From across the conference room table, Jim McGreevey looks every bit the candidate on the stump, dressed in a starched white shirt and a power tie. The sport jacket hung over the chair next to him has an American flag pin on its lapel. His short-cropped hair is neatly combed. He’s camera ready.He hands me a two page, single-spaced document. I can see from a quick glance that it relates to the Pompidou museum and affordable housing. But rather than read it there, I ask him to explain. I’m there to interview him after all.“Jersey City has pressing needs that have to be addressed, whether it’s affordable housing, whether it’s the condition of our streets, whether it’s the condition of our parks, public safety, 911 as well as school construction…there are so many pressing bread and butter needs that are essential.”“It seems to me clear and compelling that of the top hundred needs in Jersey City, a French museum is not among them.”McGreevey feels he’s on solid ground. Referring to his much publicized walking tour through Jersey City, he recounts that “literally no one said to me ‘we need Pompidou.'” Some people, he said, thought Pompidou might benefit the city. “But there were no residents who said ‘this is a burning need.'” Pompidou, he estimates, will end up costing the city three quarters of a billion dollars over the first 30 years, when the abatement, build-out and operating expenses are combined.What about the study commissioned by the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency that showed the museum bring economic benefits, I ask. “There may be residual economic benefits, but as mayor there are pressing immediate needs both in terms of fiscal sanity of the city, limiting increased liability over the long term and tangible needs such as affordable housing.”I ask how he would solve the affordability problem.“My commitment is to a thousand new affordable units over the first four years of a McGreevey administration, with an aspirational goal of one thousand two hundred and fifty units.”McGreevey directs me to his document. Clearly he’s given this some thought. Each unit, he estimates, would cost $500 thousand, meaning the cost of his program over four years would total $500 million. McGreevey says $50 to $100 million would come from the Jersey City Affordable Trust Fund and another $150 million from nixing the Pompidou abatement. The balance would come from “Low Income Housing Credits, the ASPIRE program, HMFA Special Needs Trust, and partnerships with non-profit sectors supporting affordable housing, potentially including hospitals, educational institutions, and professional labor organizations.”The plan, says McGreevey, will leverage developer contributions to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and distressed properties around the city. In addition, he adds, “Jersey City would support PILOTs (abatements) for affordable housing.”McGreevey is at pains to point out that he has “long standing” relationships throughout the state to make the plan happen. It’s something he believes only he brings to the table.How, I ask, does his plan differ from the approach currently taken by the Fulop administration. “The city will play a primary role in partnering with the development community to identify, secure and construct affordable housing.”“The point is that the city would be the catalyst…as opposed to the the city being a reluctant bride…as mayor, I want the responsibility of building affordable housing.”Would his plan, which places so much reliance on the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, preclude construction of affordable housing in more expensive neighborhoods like Downtown, I ask.“No” says McGreevey. “I believe there has to be balanced affordable housing throughout the city.”He returns to the French art museum.“I’m the only candidate opposed to Pompidou,” says McGreevey, citing a recent Jersey Journal article in which the other four candidates, James Solomon, Bill O’Dea, Mussab Ali and Joyce Watterman, expressed qualified support for it.“At the end of the day, you either have to be for Pompidou or against it…what I find to be disingenuous is that Councilman Solomon tries to have it both ways. Maybe yes but not yet, maybe no.”“To undertake what would ultimately be a billion dollars of liability for Jersey City for a cultural addition is, from my vantage point, absurd.”The post McGreevey Would Divert $150M Slated for Pompidou to Build 1000 Units of Affordable Housing appeared first on Jersey City Times.