Educator and Community Leader Lewis Spears launched his mayoral campaign on July 8 in Jersey City, sharing his policy platform designed for Jersey City residents to “STAY” in Jersey City. In a speech that stressed the importance of transparency and accountability in rebuilding trust between community and leadership, Spears shared the four pillars of his STAY platform, Safety, Training and Education, Accessibility  and Affordability, and Yours.

“I think it would be irresponsible of me, someone who was afforded a wonderful education as well as global leadership experience, someone who grew up in this community, not to come to the table with my own ideas and say, let us build the community we need together,” said Spears, who hails from the Booker T Housing projects of his city.

Highlights of the STAY platform include community-centered approaches to safety with quarterly meetings between police leadership and the neighborhood leaders in each ward, creating a Youth Advisory Board with paid members, a stronger Inclusionary Zone Ordinance that prioritizes homes for families, and creating clear feedback loops between residents and his administration.

“I want you to know that I’m working very hard on my platform,” he said. “It’s one thing to have ideas, and a whole other thing to build and pay for public policy. I want to make sure that our plan is ready to go when I become mayor.

“We have a lot of work ahead of us to get to election day,” Spears added. “But when we win, there will be even more work afterwards to build the city our children deserve.”

Other speakers on the evening included Dwayne Howell, a graduate of Spears’ Kismet of Kings program, Shavonne McMillian, a Jersey City-raised educator who is currently a school principal in Philadelphia, Katie Brennan, Nancy Rivera, who has worked for social services for over 35 years in Jersey City, and Rasheed Chambers, a lifelong resident of Jersey City and founder of E-code, an organization that makes STEM accessible to youth.

About Lewis Spears

Having sharpened his leadership and public policy skills and network as a  2019 New Leaders Council Fellow. Lewis launched his bid for mayor of Jersey City because of his firm belief that democracy should always serve the best interests of the people. He is happily married to Dr. Myriam Spears and a proud dad to AJ and Beau.

For more information please visit SpearsForJerseyCity.com