10/16/2026
For the record, my comments are not about the Jersey City allegations, but a much larger systemic problem.
As a women in leaderships role(s) on multiple fronts, unfortunately I can relate to this story. It breaks my heart how we dismissed people when we feel we no longer need them because we've gotten what we wanted out of them;
their contributions minimize,
their dignity vandalized,
their reputation scandalized
their presence invisibilized, and
their treatment criminalized.
The means doesn't always justify the ends and their end doesn't reflect they had no meaning.
This in not a Jersey City story, but an America story.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1FPWA1Ss5L/
𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗘𝗧𝗧𝗬 𝗦𝗜𝗗𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗝𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗦 𝗦𝗢𝗟𝗢𝗠𝗢𝗡: 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝗔𝗖𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗛𝗘𝗗 𝗪𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗡, 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗕𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗘𝗫𝗜𝗧𝗦, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗔 𝗠𝗔𝗬𝗢𝗥 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗡𝗘𝗘𝗗𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗡 𝗦𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗧
By The Chronicler In Chief
Three accomplished women. Three troubling personnel decisions. And a mayor whose treatment of senior professionals is becoming as much of a story as the departures themselves.
There is an old saying that you can learn a lot about someone's character by watching how they treat people when they no longer need them.
If that's the standard, Mayor James Solomon has a serious character problem.
This week, Jersey City Corporation Counsel Sarah Levine became the latest senior official to experience what appears to be the petty and unnecessarily humiliating treatment coming out of the Solomon administration.
After submitting her resignation and offering to remain through November 20 to ensure an orderly transition, Levine instead found herself locked out of city email, Microsoft Teams, and electronic files. According to her October 13 letter, she was instructed not to enter City Hall. Administration officials even showed up at her office with boxes and instructions to pack her belongings.
Think about that.
This wasn't an employee accused of stealing taxpayer money or committing a crime. This was Jersey City's top attorney, a respected professional who was offering to help transition her responsibilities.
The administration says it had no obligation to accept her proposed departure date. Fair enough. But that doesn't explain why the transition had to be handled this way.
There is a difference between making a difficult personnel decision and humiliating someone on the way out.
And this isn't the first time.
𝗟𝗘𝗧'𝗦 𝗧𝗔𝗟𝗞 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗖𝗘𝗬 𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗔𝗚𝗔𝗡.
Former Health and Human Services Director Stacey Flanagan spent years helping build one of Jersey City's most important departments.
From expanding food and nutrition programs to improving healthcare access, building community partnerships, helping vulnerable residents, and managing public health responsibilities during COVID-19, Flanagan had a record of service that deserved professional consideration.
Yet her departure under Solomon was also described as abrupt, with allegations that she was locked out of city systems and pushed aside without the courtesy her years of service deserved.
And what exactly was her offense?
Was it that she was a holdover from the Fulop administration? That she was somebody the former mayor valued?
If Solomon wanted a different director, he had every right to pursue one. But replacing an administration official does not require treating that person as though years of work suddenly mean nothing.
And before we forget, 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗧𝗔𝗪𝗔𝗡𝗔 𝗠𝗢𝗢𝗗𝗬?
This is where the story becomes even more troubling.
Tawana Moody made history as Jersey City's first Black woman to lead its Police Department, serving as its civilian Police Director.
A Jersey City native, Moody worked her way up from a clerk in 2005 to one of the most important positions in municipal public safety.
She wasn't handed a career. She built one.
For years, Moody handled administrative responsibilities involving hundreds of civilian employees and sworn officers, police operations, recruitment, accountability, and community relations.
Her appointment represented a historic achievement for an African American woman in Jersey City government.
Then James Solomon became mayor.
Moody was removed from her Police Director position and reassigned to the Law Department.
But according to allegations concerning her removal, Moody was also locked out of her Public Safety office and stripped of access to city systems.
Those allegations deserve answers.
Was her access terminated before the reassignment was completed? Who authorized it? What personnel procedures were followed?
And why was a woman who spent two decades working her way through the department allegedly treated in this manner?
You don't have to agree with every decision Moody made as Police Director to recognize what she accomplished.
Nor does her historic appointment make her immune from a new mayor's personnel decisions.
But the office she held and the career she built deserved respect.
𝗦𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗛 𝗟𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗡𝗘. 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗖𝗘𝗬 𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗔𝗚𝗔𝗡. 𝗧𝗔𝗪𝗔𝗡𝗔 𝗠𝗢𝗢𝗗𝗬.
Three women who reached leadership positions in a municipal government where getting to the top is no easy accomplishment.
One served as the city's chief legal officer. Another directed public health and social services. The third broke a historic barrier in policing.
And all three found themselves on the receiving end of personnel decisions that deserve public scrutiny.
Does this prove Solomon is motivated by sexism? No.
But when three accomplished women are associated with allegations of abrupt removals, revoked access, and embarrassing treatment, the mayor should expect questions.
Particularly a mayor who has built his political identity around progressive values, fairness, dignity, and respect.
Those values shouldn't disappear when the women involved are no longer part of your preferred leadership team.
And there is another issue here.
Solomon grew up in affluent Millburn, attended private school, and went on to Pomona College and Harvard.
There is nothing wrong with that background. But professional reputations are built over decades, and they can be damaged in a matter of hours.
For people who have spent their careers working in government, their names and professional records matter long after one mayor leaves office.
Maybe Solomon understands that. Maybe he doesn't.
Either way, the way these decisions have been handled is his responsibility.
The argument isn't that Solomon must retain every Fulop appointee. Elections have consequences. Mayors choose their teams.
But there is no requirement that a change in leadership come with public embarrassment, boxes, or sudden lockouts that leave people wondering what somebody did wrong.
And let's consider the message being sent to other professionals who might want to work for Jersey City.
Why would an accomplished attorney, finance professional, public health executive, or experienced administrator walk into this administration after watching what has happened?
Senior officials are leaving at an extraordinary pace. The administration has described departures as part of its restructuring and its effort to secure the leadership it wants.
Meanwhile, respected professionals are publicly disputing how their departures were handled.
Is this supposed to encourage people to apply?
A mayor may think these tactics make him look decisive. From where I sit, they make his administration look unnecessarily combative.
Strong leadership doesn't require making somebody else feel small.
And what makes the Levine situation particularly revealing is that she offered to stay and assist with the transition, even without pay if necessary.
Think about that. Your Corporation Counsel is offering to help protect the city's legal interests during a period of significant turnover, and the response she describes involves revoked access and boxes.
Why?
What was accomplished that couldn't have been handled through a professional transition?
The same questions apply to Flanagan and Moody. What was the operational need for the alleged lockouts? Were established personnel procedures followed? Were these decisions reviewed by Human Resources and the Law Department?
Those are fair questions, and City Hall should answer them.
𝗠𝗔𝗬𝗢𝗥 𝗦𝗢𝗟𝗢𝗠𝗢𝗡, 𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧 𝗣𝗘𝗢𝗣𝗟𝗘 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗔𝗬 𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗦𝗔𝗬𝗦 𝗔 𝗟𝗢𝗧 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗗.
You can talk about building a better government, replacing the old political culture, and bringing accountability to City Hall.
But your own conduct has to meet the standards you demand from everyone else.
Sarah Levine, Stacey Flanagan, and Tawana Moody are not disposable political accessories. They are professionals with careers, reputations, and records of public service.
They deserved to have their transitions handled with basic dignity.
And while the boxes brought into Sarah Levine's office may become the lasting image of this latest City Hall controversy, Jersey City residents should be asking a larger question.
𝗪𝗛𝗬 𝗗𝗢𝗘𝗦 𝗝𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗦 𝗦𝗢𝗟𝗢𝗠𝗢𝗡 𝗦𝗘𝗘𝗠 𝗧𝗢 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗦𝗨𝗖𝗛 𝗔 𝗗𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗨𝗟𝗧 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘 𝗟𝗘𝗧𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗣𝗘𝗢𝗣𝗟𝗘 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗜𝗥 𝗗𝗜𝗚𝗡𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗖𝗧?
The mayor owes the public an explanation.
Because three accomplished women should not have to become cautionary tales about what happens when City Hall decides it no longer needs you.
