Discussing the attack on the World Trade Center has proven to be a campaign faux pas for former Mayor Bret Schundler, the Republican gubernatorial candidate, as he spent much of last week apologizing for remarks he made to the New York Times that he said were mischaracterized.
According to the article, Schundler said there was a breakdown in New Jersey’s emergency operation efforts in the midst of the crisis, and offered his own plan for improving the state’s reaction to an emergency. In a time when the country has set aside partisan politics to resolve the issues at hand, criticizing any aspect of America’s response to the tragedy appears to be a political landmine.
In the interview, Schundler quoted a Jersey City police official who said the state police responded too late and that troopers stationed at Liberty State Park "didn’t do much of anything – they just sat there."
Schundler also referred to a report made by a Jersey City Medical Center physician who made suggestions of how the disaster could have been better handled. But the physician, who gave the report to Schundler and his chief gubernatorial opponent, said in the Times article that he gave them out as a courtesy and not to be released to the public.
The Times article has incited criticism of Schundler from both parties.
Acting Governor Donald T. Francesco, a Republican, issued a statement in response to the article that condemned Schundler’s remarks. "The office of Emergency Management, the New Jersey State Police, the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and all of the volunteers who have tirelessly worked and given of their time deserve nothing but praise for their response to the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center," DiFrancesco wrote. "To exploit this tragedy in any way is inappropriate, offensive and just plain wrong."
DiFrancesco also detailed the swift response that the state’s emergency services took on that day. "Within 15 minutes of the first attack at 8:45 a.m., the state’s Emergency Operations Center was activated. By 9:12 a.m., the New Jersey State Police had dispatched its Northern Region troopers to Jersey City to activate the emergency medical staging area…. The response by the State Police, the National Guard and the Office of Emergency Management was appropriate and quick. Mr. Schundler clearly does not have his facts straight."
In various forums throughout the week, Democratic Jersey City Mayor Glenn Cunningham has said that Jersey City "became the lifeline for that tragedy." He also said that the Jersey City Office of Emergency Management was the first one opened in the state immediately after the attack and its importance was essential, as New York’s OEM was located in the World Trade Center. "Somebody made politics of this and criticized the state," he added.
Schundler, who faces a large deficit in the polls to Democratic hopeful James McGreevey with the election a month away, has tried to patch up the public relations disaster. "I offer my deepest apologies to any who were offended by the impression of this mischaracterization," Schundler wrote in statement issued after the article.
Schundler said that the article misinterpreted his own proposal for a new plan for emergency situations as a criticism of the one used during the World Trade Center attack.
"Our state’s leaders, beginning with Acting Governor DiFrancesco and going right down the line, acted in just the manner they should have," Schundler wrote.
Schundler attached his proposal for an emergency plan. It adds methods of state defense to the emergency plans already in place.
"We need to create a proactive plan to protect the state’s people and its strategic assets from terrorist attacks," he said. "We also need to have redundant systems in place in the event that critical systems are damaged."
For instance, Schundler’s plan includes the creation of a State Defense and Emergency Command Center that would not only serve as a command center, but "assess future risks, create security and emergency response protocols for state and local law enforcement and emergency management units, and organize coordinated training exercises with those units to prepare for crises."
Assuring that he agreed with the state’s actions on Sept. 11, Schundler said, "Our state’s emergency management personnel are heroes and they deserve the best plan possible to help them tackle the difficult times ahead."
James McGreevey’s campaign also issued a proposal that adds job titles under the existing Office of Emergency Management as well as under the state’s law enforcement agencies. For instance, McGreevey has proposed an anti-terrorist intelligence-gathering component to the state that would be directed under the state attorney general’s office.