Michael Jackson says his Paterson bar is the target of political payback. Is it?

PATERSON — A city health inspector recently issued 11 violations against a bar and restaurant owned by Councilman Michael Jackson, who says his business was unfairly targeted.

The summonses were written on New Year’s Eve, when Jackson was hosting a private party at his business on Grand Street, which has been closed since 2020.

Officials said the alleged infractions included having no hot water, leaving mouse droppings on the floor, operating without a retail food license, and refusing to allow the inspector access to the business, which is called Jacksonville.

Jackson noted that the inspector who wrote up violations was working overtime on a Saturday and didn’t check any other businesses in the city that night. The councilman said those circumstances showed that the summonses stemmed from selective enforcement against him.

“Where’s the list of all the other businesses he inspected that night?” Jackson said. “Where’s all his other reports? There aren’t any, because he didn’t inspect any other businesses.”

City officials acknowledged that Jacksonville was the only business that underwent a health inspection on New Year’s Eve.

But they provided an explanation for that. Officials said the inspector had been at Jacksonville on Dec. 29, in anticipation of the New Year’s Eve reopening, and found about 17 problems, including several they said were so serious they could not let the business open.

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Officials said the inspector had told Jackson the business could not reopen until it went through a reinspection, but on New Year’s Eve the city health workers saw people setting up tables and chairs in Jacksonville’s outdoor patio area.

“We do not single out any business,” said Paterson’s health officer, Dr. Paul Persaud. “Councilman Jackson is being held to the same standard we hold every other business in the city of Paterson to.”

Outspoken and assertive, Jackson has been a relentless critic of Mayor Andre Sayegh for years. But the councilman is not blaming the mayor directly for the alleged selective enforcement. Instead, Jackson blames Persaud for the summonses issued to his business.

Jackson said Persaud had arranged clandestine meetings with him in the past, gatherings held outside of Paterson so they wouldn’t be seen together. During those meetings, Jackson said, Persaud complained to him about high-ranking members of Sayegh’s administration, including the mayor himself and his business administrator, Kathleen Long.

Jackson said Persaud was upset when he wouldn’t do his bidding and retaliated against his business.

Persaud said he never arranged any secret meetings with Jackson but recalled once seeing the councilman at a pizzeria in Totowa by happenstance. The health officer said the councilman may be trying to pressure him into going easy on his business.

“I will not be bullied by Michael Jackson,” Persaud said.

Moreover, Persaud asserted that he personally does not get involved in the work done by the city’s health inspectors.

“Whatever private conversation I may have had with Councilman Jackson or anybody else, the work done by our inspectors has nothing to do with me,” Persaud said.

Sayegh, when asked for comment, cited the pending election fraud criminal charges against Jackson.

“Mike Jackson is a scofflaw,” the mayor said. “Whether it is voter fraud or illegally operating an establishment, he has a perturbing propensity to break the rules.”

Jackson said he had repairs done and fixed all the problems at Jacksonville that were cited in the Dec. 29 inspection. But the councilman said he could not get the city to send an inspector on Dec. 30, before his party.

Jackson said most of the alleged infractions were petty, including the lack of a bathroom sign telling employees to wash their hands. The councilman said he went ahead and had the private New Year’s Eve party because the business was not open to the public.

City officials said Jackson faces about $2,000 in fines. They said Jacksonville cannot legally reopen until a health inspector confirms that the violations have been addressed.

Jackson said he would pay the fines and schedule the reinspection.

Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press.

Email: editor@patersonpress.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson NJ Michael Jackson Jacksonville bar