Jerramiah T. Healy is a life-long resident and advocate of Jersey City. At an early age, his Irish immigrant parents taught him a strong work ethic and a sense of family values and moral integrity. These character strengths have played an integral role in his persona in Jersey City throughout his years as a husband, father, and public servant.

Healy attended Villanova University in Pennsylvania and helped to pay for his education by working as an ironworker out of Local #45 Ironworker's Union in Jersey City during his breaks from college. He graduated from Villanova in 1972, and went on to attend Seton Hall University School of Law.

Prior to his tenure as Mayor of Jersey City, Jerramiah Healy has had a lustrous career of public service that includes:

  • City Councilman At Large from 2001 –2004;
  • Appointed Chief Judge of the Jersey City Municipal Court in 1991 and reappointed to a second term in 1995;
  • Attorney for Rent Control Board from 1989-1991;
  • Assistant Corporation Counsel of Jersey City from 1981-1986;
  • Law practitioner in sole business from 1981-1991; and
  • Assistant Prosecutor for the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office from 1977-1981.

In a special election held in November 2004, Jerramiah Healy made a successful bid for Mayor, to serve out the unexpired term of the late Mayor Glenn D. Cunningham in May 2004. Mayor Healy was re-elected overwhelmingly in the May 2005 elections to fulfill a four-year term ending in 2009.

Since taking office, Mayor Healy and his administration have been advocates for reducing crime and making the streets safer, improving the quality of life, and bringing more jobs and ratables to reduce the property tax burden on the Jersey City community. Some of his initiatives and achievements include:

  • A massive Capitol Improvements Program with an emphasis on pothole and street resurfacing throughout Jersey City;
  • Employed a hotel tax that will be an annual stream of revenue for the City;
  • Hired additional police officers since taking office, and established a Gang Unit under the Streets Crime Unit to effectively help in reducing the 2006 percentage of violent crimes by 23%;
  • Advocate of getting illegal guns off city streets, and member of Mayor’s Against Illegal Guns Coalition started by Mayor Michael Bloomberg;
  • Launched Operation Lifesaver, a gun buy back & amnesty program, which removed 897 weapons from the streets of Jersey City;
  • As a member of the New Jersey Conference of Mayor’s Gang Prevention and Youth Violence Task Force, has put a bill before the state legislature to combat gun offenses and toughen the penalties for those caught with illegal possession of hand guns
  • Enforced the Jersey City Business Curfew Ordinance to eliminate increased violence and robberies at all-night establishments;
  • Re-established the Mayor's "Quality of Life" Task Force, commit- ted to protecting the public's health, safety and welfare, which has been instrumental in extracting over $320,000 in fines from slumlords;
  • Advocated for jobs and ratables for Jersey City residents by lobbying for the development of the AMB Warehouse Project on Truck Routes 1&9 that will bring over 350 jobs and over $1 million annually in tax revenue, and spur development on the City’s west side.

Mayor Healy is proud to lead and serve one of the most diverse cities in the nation, and is committed to Jersey City’s growth and development as the “economic engine” of the state. By establishing the Jerramiah T. Healy Charitable Foundation Inc., the Mayor and Mrs. Healy hope to ease the financial burdens of those residents of limited financial means to help them create a better and brighter future for themselves and their families.