Dear Editor:
Bret Schundler, the undisputed pioneer and untouchable aggressive leader, during his tenure as Mayor of Jersey City, also made great strides and influences, in the National Republican Party. He was considered their ultimate “Poster Boy” for creating a well-rounded efficient government.
His proven ability and courageousness enhanced his extended vision for the future, by changing the malignant status quo. He accomplished the unthinkable with his ability to improve a city that was still living in the stone age of social decline and mindless political corruption and ineptitudes. He achieved these results by relentlessly cutting through the thick jungle of stagnation while overcoming the hostile criticisms and “booby traps” initiated by the jealous, embarrassed, mortified Hudson County Democratic Party.
He performed a miracle, which Mayor Hague thought in all his arrogance would never happen: a Republican, elected and becoming victorious, against all odds, in an unreceptive Democratic environment.
Even with all these favorable assets, he found a way to expand his negatives. Did you ever hear of the old saying, “Be nice to the people on the way up, because you’re going to meet these same people on the way down?” Definitely applies to Bret.
He obviously didn’t realize, with all his capabilities and intellect, that he wasn’t infallible, and as New Jersey Education Commissioner, he wasn’t in total control. As mayor, he had the final unquestionable power and authority of implementing all pertinent decision-making policies. This legendary mentality carried over and became a major hindrance, which developed into a small loss of memory, forgetting that he served at the discretion of the governor.
His first mistake, which contributed to his employment demise, was finalizing an agreement with the teachers union, without the approval and notifying of Governor Chris Christie. Unfortunately for Bret, The Governor, “no pun intended” is like an elephant; he never forgets. He’s the boss and you never bite the hand that feeds you. Especially this executive, who isn’t very forgiving, and is easily irritated and offended when his absolute rule is bypassed, questioned, or undermined.
The so-called charge of issuing the wrong stats in applying for New Jersey’s federal education grant of four hundred million dollars, which was denied because of this mishap, was just what the doctor ordered. Bret, as the commissioner, was held responsible, became the “scapegoat”, and is now in the ranks of the unemployed.
Was he so naive that he really expected the governor to take the fall and offer him a sincere apology, pat him on the head with these sympathetic words, “don’t worry, everything is going to be alright?” Bret, I have some shares in the Brooklyn Bridge, if you want to buy them.
I’m not here to bury Caesar, but to praise him. He would have made an excellent commissioner, but isn’t it quite ironic, that his own administration also had some qualified municipal employees that were unfairly hurt, humiliated and unjustly terminated? If there was ever a truer statement, “what goes around comes around.”
William P. Frasca