2025 Mayoral Candidates Sustainability Platforms
Jersey City, NJ - September 9, 2025 – Sustainable Jersey City (SJC) today announced the release of its 2025 Mayoral Candidate Assessment, a comprehensive survey designed to provide residents with insights into candidates’ sustainability visions, policies, and priorities.
The survey was collaboratively generated to give neighborhood groups and city stakeholders a deeper understanding of where mayoral candidates stand on critical issues impacting the city’s future. Grounded in SJC’s more than a decade of work on local sustainability, the assessment asks candidates to outline their approaches to climate resilience, environmental justice, community engagement, nature preservation, and sustainable economic development.
“As a nonprofit, SJC does not endorse candidates, but believe that all societal choice-making must be guided by the triple bottom line of people, planet, and prosperity,” said Debra Italiano, Founder and Chair of Sustainable Jersey City. “This assessment ensures that Jersey City residents have access to clear, comparative information about each candidate’s sustainability commitments before casting their votes.”
“Mayoral race platforms tackle several key issues. By spotlighting sustainability, we’re reminding candidates and the community that Jersey City’s future depends on resilient policies that balance growth with equity and environmental stewardship” said David Larrabee, SJC Board Member. “This assessment highlights the urgency of integrated policy solutions and ensures that sustainability remains at the center of the mayoral race,” added Ashwani Vasishth, SJC Board Member.
Key Findings from Candidate Responses
Most of the Mayoral Candidates referenced these themes in their Sustainability Vision for Jersey City:
● Improve Environmental Justice and Reduce Inequity, in underrepresented communities
● Climate Action Planning as a priority, particularly for the most vulnerable communities
● Address Air Pollution from traffic and city buildings
● Increase JC Tree Canopy (particularly in deficient neighborhoods), Protect and Expand Open Space (such as Liberty State Park/Caven Point, 6th Street Embankment, Essex–Hudson Greenway, Skyway Park), and adopt a Parks & Open Space Master Plan
● Increase Green infrastructure to control flooding and other services from Nature
Excerpted below are two representative planks from each individual candidate’s responses.
(Full responses are hyper-linked at each candidate’s name)
○ Make Community Climate Impacts part of the City’s Intentional Leadership[
○ Expand Recycling Services to include organic waste and composting
● Bill O’Dea:
○ Establish a Sustainability Commission and embed sustainability principles into every City policy, budget, and development decision
○ Use Green Bonds and Participatory Budgeting, to make residents partners in driving a just transition.
○ Double the tree canopy and expand access to Open Space in underserved neighborhoods
○ Push for a PFAS/PFOS (“Forever Chemicals,” that can not break down naturally) filtration process at stormwater treatment plants; starting with JC / PVSC (Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission)
○ Champion a Municipal Environmental Justice Ordinance
○ Use the Cultivating Climate Justice plan (prepared for Jackson Hill) as a model, and prioritize Wards A, B, and D; the south and west, working-class residents and communities of color for climate and environmental amenities investment
● Mussab Ali:
○ Prioritize those who have historically been excluded from environmental investments, starting with communities hit first and worst by climate impacts, including those who experience chronic flooding
○ Hold polluters accountable
○ Expand recycling to include organics, and convert food and yard waste into compost for community gardens and parks
○ Invest in green infrastructure, including rain gardens, permeable pavements, and green roofs, to manage flooding and improve air quality
To help you compare positions offline a detailed candidate-by-candidate set of responses are also available here altogether to review yourself or to share with your community - click here or share https://tinyurl.com/SJC-JC-Mayoral-Questionnaire
Meantime, residents can sign up to receive additional updates at https://mailchi.mp/sustainablejc/signup.
