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Schundler bus tour showcases his version of urban success
Originally appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer on September 6, 2001
JERSEY CITY, N.J. - As voters make their choice for governor, Republican
candidate Bret D. Schundler wants them to consider his role in what he calls an
urban success story.
To get that message out, Schundler took reporters on a six-hour bus tour
through this urban melting pot yesterday - showcasing not only the gleaming
new office towers facing Manhattan, but also the critical, if more modest,
improvements in some of the city's poorest neighborhoods.
Schundler, who recently completed his second and final term as mayor, said his
stewardship of Jersey City, with an expanded tax base, declining crime rates
and affordable-housing initiatives, was the best barometer of how he would run
the state.
"By the time I came into office, this city was a basket case," Schundler said.
"We were hemorrhaging people and jobs. Today, the city is booming like
crazy."
Not everyone agrees. At each of Schundler's seven stops, he was encountered
by hecklers whose loud protests seemed almost as well-orchestrated as the bus
tour.
"What Jersey City Miracle?" and "My tax dollars built luxury condos" were
among the placards that greeted the campaign entourage.
Schundler has been criticized for granting too many tax abatements to wealthy
developers and focusing on waterfront development at the expense of the city's
neighborhoods.
He said, however, that the billions of dollars in real estate investment in
downtown Jersey City had created thousands of jobs, generated $30 million
yearly in new tax revenue, and led to a vastly improved mass-transit system.
Schundler's Jersey City Success Tour came as polls show him trailing his
Democratic opponent, Woodbridge Mayor James E. McGreevey, by as much
as 20 percentage points.
Schundler blamed his showing in the polls in part on what he said was
excessive press coverage of his positions against abortion and gun control. He
said he expected the race to tighten up soon after his television and radio
advertising, as well as his direct-mail campaign, begins next week.
It was not until he launched his media advertising last spring, Schundler said,
that he began closing the gap with the party favorite, former U.S. Rep. Bob
Franks, in the Republican primary.
"I was the first [Jersey City] mayor to be reelected in 30 years," Schundler
said, because "I delivered."
The most visible symbol of Jersey City's rebirth is its rapidly developing
waterfront, with new high-rise office towers and residential complexes on the
west bank of the Hudson River. Schundler, however, also emphasized
improvements he helped deliver to some of the city's poorest areas.
The tour included, for example, a look at a redevelopment program that
features a new shopping center, grocery store, restaurant and post office in one
the city's most run-down areas.
He also took reporters to the site of a $20 million project that is designed to
create 135 units of affordable housing.
The campaign tour also included a stop at the Golden Door Charter School,
where Schundler reasserted his support for charter-school initiatives throughout
New Jersey.
Increasing enrollment in those schools would ease pressure on the public school
system, Schundler has said.
McGreevey yesterday said he supported the state's public school-construction
program but pledged not to spend more than the $8.6 billion already committed
if elected.
Schundler has denounced the state program, saying voters should have
approved any deal involving so much debt.
Other critics say the $8.6 billion is not enough. McGreevey said it should be
sufficient as long as the state provided proper oversight.
"New Jersey must be committed to the $8.6 billion and learn to live within its
means," he said.
McGreevey is backed by the state teachers' union, the largest labor group in
the state.
He was also endorsed yesterday by the Medical Society of New Jersey, a
doctors' lobby, and the union representing college professors.
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