Um, Maybe It's All Those Murders That're Hurting Business

posted by Zach Patton

Newark, NJ Mayor Cory Booker is up in arms over some billboards currently scattered throughout his city's downtown. He says that six signs, paid for by the Newark Teachers Union, are hurting Newark businesses by driving away potential consumers.

What do the billboards say? "HELP WANTED: Stop the Killings in Newark Now!"

They're anti-murder.  And Booker's got a problem with them.

Not that Booker is pro-murder, of course. But he says the billboards, which are positioned so that commuters can't help but notice them, are bad for business. They perpetuate a negative image of Newark, he says.

But critics point out that it just might be the murders themselves that are keeping people away from downtown Newark. Last year, 106 people were killed in the city, the highest rate in more than a decade.

It's got to be frustrating for Booker, and it's understandable that he wouldn't like people advertising his city's high murder rate. But it really seems that the problem here isn't a half dozen billboards.

Comments

[Newarker]

Most people in the city who are familiar with both the union and Mr. Del Grosso know that it's a shell game. The new mayor and council have started a whole series of public safety programs to combat crime since they assumed office last summer. And compared to the same time last year, crime is actually down. I live downtown, and it's quite safe. In many ways, people who "know" about Newark have no idea what they are talking about. Crime needs to go down more, of course, but it is concentrated in just a few high-activity areas, not an all out war zone like so many think.

This is the real reason for the signs: the Newark Teachers' Union and their president Del Grosso want to shame the mayor and council because Mayor Booker supports charter schools and school choice, which the union opposes deeply. He also wants to return the schools to mayoral control (right now Newark public schools are run by the state). With an abysmal graduation rate of 39%, you would think that the union would appreciate the need for change, but it has taken an relentlessly confrontational stance against anything the mayor does. They are among the highest paid teachers in the state, with ZERO accountability. The gravy train has got to stop.

If this is supposed to help stop the violence, why don't the billboards list any resources or useful information? Arguably the union could have done more to combat violence by sponsoring after-school programs or buying school supplies with the tens of thousands of UNION DUES dollars it is spending on this alarmist campaign of intimidation. Furthermore, Joseph Del Grosso hasn't even lived or taught in Newark for over 20 years, but makes $150K as head of the NTU! Can he really be trusted to speak in the best interest of Newarkers? All my neighbors are furious about this.

I don't think the mayor is perfect, but he is in the right on this one. He works extremely hard and I see him and other city officials everywhere trying to get a handle on what people are thinking, and encouraging Newarkers to take responsibility in taking back their neighborhoods. The new police director is doing a huge amount of work on decreasing crime, and this slime campaign is utterly useless and exploits the victims of violent crime for a political ploy.