Jersey City Council ceremonies drag meetings, resident says in letter

Yvonne Balcer knows the rhythm of a City Council meeting like she knows her own living room. She’s been attending since the 1970s. So when she sat through the June 24th meeting, watching the clock tick from 6:05 to 7:30 while ceremonies honoring people and groups took up precious time, she felt a familiar frustration.

“The council gave recognition ceremonies which lasted until 7:30,” Balcer wrote in a letter to the editor published by Hudson County View. “The issue is that they keep expanding at the expense of the public’s time.”

What’s happening

Balcer’s letter points to a specific problem: the City Council starts its regular meetings with lengthy recognition ceremonies — handing out proclamations, honoring community members, celebrating achievements. But those ceremonies eat into the time set aside for the public to speak about pressing city matters. On June 24th, the agenda included 16 second-reading ordinances and 113 citizens who had signed up to speak. Only 26 actually got their turn at the microphone. Many left as midnight rolled around, she says.

Balcer argues that these ceremonies, which became popular in the 1990s, have grown out of proportion. She wants them moved to a separate time, like a Saturday, so the public can get its business done without waiting hours.

The background

City Council meetings in Jersey City are where residents can address their elected officials directly. People come to talk about everything from potholes to zoning changes to public safety. The council president, Denise Ridley, sets the agenda. She has served on the council for 12 years and has been council president since 2022. Balcer says Ridley bears responsibility for how meetings are structured.

“She needs to show the public more respect and put their business first,” Balcer wrote.

The issue isn’t new. Balcer notes she has watched these ceremonies expand over decades. What changed, she suggests, is the volume of public business and the number of people wanting to speak. On June 24th, 113 people requested time. With each speaker getting around three minutes, that’s nearly six hours of public comment alone — before the council even votes on ordinances.

What it means for Hudson County

For the average Jersey City resident, this isn’t just a procedural gripe. It’s about whether their voice actually gets heard. If you take the bus to city hall after a long workday, you want to speak your piece and head home. Instead, you might sit through two hours of cheerful ceremony, then wait another four hours before your name is called.

That’s if you can stay that long. Balcer points out some speakers had work the next day. Others relied on public transportation that stops running late.

“Out of the 113 citizens who requested time, only 26 actually spoke because many left as midnight approached,” she wrote.

This isn’t just about inconvenience. It’s about fairness. A public meeting that starts with hours of ceremony can feel like a delay tactic, even if no one intends it that way. People with early morning jobs or long commutes are effectively silenced.

What people are saying

Balcer’s letter speaks for itself: direct, frustrated, specific. She doesn’t attack the idea of recognition ceremonies — she says they’re fine, just not during the public’s time. “Set Saturday aside for these events so the public can speak on serious matters,” she wrote.

The council president, Denise Ridley, has not publicly responded to the letter. Council meetings are often streamed and recorded. The council could decide to change the agenda order. Other cities, like Hoboken, have experimented with moving ceremonies to designated dates.

For now, Balcer’s letter is a reminder that long meetings have real consequences for real people.

What comes next

The Jersey City Council meets regularly, usually on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month. The next meeting will have an agenda posted online a few days before. Residents who want to speak should still sign up early. But if they’re worried about ceremony delays, they may consider contacting the council president’s office ahead of time to ask for a change in the order of business.

Balcer’s letter may prompt a larger conversation about meeting structure — and about who gets to set the priorities for the people’s time.

In the end, it’s a simple request: put the public’s business first. Because when you’ve been attending meetings since the 1970s, you know how much that matters.