PATERSON – Ward 1 Councilman Mike Jackson tonight crafted a consistent argument at the Eastside

Neighborhood Association debate forum, taking each question as an opportunity to riff on how his city suffers at the hands of greedy, incompetent or self-interested interlopers.

In one of his answers he criticized fellow candidate Alex Cruz, the president of the local Police Benevolent Association (PBA), and made the case that a judge who doesn’t reside in Paterson had the power to reach the decision to grant Cruz the authority to run for mayor, even though Cruz’s family doesn’t live in the city, Jackson said.

Cruz shot back.

“In the appellate court in the city of Trenton, they’re also influenced by the fact that Alex Cruz is an advocate for the city of Paterson, is a resident of the City of Paterson,” said the PBA Prez.