O’DONNELL SLAMS DAVIS ADMINISTRATION AND COUNCIL ON PILOT AGREEMENT SCHEME

BAYONNE – Bayonne candidate for Mayor, Jason O’Donnell, today slammed Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis and the Bayonne Council as “completely disingenuous” for their PILOT-Project Labor Agreement plan for re-election.

Mayor Davis and his Council, Sharon Nadrowski, Sal Gullace, Gary La Pelusa, Juan Perez and Thomas Cotter have already handed out over 30 taxpayer funded long term PILOTs in less than four years, providing financial windfalls for rich, out of town developers at the expense of Bayonne taxpayers and residents.  The 30 plus previous PILOT agreements agreed to by the Davis administration have all excluded PLA language.

The recently proposed ordinance puts the PLA threshold for inclusion on any PILOT project over $15 million dollars.

“This completely disingenuous stunt by the Davis administration is an insult to the intelligence of every working man and woman in the City of Bayonne and to every member of organized labor throughout the state.  For three and a half years and running, the Davis administration has, through its actions, denied the men and women of organized labor an opportunity to compete for work in the City of Bayonne.

Mayor Davis and his Council have already given out over thirty PILOTs to rich, out of town developers that will hurt taxpayers now and in the future while providing no benefit to Bayonne workers.  The underlying issue continues to be that this mayor and this Council will promise anything to anyone to try and get another four years in City Hall.

Jimmy Davis and his Council have shown over the last four years that they don’t care about Bayonne’s taxpayers, they don’t care about organized labor and they don’t care about putting Bayonne residents to work on these projects.  There is no Election Day Hail Mary that will change those facts.

As Mayor, my administration would require PLAs for any and all necessary PILOT backed projects.  Let’s be clear, PILOTs used as development tools should not just be for the benefit of wealthy developers while leaving Bayonne residents without community benefit agreements or good paying jobs.   I would make sure that Bayonne residents benefit from Bayonne projects and that the projects are done responsibly and with quality union labor.”