Freedom Quote by Vincent Frank

Vincent Frank is trying to sound pro-worker without sounding anti-business, and the tension is the point. The opening clause - "I do feel we can create more jobs and opportunities" - is a soft pledge, heavy on optimism and light on mechanisms. It signals empathy for residents who see cranes in the skyline but not necessarily paychecks in their neighborhoods. Then comes the pivot phrase that does the real work: "in the spirit of free enterprise". That line isn’t policy so much as a moral shield, invoking an American civic religion where markets are framed as the natural order and coercion is the original sin.

The target is clear: local hiring quotas, a common tool in fast-developing cities where construction booms and displacement anxieties rise in parallel. Frank’s subtext is that mandates are economically clumsy, legally risky, and politically alienating to employers - but he avoids saying that directly. Instead, he reframes the debate as a question of fairness to companies, not power dynamics between capital and community. "I do not think it is right" turns a structural issue into a personal ethic, making opposition feel principled rather than transactional.

Contextually, this sits in the familiar Jersey City (and broader metro) argument: growth is happening, but the distribution of its benefits is contested. Frank positions himself in the centrist lane: encourage local opportunity through incentives, pipelines, or partnerships, but keep the labor market "voluntary". The rhetorical trick is offering residents hope while reserving businesses the final say.