An interfaith group of religious and civic organizations met Sunday with District 34 officials, pressing them to address property taxes, affordable housing, and college tuition charges for undocumented immigrants.

New Jersey State Sen. Nia Gill and Assembly members Sheila Oliver and Thomas Giblin — all Democrats — attended the meeting of the Jubilee Interfaith Organization, held Oct. 29 at the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in East Orange.

Bnai Keshet congregation in Montclair is the only Jewish organization affiliated with the NJ Regional Coalition of the JIO.

Nevertheless, the Rev. Moacir Weinrich of St. Stephan’s United Church of Christ in Newark invoked the Jewish concept of tikun olam — repairing the world — in his remarks about the purpose of the gathering.

District 34 — which encompasses Clifton, East Orange, Glen Ridge, Montclair, and West Paterson — is known as a region of dichotomies, said the Rev. Gladys Moore, president of JIO and program chair. It is a model of ethnic diversity, with some of the most desirable property in the state. At the same time, she said, it is “also one of the most segregated” areas in the state.

Paul Bellan-Boyer, chair of JIO’s Housing Task Force, spoke about the disparities in building affordable and low-income housing in New Jersey. Prosperous towns like Chatham, Millburn, and Roseland were able to literally buy their way out of the state-mandated requirements through regional contribution agreements (RCAs), in which wealthy municipalities pay other towns to assume their affordable housing obligations. He urged the officials to support the elimination of RCAs, calling them “bad public policy, bad for working families, and immoral.”

Ellen Kolba of Bnai Keshet picked up on those themes in her remarks. “Why should some towns have so much money that they can afford to pay to keep low-income housing out of their towns?” she said. “If you’re a demographically diverse town like Montclair, if you have a much more diverse school population, you get punished with rising tax rates” and lower education funding. She called for a system “that shares some of the billions in tax revenue.”

Analillia Mejia, policy director for the Immigration Policy Network, said that inequitable tuition charges put college out of reach for many immigrant families. Rutgers University, for example, charges undocumented immigrants the out-of-state rate of $30,000 per year, rather than the $19,000 New Jersey resident tuition.

“[Immigrants] pay taxes, work hard, and send their kids to school for a better life,” Mejia said, “but they are refused the same level of tuition…. It is in no one’s interest that children of undocumented immigrants remain poor and exploitable.”

The speakers’ comments received frequent exclamations of “amen” from the audience of about 70. After each presentation, Moore, pastor of St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church in Newark, beckoned the legislators, one by one, to the front of the sanctuary, where she asked for a promise of support for the initiative, speaking down at them from her high “perch” of the church’s pulpit.

Placed in such a spotlight, Gil, Giblin, and Oliver each agreed to do everything they could to promote the initiative.

Moore also implored the legislators to attend a Nov. 19 JIO meeting at St. Nicholas of Tolentine Roman Catholic Church in Atlantic City, where congregations, community groups, and other organizations from throughout the state will address legislators on these issues.

Sen. Robert Menendez, a last-minute addition to the program, appeared briefly. Menendez said he would make his “best effort” to attend the Nov. 19 meeting, pending the state’s legislative schedule.

“This afternoon we have called for a new vision for New Jersey,” Moore concluded, “a vision of stability and community, a vision of opportunity and fairness. This afternoon we have joined together to make our voices heard, not only in District 34, but throughout the state.”

Following the program, Kolba told NJ Jewish News the presence of the lawmakers was crucial “because they are the ones who have to act on these issues.” The timing of the meeting had less to do with the mid-term elections — at the time, less than two weeks away — than with the need to address important issues ahead of the Nov. 15 deadline for a special legislative session to devise property tax reform recommendations.

Kolba added that JIO had originally planned the meeting for a month ago, but postponed it because Gil was unable to attend due to health-related issues.

Kolba agreed that there was a lot of pressure brought to bear on the officials and praised Moore for the “dynamic style” of the meeting. “To me, it’s a strange kind of format, but it works,” Kolba said. “If she weren’t already busy with her church, I think she should run for public office.”

Additional groups at the meeting represented Grace Community Lutheran Church, Temple of Unified Christians, Emmanuel Baptist Church, St. Elizabeth’s Roman Catholic Church, Family Promise, Fourth Ward Block Association Council of Montclair, Holy Spirit Church, and Christ Episcopal Church.

For more information about the Jubilee Interfaith Organization or the Nov. 19 meeting, contact Karen Szczepanski, NJRC organizer, at 973-747-2238.