JACKSON, N.J. – Last year, Jersey City officials announced they were cutting ties with Millennium Strategies over what that city’s new mayor then called an “unacceptable failure” with a $2 million state grant.
Now, Jackson Township has hired the same firm to manage its pursuit of public funding, according to a press release issued by Jackson Township Mayor Jennifer Kuhn. This week, the Jackson Township Council approved a $3,500 bill from the company, shortly before the announcement, which appears to be a monthly fee for services, according to other contracts on record with the firm.
Kuhn did not say how much the township will pay in total for the services.
That firm has deep political ties to the New Jersey Democrat party establishment. Owned by Ed Farmer, the former Chief of Staff to now deceased former far-left Democrat U.S. Congressman Bill Pascrell, the firm is a major player in North Jersey’s Democrat-run cities such as Paterson, East Orange, Jersey City, and Hoboken.
Farmer, a high-level Democrat operative, served on the 2010 Congressional Redistricting Commission was the tie-breaking vote that changed the New Jersey congressional map that gave Democrats in New Jersey a distinct advantage in Congressional election.
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He is often cited on the most powerful and influential Democrat political power player lists in New Jersey, according to his
In 2016, Farmer was a NJ elector for the Democratic Party and cast his vote for Hillary Clinton in the Presidential election between Clinton and President Donald J. Trump.
The township said it engaged Millennium Strategies to identify statewide grant opportunities, assist with applications, and help local departments pursue funding for recreation, law enforcement wellness, and transportation projects.
Mayor Kuhn described the move as a cost-saving measure to “maximize outside funding opportunities and reduce the financial burden on local taxpayers,” but Jersey City contends their failures were costly.
The announcement comes as Millennium Strategies continues to weather scrutiny in Hudson County.
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Jersey City’s Ward E Councilman James Solomon, now the city’s mayor said at the time, the city would terminate the firm’s contract after its application for the Seabrooks-Washington Community Crisis Response Team grant was rejected by the state. Solomon said the $2 million proposal was “well below basic writing standards” and that the city council received the submission only after it was denied.
State Senator Angela McKnight had called it “disappointing” that Hudson County missed out on the first round of crisis intervention funding created after the fatal police shootings of Najee Seabrooks in Paterson and Andrew Washington in Jersey City.
Millennium Strategies, led by Ed Farmer, a former congressional chief of staffer of Bill Pascrell, defended its record, noting it has helped Jersey City secure more than $56 million in alternative grants.
Among the upcoming funding rounds Jackson Township plans to pursue are the New Jersey Law Enforcement Wellness and Resiliency Grant Program, offering up to $50,000 per award, and the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs Local Recreation Improvement Grant, which provides up to $75,000 for park renovations. The township will also seek grants from NJ Transit for senior mobility services, worth as much as $300,000.
• Jackson Township hired Millennium Strategies for new grant initiative
• Jersey City fired the same firm over a failed $2 million state grant bid
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Mayor Kuhn said introductory meetings between Millennium Strategies and township departments have already been scheduled to align priorities and identify projects. The mayor called the partnership part of “a forward-thinking approach” to expanding funding for Jackson’s public programs and infrastructure improvements.
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