Newark, a comeback story in New Jersey, the exception of the rule

Newark’s Mayor Cory Booker, a young raising star in the Democratic Party, praised Hispanic leaders for their contribution to the Brick City’s resurge

Mayor Cory Booker interviewed
by Susana G. Baumann

Newark is not only the largest city but also one of the most diverse in New Jersey, with over 33 percent Hispanic and 52 percent African American residents. 

While many cities around the state are struggling with budget constrains, the Brick City is finally experiencing a long due resurge thanks to the administration of Mayor Cory Booker, the young raising star in the NJ Democratic Party. 

The city has suffered from bad planning to government corruption for decades. The success is due in part, he said, to the industrious and innovative nature of Hispanic leaders in town. 

Booker, who was involved in a controversy that arose this year on Meet the Press, a weekly news show produced by NBC where he criticized an Obama campaign’s ad calling it “nauseating” –, Booker said in an exclusive interview that he is “one of President Obama’s strongest supporters.” 

“This comeback would have never happened if I did not have the support of all my constituents, and the state as well as the federal government,” Booker said. “Both Gov. Christie and Pres. Obama have been supportive of my administration,” said Booker. “As a result, we had important job creation and economic growth in Newark.” In fact, Booker showed a favorable public opinion of 47 percent in recent local polls. 

Booker came into office in 2006 to find a broken government, from a financial and credibility point of view. Following years of government corruption, the new mayor started with a 100-day plan to implement his first reforms in Newark, which resulted in changes in police and law enforcement, youth programs and employment opportunities. 

“Today, Newark has a story to tell, a comeback story, and the Latino community has made an important contribution to this story through its industrious and innovative leaders who have created opportunities for our city. From ‘bodegas’ to corporations, Hispanics have put in their energy and passion in growing the economy, reforming government, and growing and expanding their businesses,” Booker said to a crowd gathered by the New Jersey Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce at the One Gateway Center downtown Newark. 

With a new development model in mind that included private sources to fund public projects, Booker’s leadership has attracted over $100 million in private patronage and counting. He established a foundation to raise funds to support projects such as the police department’s upgrade and the city’s charter school system. 

But also a number of initiatives including $14 million in business loans and $700 million in infrastructure projects have attracted 75 new ventures, Booker mentioned. Hosting events such as the NCAA East Regional men’s basketball tournament at the Prudential Center in 2011 not only attracted 20,000 visitors but also showed Newark’s potential for new businesses. 

Shortly after the event, Courtyard by Marriott announced ground-breaking of a downtown first new hotel in nearly 40 years. The new project located at the Prudential Center, a mixed-use hotel and retail stores, will be a significant means of economic growth, bringing new investment and employment to the Brick City. 

As important to residents in the downtown area has also been the opening of The Food Depot, a Hispanic supermarket that launched this year on First Street. Many Latino residents looking for fresh groceries and ethnic products can find their favorites in this new retail store, the first to be opened in this location in nearly 20 years. The project got a $2 million loan from the Brick City Development Corporation and a 30-year decreasing tax break. 

Carlos A. Medina, new Chairman of the NJ Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said, “Booker’s desire to open businesses to minorities is there. It is up to us now, Latino business owners, to follow through.”

Paul Ryan prevails, ending an era in the Republican Party

Paul Ryan elected VP and the end of the moderate Republican Party as we know it

The era of moderates Nelson Rockefeller, George Pataki, Christie Todd Whitman, Bob Dole and John McCain has been definitely defeated. With Paul Ryan’s nomination as Mitt Romney running mate, the Tea Party movement has definitely made its coming of age in the national scene. 

Signs of the party’s conservative faction success was already seen with the retirement of Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), announced back in February of this year, and recently  Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio), who became the latest moderate Republican to retreat on Capitol Hill. 

The polarization of the Republican Party has been so extreme in the last five years that it is hard to find even similarities between some of these defeated moderates and the new extreme conservatives as belonging to the same party. 

Nelson Rockefeller’s life, for instance, a man whose level of wealth could compare with Gov. Mitt Romney’s, would make any present Republican and even Democrat go pale. Former Vice-President Rockefeller, an active philanthropist who built good relationships with unions, worked hard to improve education and social programs, and donated his salary to programs for youth and the arts, said in 1972 regarding the abortion law repeal:

“I do not believe it right for one group to impose its vision of morality on an entire society," the governor said. "Neither is it just or practical for the state to attempt to dictate the innermost personal beliefs and conduct of its citizens. The extremes of personal vilification and political coercion brought to bear on members of the Legislature raise serious doubts that the votes to repeal the reforms represented the will of a majority ...”

Positions have changed but tactics have not. 

Even moderate Senator McCain had to move to the right-wing of his own party in the last election campaign in order to be considered as an electable candidate. With his radicalization, the era of bi-partisanism is also gone.

The Arizona Senator, who was one of the most  active politicians reaching across aisles, wrote with Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman the 9/11 Commission legislation, co-sponsored with Democratic Senator Fritz Hollings the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, and with Wisconsin Democrat Russ Feingold The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. Working with Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy, McCain was a strong proponent of comprehensive immigration reform, a law that was never passed. 

Bringing in Paul Ryan means a fundamental decision for the Republican campaign. They bring a career politician to the team, a true “Washington resident,” someone who has never been exposed to the real world of Main Street America or Wall Street America, someone who is an ideologue, and whose theory fills a whole in the Romney campaign. 

Ryan has written a business plan for a “business” he did not create, he did not build, and he has not been involved with. He brings very specific guidelines to his proposed budget, some of them yet to be largely proven. And for the first time in this campaign, that is progress. Now Romney cannot hide in his flip-flop strategy any more.