Former Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler mobilized former supporters and volunteers for an initiative he says will encourage spending restraint in state and local government and bring more money to municipalities.
Over the coming months, Schundler and his Jersey City-based public policy advocacy group, Empower The People, will use a new computerized system to solicit residents from throughout the state to lobby their legislators, asking them to support two bills dubbed the "Return the Money Amendments."
Wednesday, Schundler held a meeting at St. Peter’s College for an audience of students, activists, current and former city employees, and residents who had previously volunteered for Schundler’s mayoral and gubernatorial campaigns. He asked them to spend 15 minutes a week on the phone urging residents to call their legislators to support for the amendments.
"This puts a check on spending growth and rewards towns for showing restraint in spending," Schundler said.
The amendments
The first bill for the Return the Money initiative would require the state legislature to hold a vote for public approval for any statewide spending increase that is over 1.3 times the rate of inflation.
"1.3 is the same rate as school districts, and nobody would say school districts were tight," Schundler said.
The second bill states that if the spending increase does not get approved by a vote and the state has money for it, remaining money would go to school districts, municipalities and county governments that keep their spending increases within the 1.3 limit, a measure that rewards fiscal restraint on the part of the towns.
"From economic growth alone, this state gets increased revenues each year," Schundler said. "This year, Fiscal 2003, [state revenues] grew over $1 billion. In 2004, you’ll see them grow very significantly also," he said.
He added, "If this passes, Jersey City makes out nicely."
New technology
Empower the People will use the new Web Army Mobilization Tool (WAM) to encourage thousands of voters to reach out to their legislators, using an online phone bank. Xquizit Technologies, a Nutley-based technology firm, helped develop the software.
WAM utilizes a computer calling system to contact every voter in the state by district.
"With a computer canvass, we can call every person in a district of 75,000," Schundler said. "Many won’t talk to a computer, but maybe 15 percent will."
The computer will then ask if the residents would support the bill. The computer then identifies the people who said yes, and puts their name and phone number into the phone bank.
Using an online script, volunteers will call from this phone bank of pre-screened respondents, urging people to contact their legislators by phone.
"The appeal is that people can make the calls from their own homes, in their pajamas, while watching their favorite TV show," said Matthew Barnes, Executive Director of Empower the People. The organization also has call centers throughout the area for people who don’t have internet access.
Next, the computer sends out an e-mail asking people to check a box with their mouse after they call. If not, their names come up on the phone list again, and volunteers call back.
"These 10-second nudges encourage people to call," said Schundler, who predicts legislators will get 3,000 to 4,000 calls a week about the amendments.
"There’s not a legislator in New Jersey that [currently] gets more than 20," Schundler said. "They’ll be scared to death."
If the voters indicate that they did make the call, they will be invited to future outreach meetings where they will be asked to volunteer themselves.
"The reason that this requires such little work [15 minutes a week] is that we have people working on this throughout the state," said Schundler, adding that 700 volunteers had made the calls for the Dec. 10 meeting.
Cunningham responds
While not addressing the bill specifically, Jersey City Mayor Glenn Cunningham agreed last week that state money would benefit the city.
"It’s clear that cities for far too long have been shortchanged by the state," said mayoral spokesman Stan Eason. "Any initiative to reinvest with the cities is something that I would support."
Cunningham will take office as a State Senator in January.
"When I get to Trenton as state Senator," Cunningham said, "one of my top priorities is to make sure that the cities are well-funded to do the good work and provide good services for its residents and visitors."
Schundler believes legislators may not support the bill because it will limit their ability to use state money to fund projects that benefit campaign contributors, citing the Newark sports arena as an example.
"Because state politicians can get support by spreading the money around, they are resistant to send it back to the municipalities," said Schundler, explaining the importance of phone calls. "No legislator can look you in the eye and tell you that they don’t want more money in their district."
Political move
Why is Bret Schundler, who has been out of the spotlight for a few years, getting so involved in politics again?
Schundler stated last week that he has not made any decisions about running for office – either city or statewide – at the present time, many of the attendees at the Dec. 10 meeting were former campaign volunteers or supporters.
"I just want Bret to know I support him," said Jersey City resident Clifford Waldman last week. "I can’t imagine him not wanting to come back and make a difference for thousands of people. I want him to know that we don’t want him to go away, even if he moves to a higher office."