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Christian Mayor Transforms City
Originally appeared in Religion Today
Bret Schundler is a politician who sometimes sounds more like a pastor.
...The mayor of Jersey City, N.J.,
held a prayer vigil last April outside a sewage-treatment plantwhere a newborn baby had been found dead among the refuse. Life is sacred, Schundler told the interdenominational crowd, grieving over a culture in which a mother would drop her newborn into a sewer.
...Schundler, who is white and a Republican, stands out in Jersey City, one of the most ethnically diverse areas in the world. The home of Ellis Island, it is a city of immigrants where 65% of the population is a minority -- and only 6% is Republican. More than half the citizens don't speak English at home, and 20% have been Americans for less than 10 years.
...In 1992 at age 33, Schundler became the first Republican since World War I to be elected mayor of the largely working-class town across from lower Manhattan. He won a special election after the incumbent was convicted of various felonies and sentenced to jail. Schundler was re-elected in 1993 with 69% of the vote, the largest winning margin ever for a Jersey City mayor, and won another landslide in 1997.
...Schundler inherited a mayor's office so corrupt that one of his predecessor's desks was rigged to drop bribes into visitors' laps, news reports said. Local property taxes were soaring, the city was leading the state in job losses and facing bankruptcy as tax-collection rates had fallen to 82%, and unemployment and crime were rising.
...Schundler has reversed those trends. He lowered taxes, instituted pro-growth economic policies, and revitalized downtown shopping areas. Crime has dropped 40%, the city is no longer on the brink of bankruptcy, and the tax collection rate is 99%, news reports said.
..."I believe in empowering the disadvantaged. That is my goal," Schundler told Religion Today. People should have power, and the government's role should be to expand opportunities in areas such as education and healthcare. This includes the ideas of community policing and school choice, he said.
..."Power and money should be kept as close to the people as possible. When you disconnect power from responsibility, that is the root of evil. Power without responsibility leads to corruption."
...Shared belief in the principles of equality and democracy unites Americans despite their race, religion, or national origin, Schundler says. The city holds a year-long series of ethnic celebrations called Slice of Heaven Festival.
...The mayor also believes in the public practice of religious faith to a reasonable extent, and the city is being sued by the American Civil Liberties Union because it erects cultural displays at City Hall during the festival that include religious symbols. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is defending the city in the case, and has awarded Schundler its Canterbury Medal.
...Schundler was raised in a Christian home, and became a Christian himself at Westfield [New Jersey] High School while attending a Bible study at a friend's home. He planned to become a minister, and studied sociology at Harvard. He worked and studied at an inner-city church in Washington, D.C., and worked for a congressman and for Gary Hart's campaign for president.
...He spent time working at a church food pantry and a ministry for the homeless, became an elder in the congregation, and taught an adult Bible study while working on Wall Street as a bond salesman.
...Schundler says he feels called to serve God through faithful public service. "Sometimes politics seems futile," he said, but "the reason I work here is that I know I have the chance to make a difference." The key is to put God first, not personal ambition, he says. A lot of politicians "are looking for an office to give themselves self-esteem, money, and power. In my view, there are other ways to obtain self-esteem that require less sacrifice than politics.
..."Politics is nasty. To get ahead in today's political world you have to go after people and destroy them even if you have to lie. But I am not going to do that. There is the temptation to get political, to posture, and to defame your opponent. There is the temptation to oversimplify an issue and not bring out the truth. If you are not achieving good things then you are tempted to stop taking risks and get comfortable with special-interest groups. I can't do that."
...Change is a struggle in Jersey City, Schundler says. "My faith makes a difference in terms of patience and endurance in pursuit of goals. I need the strength of my faith to endure. I believe it is important to be faithful to your call and a vision of a good society. At the end of the day, it is important that we gave our best. Not that we achieved the Promised Land, but that we sought justice. It is God who gives the strength to carry on. The struggle itself has meaning."
...Christians "have to be in the world," said Schundler, who is married and has two children. "The dominant culture can be so offensive that we remove ourselves. Our culture has become hostile to Christians. There is a higher cost when you stand out. The bottom line is, when you go against the culture your beliefs are tested. We need to go forward despite the doubts. Remember, faith is not just feeling strong, it is being strong.
..."We might prefer to be a writer and tell everyone what to do instead of being the one doing it. At Judgment Day, I want to be told that I gave my best."
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