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ROUGH CROWD: Protesters dog Schundler on Jersey City 'Success' tour
Originally appeared in the Jersey Journal on 09/06/01
Hounded by angry protesters, GOP gubernatorial candidate Bret
Schundler toured Jersey City yesterday to tout some of his marquee
accomplishments as mayor and kick off the final nine weeks of the
campaign.
Nearly an hour before Schundler arrived at Journal Square, where his
"Success" tour pushed off aboard three buses just after 9 a.m., more than
30 demonstrators held signs of admonishment such as "Thanks for the
debt Bret," and "Tax abate this, Bret."
Schundler -- accompanied by community, educational and business
leaders -- moved from the Square, which has received a face lift, to various
points around the city, including the Martin Luther King Drive
Redevelopment Area and the Golden Door Charter School on Ninth Street,
before reaching the waterfront.
Throughout the day, he touched on familiar points like cutting the
municipal work force, keeping the property tax levy stable, getting
unemployment figures to single digits, offering school choice and
increasing revenue through tax incentives. He also called for his
Democratic opponent, Woodbridge Mayor Jim McGreevey, to agree to
more than four public debates, which is two more than required.
"As you noticed, there are some professional protesters here today," said
Schundler, his amplified voice barely drowning out round after round of
anti-Schundler chants. "This was the case for all eight years."
At one point, he came close to losing his cool after Daryn Martin, head of
the New Jersey Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now,
poked Schundler and repeatedly shouted and waved his finger in his face.
The local chapter of the nonprofit ACORN often wrangled with the
Schundler administration over affordable housing in the city, the state's
second-largest.
"I'm gonna be in your face all day, Bret," Martin screamed throughout the
day as he and his group followed Schundler's buses. "You can't lie to
me."
Saying that Jersey City's renaissance on the waterfront -- often called Wall
Street West -- had been well-publicized, Schundler told supporters that the
tour would "focus on the other side of Jersey City."
Among the number of high-level functionaries from Schundler's Jersey City
administration who turned out to stump for the former Wall Street
investment planner yesterday were former Police Director Michael
Moriarty and former Department of Housing, Economic Development and
Commerce Director Annemarie Uebbing.
Uebbing led tours through two affordable housing developments started
under the Schundler administration -- the first Republican administration
since the early 1900s -- as well as the King Drive Hub, where a Ponderosa
Steakhouse, CitiMarkets and market-rate housing replaced empty lots.
Still, the protesters persisted.
"I've lived in Jersey City Heights for 13 years, and he hasn't done anything
to keep our rents down or help us pay the electric," ACORN demonstrator
Milady Cordero said.
With most of the affordable housing work done in Schundler's first term,
the total number of affordable units hovers around 2,700, including
apartments operated by the city's Housing Authority, Uebbing said.
"That's roughly 10 percent of all the units - 27,000 units - created
throughout the state in the past 20 years as a result of Mount Laurel,"
Schundler said, referring to a decision by the courts that established
guidelines regarding development and affordable housing in the state.
On the development of commercial sites, Schundler said that if his
successor as mayor, Glenn Cunningham, continues to "nurture" projects
set in motion by his administration, there could be as much as 18 million
square feet of first-class office space. That would be 50 percent of the
amount found in Los Angeles, which is 50 times larger, Schundler said.
According to three Realtors assembled at the Golden Door Charter
School, founded by Schundler, the past nine years have been markedly
different from a sales perspective.
"Before he took office, there were for sale signs all over the city with no
one interested in investing money in neighborhoods that looked run down,"
said Jeffrey Kaplowitz, a commercial Realtor and Planning Board
chairman under Schundler. "Today, the problem is that we don't have
enough product to meet the demand. People want to come to New York's
'West Bank.'"
First elected in 1992 during a special election that followed former Mayor
Gerald McCann's convictions on federal fraud and tax evasion charges in
1991, Schundler was re-elected twice by comfortable margins.
McGreevey has also enjoyed relatively easy re-election bids, but the
candidates' records and the complexity of the issues at hand, according
to Schundler, are like night and day.
"For one thing, he has never stood up to special interests in the interest of
residents," Schundler said. "That's why he gained the support of the
police unions.
McGreevey did some touring of his own yesterday, visiting an overcrowded
East Brunswick junior high school and pledging not to spend more than
the $8.6 billion already committed to school construction if he's elected.
Voters approved a $27 million addition to the East Brunswick schools, but
only because the state agreed to pay 40 percent, McGreevey said. That
cooperation provides direct property tax relief, he said.
"This is precisely the kind of partnership we need to build throughout the
state of New Jersey," he said.
Schundler has denounced the state program, saying voters should have
approved any deal involving so much debt. Schundler favors aggressive
support for charter schools and private education. Increasing enrollments
in those schools would ease pressure on the public school system,
Schundler says.
Recent polls show Schundler, a 42-year-old father of two, to be about 19
points behind McGreevey. But that's how Schundler's accustomed to
running a campaign. After trailing former U.S. Rep. Bob Franks for much
of the primary season, Schundler pulled off an upset in June to grab the
Republican nomination.
Jersey City's population has increased from about 238,000 in 1990 to
about 244,000 in 2000, according to census figures.
"This campaign is about choosing a candidate with a record of successful
executive leadership," Schundler said. "We turned this city around, and
Jim McGreevey and his supporters don't want you to see the progress."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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