There are three Jersey City Council seats up for election with five candidates running. Position 5 incumbent Jill Klein is running unopposed.
Position 1
Jim Fields
Software developer [email protected]
Q. Why did you decide to run for City Council and what are your goals?
A. I decided to run for City Council because I love living here and we need a person with strong leadership and experience to continue making this city the best place to live. My goals are: Protect the values of the homes; ensure the city is safe for our families; practice fiscal responsibility with citizen's monies; represent the citizens with honesty and integrity.
Q. How should the city pursue the development of Jersey Village Crossing?
A. The city should pursue the development of Jersey Village Crossing to the benefit of its citizens. The city government should be more transparent with the spending of the citizens' monies by publishing how much monies have been spent to whom and why. This will allow the citizens to decide what is best for Jersey Village, not special interests or large corporations.
Q. What groups are you involved with in the community and what is your relevant work experience?
A. I have been attending City Council meetings and budget meetings since I moved here over 20 years ago. I have served on three committees: planning and zoning, parks and landscaping and a city feasibility study. I have also worked closely with the city on enforcing the codes that have resulted in the beautification of our fair city. I firmly believe you must have experience working with the community to be effective on City Council.
Michael Mauer
Land planner, landscape architect [email protected]
Q. Why did you decide to run for City Council and what are your goals?
A. I have spent my professional career helping to create, maintain and improve communities. I believe that when a community has given you so much, you should give back based upon your personal and professional experiences. I will support a fiscally responsible government that preserves and enhances the tax base and the neighborhood while protecting its citizens.
Q. How should the city pursue the development of Jersey Village Crossing?
A. The proposed Hwy. 290 project, which will displace current taxable businesses, underscores the need for the city to be creative in the development of Jersey Village Crossing. Until economic conditions improve, the city must be patient and continue to position itself to take advantage of the projected growth in the northwest corridor. Jersey Village Crossing can be an important part of the city's future growth.
Q. What groups are you involved with in the community and what is your relevant work experience?
A. I have been a land planner and landscape architect for the past 27 years. My work experience extends to transit, parks and recreation, corridor and community design projects with such entities as TxDOT, METRO and the City of Houston. I am on the board of the Jersey Village Stars swim team, an advisory committee member for Trees for Houston, and I previously volunteered on the community build projects for Carol Fox Park.
Justin Ray
Small business owner [email protected]
Q. Why did you decide to run for City Council and what are your goals?
A. Jersey Village is at a crossroads. I don't want our city to stagnate while other areas experience growth such as Cypress, Katy and Pearland. I want to make this a destination location for families and businesses. We can accomplish this by forward thinking growth initiatives, maintaining effective police and fire departments and with a responsible and effective city government.
Q. How should the city pursue the development of Jersey Village Crossing?
A. The Jersey Village Crossing is a prime example of a forward thinking initiative. The Jones Road cut-through could have been populated with strip centers and strip clubs. That would only make JV that much more unattractive. The JV Crossing should continue under the new form-based codes that will usher in a new urban appearance and begin to make this a destination city once again.
Q. What groups are you involved with in the community and what is your relevant work experience?
A. I am a member of the Jersey Village planning and zoning committee. Through that I have received firsthand experience in voting on important city matters and working closely with staff and City Council. I have also been a member of Jersey Village Baptist Church since 1988 when it was still a tiny building with pews and hymnals. I am a small business man that is used to budgets and payroll as well as having a law degree.
Position 4
Mark Malloy (Incumbent)
Small business owner [email protected]
Q. Why did you decide to run for City Council and what are your goals?
A. I ran for City Council three consecutive years before getting elected. I run for City Council to work to make sure that the citizens' taxes are spent on things that benefit them. I would like for the majority of the citizens' taxes to be spent on their safety, medical assistance and maintenance of the city and public parks.
Q. How should the city pursue the development of Jersey Village Crossing?
A. The city government has placed form-based codes on the Jersey Village Crossing area to hopefully see it develop into retail and commercial use in order to generate more revenue. The city should consider offering a tax abatement to the developers for a specified number of years only on the improved value of the land. This has happened in the past with the Prologis warehouse development near Hwy. 290 and Beltway 8.
Q. What groups are you involved with in the community and what is your relevant work experience?
A. I have completed the Jersey Village fire and police academies. I have also formed a committee dedicated to noise abatement that has worked to solve the issues in the city caused by the Harris County Toll Road and Hwy. 290 roadway expansion projects. I have also owned and operated a business in the City of Houston for the past 27 years.
Sheri Shepvpard
Financial adviser [email protected]
Q. Why did you decide to run for City Council and what are your goals?
A. My husband, son (age 6) and I recently moved back into the city and rebuilt a new home where my husband's childhood home once stood. So needless to say, we are here for the long-term. With that said, my goals are to (1) ensure that this community remains a safe place to raise my child, (2) protect the property values, and (3) maintain, or where possible, improve our city services.
Q. How should the city pursue the development of Jersey Village Crossing?
A. Given the fact that the city is landlocked and we have limited opportunities for further expansion, we need to be strategic about how we pursue development of the Jersey Village Crossing area. We need to consider how best to bring in sustainable revenue to the area, while adding conveniences to our existing residents and attracting future residents.
Q. What groups are you involved with in the community and what is your relevant work experience?
A. I am the current president for the Cypress Creek Delta Zeta Alumnae Association and the Northwest Harris County Alumnae Panhellenic Association. I have 15 years consulting experience helping large corporations solve business issues through strategy and planning, systems and process design, design and implementation of internal controls and sustainable cost reduction efforts.
Election dates for 2012
- April 30–May 8: Early in-person voting period
- May 4: Last day to apply for ballot by mail
- May 12: Election day
- July 7: Runoff election
(Source: City of Jersey Village)
