Beyond Party
Politics
By Albert B. Kelly
Recently, I had the
pleasure of gathering with a number of other mayors and officials from around
New Jersey on the steps of the Statehouse in response to an invitation from the
Governor’s Office to be present for the bill signing that restores a 2% CAP or
annual limit on the amount third-party arbitrators can award police and
firefighters in raises and other forms of compensation.
The bill itself is significant
for local government because it allows municipalities to control future
spending and that goes a long way to capping any new tax increases. In speaking
with a number of my fellow mayors that day, they agreed that the legislation is
an important tool to help us meet the State’s 2% cap on local spending.
While the bill largely
mirrors the expired law that was being restored, it did contain one change;
basically that the 2% annual raises would be a little bigger because they would
be compounded over the length of the contract rather than being based strictly
on the salary in the first year of the contract.
I’m not sure how anyone
else feels, but in our age of hyper-partisan politics, I think both parties
should be commended for their diligence in working out a compromise that
benefits local governments and the taxpayer while granting some latitude with
respect to raises being compounded over the length of a given contract.
While it is rare indeed
these days, I personally believe that this is an example of government at its
best; both sides of the isle working out philosophical differences, shaving the
edges off of party ideology and coming up with the best solution to the benefit
of New Jersey’s residents. That said; both
the Governor and our Senate President are to be commended for their bipartisan leadership
on this issue.
As I indicated previously,
such bipartisan cooperation is extremely rare these days. I’m not entirely sure
why that should be so; perhaps it’s the sense that politics is a “zero sum”
game, a winner-take-all approach to governance-the misguided notion that
compromise equals surrender.
Whatever it is, I was
reminded just how deep these partisan rivers run when I attended a recent town
hall meeting in Haddon Heights, again at the invitation of the Governor. For
the record, this was Governor Christie’s 123rd town hall meeting
with local residents around the State and my 3rd time being present
for these question and answer sessions.
On this day, I sat next to
another South Jersey elected official who, like our Governor, is a Republican as
indicated by the red-while-blue elephant lapel pin trumpeting his party
affiliation. After some small talk about politics, this official asked about my
party affiliation. When I told him I am a registered Democrat, he seemed somewhat
taken aback; asking why I was attending a Republican Governor’s event.
While I did not take
offense at the question as such; it symbolized just how deeply a partisan
mindset seeps into every part of our civic and public life. I explained to this
official that when I took the oath of office to be the Mayor of the City of
Bridgeton, I did not take a “Democratic oath” nor did my oath mean that I will
only represent African-Americans or only the impoverished…or only fat bald men-
a group to which I belong.
Getting to the heart of
the matter, I explained to him that when I took my oath and assumed the office it
was with a commitment, and indeed an obligation, to represent the entire
community that I serve. What that means in practical terms is that I am duty-bound
to go wherever it is necessary to go in order to represent the whole community;
regardless of the speaker or the party involved. It means meeting with whoever
I must meet with and talking with whomever I must talk with to do my
communities’ business.
I don’t always agree with
the bill that’s being signed or the policy that’s being enacted, and it’s not
necessary that I do. But it is necessary that I show up and it is necessary
that I represent our community at the table and allow Bridgeton’s voice to be heard
at the State level where decisions that impact our city are being made every
day.
For me, when it comes to
representing our community, party politics takes second place to policy and
governance and I will continue to go where necessary to try and bring the best
of those policy’s back home to implement in an effort to keep our community
moving forward…and for that I make no apologies.