Democratic House of Representatives hopeful Roy Cho pulled together some of New Jersey’s biggest political power players at the Ridgewood Women’s Club last week. Former Senator Bill Bradley, who has kept a low profile on political matters, led the charge. Senator Robert Menendez also provided a push.
The Democrats, after years of trying, found a candidate in Cho to take on six time Republican incumbent Scott Garrett. In the past, the Democrats had a tough time convincing candidates to take on the ultra conservative candidate for the 5th District. Former New York Giant Harry Carson had been pushed in the past, but was a no go.
For those who don’t closely follow the actions of Garrett, his decisions can be highly controversial. This is when he can be heard making decisions. He keeps a very low profile.
Garrett was the only New Jersey representative in Washington to vote against receiving federal aid to help rebuild the state following Hurricane Sandy. Republican Governor Chris Christie was fully on board for the aid. The twelve-year congressman was nowhere to be found.
This thinking is a bit perplexing considering New Jersey is one of the highest net payers of taxes to Washington – paying more versus what the state gets back. It’s pretty reasonable to conclude that the state has the right to ask for support when plenty of New Jersey dollars have gone to support other states in need. Garrett thought differently.
The upcoming vote can be seen as a decision on whether “Just Say No” politics is worth supporting.
Garrett has been a just-say-no politician with the district having gone nowhere economically for much of his tenure – small businesses continue to struggle and housing prices have changed little over the past half decade.
Just over the Hudson, in New York City, the economy is booming. It’s booming in other areas of the country as well. With a highly educated workforce, areas such as San Francisco and Silicon Valley, housing prices have doubled over the past five years or so. New York City and areas such as Williamsburg, Brooklyn, an area once left for dead, are roaring economically.
Why can’t that be the case in this area of Bergen County? This is one of the most highly educated areas of the country. Why can’t this district have the type of growth in the 70s, 80s and 90s?
Maybe the key to success is we have to become a “Just Say Yes” district.
Growth in this area has long been dependent upon access to New York City and the migration of the workforce to the suburbs. New York is currently packed with twenty- and thirty-somethings and new generations of immigrants, both groups paying exorbitant rents, looking for more space.
Millennials, coming from all over the country to participate in the growth of the city, will, at some point, have kids and buy bigger houses.
But these groups will only come if the commute time is reasonable, which, currently, is not the case. It only has been getting worse. The current infrastructure needs to be greatly expanded and, in some cases, rebuilt. Investments need to be made.
The just-say-no mentality, which sometimes afflicts our governor as well as Garrett, came into play when Christie put a halt to plans to build a new tunnel into the city. Now, as the population grows and the New Jersey economy stagnates, and residents are forced to go into the city to find good paying jobs, the commute is getting longer and longer.
The Hoboken train schedule is a clear example of how stagnant and pervasive the just-say-no mentality is – it has changed little over the past forty years.
Today, trains run the same schedule as when people worked 9 to 5. Few work 9 to 5 anymore. People work 9 to 6 if they’re lucky. There are few express trains after 6:00. That’s pretty silly.
The younger generation flocks to the magnificently rebuilt waterfront (an example of very successful massive investment) of New Jersey and have to sprint to catch the last train at 1:00 am. In the city, subways run safely 24 hours a day. Quality of life is important to the younger folks.
These are a few examples of a much longer list that can be compiled to improve the economy in this area.
Making these changes requires investment and to make investments, leadership is needed that can say “yes”. Garrett has proven he is unable to say “yes”.
Predicting how well Roy Cho will perform in Congress is a tough call. But he did show a willingness to listen in Ridgewood last week. This is one important trait that our current representative does not have.
The 5th District needs someone that can “Just Say Yes”.
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