Becoming the mayor of the second largest city in New Jersey never sounded easy in the first place.
But the shocking events surrounding Mayor Glenn Cunningham’s first few months in office placed him among the most trying times in the city’s history. Cunningham said goodbye to his honeymoon three days into his administration, when Police Officer Domenick Infantes Jr., was fatally struck over the head with a lead pipe after a July 4 altercation with neighbors turned violent. A few months later, the mayor would be leading Jersey City’s effort to aid New York City in the midst of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.
Looking back on his first hundred days, Cunningham sees a successful implementation of campaign promises as well as a good record of managing crises.
When campaigning earlier in the year, Cunningham promised to be the mayor for all of the people of Jersey City. To prove this, he has made a conscious effort to hire city employees that reflect the diverse ethnic make-up of the city. Cunningham, who is the city’s first African-American mayor, said that this process began in his office, where he filled positions with Latinos, Africans-Americans, and caucasians, adding that he is also adding an Egyptian-American to his staff. He said that he cut the staff in the mayor’s office by three positions, thereby saving $80,000.
The three municipal judges he appointed were women: one African-American, one Latino, and one Caucasian.
"I’m really proud of my appointments," Cunningham said.
Among his top appointments, Cunningham placed Jersey City’s most famous coach, Bob Hurley, as the director of the Department of Recreation. Hurley, who won a national reputation as a successful basketball coach at St. Anthony’s High School, took over the summer recreation program when it was on the brink of collapse this past summer, Cunningham said.
Fighting crime
As a 17-year veteran of the Jersey City Police Department and a former U.S. Marshall, Cunningham has placed crime at the forefront of his agenda.
Before reviewing the specifics of the crime plan he has introduced, Cunningham once again pointed to the people whom he put in charge. To win the respect of the police officers, Cunningham appointed long-time Jersey City police veteran Peter Behrens as chief of police, who is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Police Department. "I selected Peter Behrens because he helped me write my crime plan," he said. The plan calls for a holistic approach that blends traditional crime-fighting methods, anti-drug prevention programs, and community policing.
In addition, Cunningham appointed James Carter, a former Secret Service agent, as the director of the Police Department. The director is in charge of the administrative aspects of the Police Department.
As far as Cunningham is concerned, the core of Jersey City’s crime problem comes down to drugs, whether it’s dealing drugs or using them. A few weeks ago, Cunningham unveiled his crime initiative in the South District, an area that continues to harbor a disproportionate share of illegal activity as compared to other parts of the city. Under this plan, police officers in less troublesome areas of Jersey City have been shifted to the South District. "We’re putting the most cops where the most crime is," Cunningham said. "We’re doing something that people think is revolutionary, but is really common sense."
Since then, the Police Department has tallied 330 arrests in targeted areas. Cunningham said these arrests were based on surveillance, giving them a better chance to turn into actual prosecutions when the cases arrive in court. "For the first time, people are thanking us for cleaning up the neighborhood," Cunningham said.
"Community policing hasn’t been effective," Cunningham added. "We’re putting that all together again." As part of the new community policing initiative, Cunningham has strengthened the Police Department’s ability to recruit minority members into the police force, bolster the force of neighborhood block watch associations, and assure that police officers sent to public schools for security actually have an interest in working with youths.
He has also stressed the importance of creating drug prevention programs, recreational activities, and job opportunities as means of reducing crime in the troubled areas.
Sept. 11
On the day of the World Trade Center attacks, Jersey City served as a terminus for ferries helping people escape the debris. Within 30 minutes, the city called a state of emergency, allowing city agencies to "do extraordinary things," Cunningham said, such as sending a fire truck immediately to the World Trade Center. As state and federal authorities arrived at the scene, Cunningham said he was adequately prepared to deal with the situation because of his background as a law enforcer both on a local and national level. "We could not have elected a mayor with my background at a more appropriate time," he said, adding, "We know a lot of people that we have coordinated with."
In a moment’s notice, Cunningham led the city to establish a command center on the waterfront, shuttling supplies to Ground Zero with the assistance of 1,500 volunteers, and establishing two triage units at Liberty State Park and Exchange Place.
That same day, Cunningham also met with Muslim leaders to assure them that he would provide protection to the Islamic community, who feared a backlash from the city after the attacks.
Finances
In his inaugural address, Cunningham made it a point to say that he is not inheriting a fallen city, but a city that is moving upward. Yet, he still inherited a city that has been financially strapped despite the emergence of a booming waterfront in the past decade. In 2000, state officials deemed Jersey City a "distressed city," forcing all of its financial decisions to go through the state Department of Community Affairs for approval.
Early reports indicated that the city would have a $23 million debt this year due to tax abatements given out by the former administration. However, the 2001-2002 budget has yet to be released. He said he just submitted the city’s budget to the state for approval. It will be introduced to the city at the next Council meeting, according to Business Administrator Carlton McGee.
The need for state approval has sometimes caused the mayor’s office to come into conflict with other city agencies, such as the Fire Department. While the Fire Department has requested the need for additional firefighters, Cunningham has had to explain that state authorities object to this expenditure, rendering it impossible. And while the Fire Department continues to search for an affirmative response to their request, the state’s stronghold over the city’s finances becomes more evident.
Cunningham, who has restored the Democratic party to lead Jersey City, hopes that the city’s fiscal responsibility will win favorable points in the eyes of the new governor.
Development
While no new major developments have been initiated under his tenure, Cunningham has made it clear that he will find a way to use corporate interest in Jersey City to revitalize the areas that have seen little reconstruction during the 1990s boom economy.
He continues to promise "golden neighborhoods" for all of Jersey City, and said that companies like Goldman-Sachs, which is in the process of building New Jersey’s tallest office building in Jersey City, have expressed interest in investing money in other parts of the city.