Booker - NY Times - Council runoff may determine extent of Booker's power

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New York Times, Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Newark Council Runoff May Determine Extent of Mayor-Elect's Newfound Power

By DAMIEN CAVE

With Cory Booker's resounding victory in the mayoral election last month, voters in Newark signaled a demand for fresh leadership after five terms of Mayor Sharpe James.

But whether they will see the transformation that Mr. Booker has promised this bruised city of 280,000 depends in large part on today's runoff, for six seats on the nine-member Municipal Council.

Will Mr. Booker, the eager Ivy League lawyer, gain the support he says he needs to overhaul the Police Department and the schools, create jobs and follow through on many other campaign promises? Or will voters elect a Council that checks his newfound power?

"It could be a chapter-turner," said Walter Fields, a former director of the N.A.A.C.P. in New Jersey. "It could be the closing of one chapter, with Sharpe James, and the opening of another."

Mr. Booker won on May 9 with 72 percent of the vote, crushing his closest challenger, State Senator Ronald L. Rice, by the largest margin in recorded Newark history, according to the City Clerk's office. Three of his Council candidates won outright by gaining more than 50 percent of the vote: Anibal Ramos Jr. in the North Ward, Dana Rone in the Central Ward and Augusto Amador in the East Ward.

At campaign stops, Mr. Booker, 37, has been characteristically confident about the rest of his team's prospects.

"Our goal is nothing less than a sweep," he said in an interview last week at a breakfast for retirees with five candidates from the "Booker Team."

Several members of the team, including Ronald C. Rice, also known as Ronald Rice Jr., who opposed his father's candidacy by siding with Mr. Booker, and Luis Quintana, an incumbent who was the lead vote-getter in the seven-person race for the Council's four at-large seats, said that the mayor-elect's ideas would be enacted only if voters elect his allies. At stake, they said, are his proposals to rid the streets and schools of violence and professionalize city government.

"More than 70 percent of the city voted for a new mayor," Mr. Quintana said. "Folks need to understand that we need the same numbers for the Council."

A sweep or even a majority would complete a political makeover. For two decades, Mr. James dominated the city. His help in a runoff sometimes meant the difference between defeat and victory, yielding an often compliant Council.

Now, with Mr. James on the sidelines after withdrawing from this year's race, Mr. Booker has become the favored patron.

Over the past month, his campaign has continued to sprinkle its $6 million in contributions throughout the city. Goodie bags given to about 50 supporters at the event for retirees last week included boxes of Avon makeup.

Carl Sharif, Mr. Booker's campaign adviser, said 1,000 workers would be on the streets to get out the vote today. The polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Those opposing Mr. Booker's slate, for the at-large seats and open positions in the West and South Wards, have been running essentially on their own, with mixed results. Only a handful of supporters appeared at a fish fry on Saturday for Ras Baraka, an incumbent at-large member of the Council.

John James, the mayor's son, who is running as J. Sharpe James for a seat in the South Ward, spent Saturday morning crisscrossing the city. At one point on a street corner, he gave a woman wearing a Booker hat $5 to pass out campaign fliers.

Mr. James, 37, who acknowledged receiving support from his father, said he felt like an underdog because of Mr. Booker's spending. He said that as a program analyst for Essex County who works closely with law enforcement, he had more experience than his opponent, Oscar S. James II, 24, the son of one of Mr. Booker's campaign advisers. And he said he hoped residents would elect council members who were independent of Mr. Booker's influence.

"If the Council is just going to go along with the mayor, why have a Council?" he said.

Rick Thigpen, a former director of the Democratic Party in New Jersey, said Mr. Booker could face confrontation from within even if all his candidates win. Mr. Quintana and Mr. Amador, for instance, spent years aligned with Mayor James before signing on with Mr. Booker for this year's campaign.

Mr. Booker made room for more supporters at City Hall by sending letters on Friday advising 59 department heads that they would be fired when he takes over on July 1. But he is nonetheless stepping into a political culture where intrigue and side deals have long been the norm.

"Newark politics are not famous for teamwork," Mr. Thigpen said. "That's going to be one of Cory's major challenges, keeping the team he campaigned with from just doing their own thing."

Like others interviewed this weekend, Patricia Cobb-Latham, a district leader in the South Ward, said unity on issues like fighting crime would be expected and demanded.

"We want everyone working toward changing the quality of life in the community," she said, adding: "I'm tired of talking. I want to see some action."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/13/nyregion/13newark.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

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