Newark Council Runoffs - NY Times - Team Booker sweeps municipal races

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New York Times, Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Team Booker Sweeps Municipal Races in Newark

By DAMIEN CAVE

NEWARK, June 13 — A new mayor, like a new broom, apparently sweeps clean.

All six Municipal Council candidates backed by Cory Booker won seats in a runoff Tuesday night, giving Mr. Booker, the mayor-elect, a nine-member Council of allies and a crystal-clear mandate to carry out his proposed overhaul of city government.

The results — coming five weeks after Mr. Booker coasted to victory with 72 percent of the vote — effectively end the era of Mayor Sharpe James, who has dominated Newark for two decades, and kick-start what many here hope will be a period of increased public safety and economic growth.

"It's the consolidation of a revolution," said Ross K. Baker, a political science professor at Rutgers University. "It gives Booker the opportunity to set the agenda."

Mr. Booker, 37, and the new Council will take over on July 1. They inherit a Jekyll and Hyde of a city where rising property values inspire local pride even as fatal shootings, deficient schools and relentless unemployment reduce residents to tears.

Mr. Booker and his team have promised to make Newark safe, prosperous and efficient for its 280,000 residents, a New-York-like model of urban reform. Among the new administration's goals are a re-organization of the police department, with an emphasis on eliminating gangs, the return of local control in the city's public schools, and a new approach to development that emphasizes jobs for city residents.

In a brief speech outside a restaurant, where 150 supporters of Mr. Booker shouted and waved stiff new brooms in the air, the mayor-elect said that the victory guaranteed change and improvement for Newark. "This city has seen the biggest turnover in its history," he said, holding a broom over his head. "We have a sweep."

Luis Quintana, Mildred Crump, Carlos Gonzalez and Donald Payne Jr. were winners in the seven-way race for the Council's four at-large seats. The other Booker team victors were Oscar S. James II, who beat John James, Mayor James's son, in the South Ward, and Ronald C. Rice, who defeated the incumbent, Mamie Bridgeforth, in the West Ward.

Mr. Booker said their work was just beginning. "The real victory we seek is a vision for our children's future; the real victory we seek is security and safety in the streets; the real victory we seek is to have a city government that doesn't serve itself but the people."

In recent weeks, Mr. Booker has been more specific. He said that he and the Council would pass a strict new ethics law in their first 100 days, and re-evaluate Newark's deal with the New Jersey Devils to build a new $310 million hockey arena downtown. He has promised to end discounted sales of city-owned land, which developers have bought in recent years for as little as $1 a square foot, and to hire national leaders in urban policy even if it angers the local political establishment.

The Rev. Reginald T. Jackson, executive director of the Black Ministers Council of New Jersey, said that with Mr. Booker's wide margin of victory and a majority on the Council, "everything is on the table."

"That's one of the expectations of those who elected him mayor," Mr. Jackson said. "They are expecting change and not piecemeal change. They expect a complete revamping."

Word of the Council sweep reached Mr. Booker's supporters at Flava, a club downtown, just before 9:30 p.m. Mr. Booker arrived about a half-hour later in a black S.U.V., followed by the victorious candidates.

Among the losing candidates the mood was dim. Ras Baraka, an incumbent who lost his at-large seat and John James both complained in recent days of being outspent and outmanned by Mr. Booker's campaign, which raised $6 million. On Tuesday night, Mr. Baraka told a small crowd of his supporters at a community center downtown that they needed to stay vigilant and check the power of "the Booker machine."

"We fought against a lot of money and a lot of media," Mr. Baraka said in an interview. "It was an uphill battle from the beginning."

In another closely watched New Jersey runoff, Joseph V. Doria Jr., the mayor of Bayonne, beat Patrick D. Conaghan 53 to 47 percent. It was the first runoff for Mr. Doria — who is also a state senator — since being elected mayor eight years ago.

John Holl contributed reporting for this article.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/14/nyregion/14newark.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

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