions to transparent, public participation. Only through public power over public utilities can we guarantee a transition to truly renewable and dependable services.

After school programs are key to helping working parents and their children. Providing engaging recreational and educational opportunities beyond the normal school day gives students a good place to be and community to grow in.

Just across Washington Park, our same streets are brighter and cleaner in Union City. Getting well-lit streets is a crucial improvement for residents to walk confidently through the neighborhood--especially around major bus stops, the 100 steps, the 9th Street light rail stop, but also throughout our side streets.

While we love our bodegas, residents of Ward D deserve another full, accessible supermarket. Opening a municipal grocery store will provide more affordable options for residents from North St. To Pierce Ave.

Strengthening our Good Cause Evictions law will help change the power imbalance between the vast majority of renters in Jersey City, and the corporate landlords who profit from our rent. Tenants should feel safe and secure in staying home, not threatened with eviction by landlords who "construct" evictions through neglect, harassment, unconscionable rent hikes, or other forms of abuse.

We need to fully fund JC’s new Office of the Right to Counsel, which was recently won by a DSA-led campaign to make sure that every renter has access to legal defense in housing court against unfair evictions. Jake helped lead that campaign, making developers pay tens of millions into our city’s affordable housing fund every year.

When people think of social housing, we should think of quality, dignified homes that are owned and operated for the public good, not private profits. If we are serious that housing is a human right, then Jersey City must administer and build our own social housing: high quality, permanently affordable, and community-controlled housing for all.

As we grow a stronger labor movement, our city must take care of the majority of "at will" employees. Passing just cause termination legislation will protect workers and require that employers provide a fair process and demonstrate good reason for firing any employee.

As a city councilor, Jake will not only fight to have big corporations pay their fair share and fund the BOE budget, he will also organize residents to win changes in Trenton - funding schools based on the number of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch, as opposed to tax brackets, could bring in the money we need and our kids deserve.

Our union educators work hard to provide the education that our students deserve. As a labor organizer, Jake stands with JCEA teachers and staff. The working class that makes our public schools run deserves power on the job, fair contracts, and the opportunity to help students learn and grow.

Let’s map out a timeline for buying shares of the new Hudson Health System—the product of the HRH and CarePoint merger—using tax dollars brought in by these corporate players. Federal or state dollars could support an eventual municipal buyout of Christ Hospital, where Jersey City co-owns a majority share along with New Jersey. Having visionary plans for the next five, ten, twenty years, and beyond is paramount.

Instead of landlords writing off vacant units for tax breaks, they should be paying into our city budget. A vacancy tax would not only raise funds for city programs, but would push landlords to rent out their units at lower rates and house more tenants sooner.

Empower our immigrant neighbors votes for all.

Jake will fight alongside Jersey City's crossing guards and emergency services operators for fair union contracts with the raises and benefits they deserve.