SCHUNDLER
MYTH
updated 5/3/01
Let's clear up the MYTH that Schundler won the mayoral elections in Jersey City as a Republican. Mayoral elections in Jersey City are NON-PARTISAN elections, which means people run under a slogan but not a party affiliation. There is no Democrat nor Republican slate. The special election held in November 1992 had 19 people running for the expired seat of Gerald McCann, who had been indicted and forced to resign!! McCann was later convicted for tax evasion and bank fraud of a Florida bank after he lost his re-election bid for mayor in 1985 to Anthony Cucci. McCann had been re-elected in 1989 as a response to people's anger over the botched property revaluation that took effect in 1988. The reval doubled if not tripled residential taxes while commercial taxes went the other way. People were angry, rightfully so.
Schundler at that time ran as the "fresh face" who had no ties to local politics, was Harvard educated and had $200-300,000 of his own money to risk running for office. He was better financed than most, which hasn't changed. He also kept lying about his being the founder of the "Coalition for Fair Taxation" activists group which really began in my dining room after I called a meeting of about a dozen of my neighbors. I had gone to see RPA, the appraisers, who had the city contract for the city-wide revaluation. After much questioning I knew that we, the homeowners, were in big trouble. Two of my neighbors, Audrey and John, co-chaired the group and Schundler made an appearance at a meeting occasionally. It was a huge investment in time and money for legal fees, for dozens of us. Too bad many of the activists have since moved out and others have dropped out. There're a few of us "survivors" still fighting the good fight but who'd have expected the corruption we've witnessed under the Schundler administration! We thought he was one of us.
Prior to the "Special Election" in 1992, Schundler, as a Republican, ran against Edward O'Connor the Democrat incumbent for the NJ State Senate race in November 1991. Although Schundler lost the election, he had garnered a respectable vote especially in Bayonne which had just gone through a property revaluation and the people were angry. They wanted to punish the incumbent who had nothing to do with the reval.
As Jerome Lazarus saw the Schundler election in 1992…. "Elected by a fluke, just 17% of the vote, in a special election on platform promises of drastic tax reductions, school vouchers and property reassessments, Bret Schundler found himself in the national spotlight as one of the bright young stars in the Republican party firmament. Untimely for him, he only had a few months of an unexpired term to prove himself before another municipal election. The school voucher issue was sidetracked by the governor and his plan for redoing assessments was shot down."
In the May 1993 election, for a full 4 year term, Schundler downplayed his Republican ties during the election. He was a "new Democrat". Voters felt that he needed more time and they voted in his entire slate. They weren't voting for a Republican or Democrat but for a "fresh face" who would use his Wall Street expertise to solve the city's financial problems. (see BULK LIEN SALES). At the time, the city's annual "structural deficit", as it was termed, was around $40 million. Today the estimates estimate range anywhere from $30 to $58 million depending on which public official you talk to. That means the city's spending annually $30- 58 million more than it brings in through taxes, state aid and grants, even today with all the building going on the "Gold Coast". Of course Schundler blames the state with their aid not keeping up with inflation but if you've read the other topics, no entity could bankroll the blunders and mismanagement of this administration. After the election, Schundler whitewashed the election as a Republican win, which it wasn't. Just the mere fact his Republican endorsements, like Bill Machi for County Exec, have had no impact in getting any Republican elected in Jersey City/Hudson County is further evidence.
In 1997, Schundler, the incumbent ran against Gerald McCann and Jeremiah Healy. Gerry McCann, after all the petitions were filed and certified, was ruled ineligible to run since he couldn't vote due to his 1992 conviction. Jeremiah Healy, a former Municipal Court Judge and relatively unknown, who was supported by the County, forced Schundler into a run-off election in June '97 since neither he nor Schundler got 50% plus 1 vote to win outright.. The results came down to about 12 votes and as in Florida there were numerous complaints of machine failures, questionable ballots etc. Consequently, Judge D'Italia ruled there there be a run-off election which there was. Schundler won but not by much. Schundler's response to D'Italia decision was to call him a "corrupt" judge. It was all over the papers but didn't surprise the people who know and have seen Schundler in action.
Check out the ARTHUR ANDERSEN SPECIAL AUDIT REPORT required by the State in order for Jersey City to qualify for last year's $ 16 MILLION Distressed Cities Monies. In typical Schundler fashion, all of the City's problems are a result of the lack of adequate state funding not the fact that the more $$$$ you give Schundler the more he mismanages. The audit results confirm what I and other activists having been saying for years. Check it out...
As a gubernatorial candidate, Schundler has been touring the state for months peddling his Conservative pro-guns, anti-NEA, anti-gay, pro-life image. After all the fanfare, and really to no one's surprise, he has no real support in the Republican party and prominent party members have repeatedly asked him to drop out. Now he's trying to soft pedal his conservative bent just like he downplayed his republican affiliations when he's ran for mayor in 1992, 1993 and 1997. Here follows Schundler's response to an article by Joseph Albright, a reporter for years on the Trenton scene.
I run as a problem-solver
02/19/01 (Jersey Journal Letter to the Editor)
Joseph Albright's reporting in his news story in The Jersey Journal on Feb. 7 (2001) about my Trenton press conference misrepresented two points that I made.
First, Albright writes, "Schundler said he remembers walking the streets of Jersey City and finding that of the people he'd meet, 'half couldn't read' or 'do basic math.' "
What I actually said was that when I walk the streets, unemployed people sometimes ask for my assistance to help them find work. When I bring them into my office, half the time I find out that they trouble they are having stems from their not having been able to finish school, and their lacking essential skills such as reading and math. I was specifically referring to these individuals, not Jersey City's citizens in general.
Secondly, Albright reports that I "labeled" myself a "conservative, pro-life candidate."
What I actually said was that this race is not about conservative versus liberal, and it's not about pro-life versus pro-choice, and that I may be conservative, and I may be pro-life, but that the real issue is who will fight to solve New Jersey's problems. Readers will want to know my emphasis.
I realize that reporters are people, with jobs to do and deadlines to meet. However, I believe it is important that their reporting be as accurate as possible.
BRET SCHUNDLER
Mayor Jersey City
Schundler has had almost nine years of controlling, through intimidation, what little media we have here in Jersey City, the media challenged city.
"Several months ago Schundler visited the Jersey Journal for an editorial board conference. At that time he remarked about columns and stories that appear in the Jersey Journal concerning raises and promotions given to insiders despite the financial crunch the city is experiencing. The mayor essentially said it's something the people really don't care about. They only care about their taxes going up, he said. But sooner or later, they'll figure out there's a connection." (Earl Morgan's column City Hall ties protect favorites from agency budget cuts, Jersey Journal, 4/28/00).The Jersey Journal is the only daily paper published in Hudson County. The Newhouse family, the 5th wealthiest families in America, who also owns the Star Ledger and Trenton Times, owns them. For months now the journalists have been on "strike", no by-lines or special columns, due to a ridiculous wage offer to the journalists from the management. I've heard that senior writers have been offered $5-10 increases a week! That doesn't cover the increase in cost of living increases in Hudson County! It's been the same constant battle for years. Consequently once a journalist has any understanding of any issue, of which there are many, they leave for more money at other papers. As expected, their readership has been on the decline which only exasperates the financial situation of the paper. Take a look at this paper for a city of 240,000 residents. We're lucky if there's a half dozen original articles regarding Jersey City in any day. In addition, the editorial staff has been consistently soft peddling Bret's mismanagement whether in the reporting or the battle that activists have to get their letters printed in the Letters to the Editor section. I've personally experienced the frustration of haggling to get a letter published only to find important sentences edited out so as to diminish or confuse the issue.
The State must share some of the responsibility in the mismanagement of the City. Numerous citizens, including myself, brought plenty of issues to their attention, only to be ignored. Whatever happened to the State's audit and it's findings? It's been 2 years now and what were the results? Schundler was lucky in having former Republican Governor Christie Whitman who was more concerned with supporting the facade of a Republican Mayor in Jersey City than investigating the reality of it. The fact that its March and there's no approved budget for FY 2001 which ends in less than 4 months, how absurd if that? Where's the State in enforcing the statutes whereby budgets be approved by August? City Budgets have become a joke under the Schundler administration.
That brings us to this web site which just touches on the mismanagement and corruption of the Schundler administration. Stay tuned for more.
Other anti-Schundler web sites you may want to visit include: LINK
"Let him without sin cast the first stone"
"In 1993, rumors surface by friends and foes of Bret Schundler's infidelity. The name of the woman also became well know. These rumors re-surfaced by Jersey Journal columnist Peter Weiss when Schundler took out radio ads requesting the resignation of President Clinton during the impeachment hearings.
It is difficult to prove issues related to infidelity but some information on sexual misconduct just glares in the newspapers.
Mayor Schundler never asked for the resignation of Ervin Haynes, President of the Library Board and the Director of HEDC when the city paid $20,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit. (see LIBRARY BOARD)
Bret Schundler was quiet about the criminal charge of sexual abuse, facing Russell Wallace, a member of the Jersey City Ethical Standards Board. Why? He appointed Wallace to the Board. (see POLICE)
Again, Schundler was quiet when Reverend Colon, an At-Large Councilman and a staunch supporter was removed as pastor by his congregation because of his sexual misconduct. Using the same standard why wasn't Reverend Colon asked to resign? (see MUNICIPAL COURTS, JCIA)
When is sexual misconduct wrong? Only when President Clinton is guilty?"
Source: Yvonne Balcer's web site, LINK
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