I want to be someone who does understand where people are coming from, who people feel they can approach, and where we can talk together, and then where you get people together, and you form a consensus not based on what some lobbyists and other politicians say, but you form a consensus based on what people really believe in. And my experience is that, then, political fights, which other people, other politicians, think are impossible to win, actually are possible to win, when you have the people on your side. That translates into thousands of man-hours that could have been used for charity work or neighborhood projects wasted to fight City Hall.
Jersey City is a multi-racial city with hundreds of needs.
The people who fought and continue to fight are neighborhood people who are concerned, not big time developers looking to make big bucks and then bolt. In my 18 years in JC I've never witnessed nor spent the hundreds of hours fighting an administration like the Schundler one. The past 4 years, his second term, have been particularly vicious. We're thrilled to get him out of JC and worked hard to get his City Council protegees out.