Submit Questions For Cory Booker

[ADMINISTRATOR]

Newark Speaks Family,

If you don't know by now on Monday, April 3rd at 1:00 p.m. Newark Mayoral Candidate Cory Booker will visit us for lunch to answer our questions.

Due to the short time that Mr. Booker will be with us I would like to spend that time with him answering serious questions regarding his intentions for Newark and how he proposes to serve us if he becomes Mayor.

Please post your questions here. We will present as many questions as possible to Mr. Booker within the allotted time.

Eventhough there are a few non-Newarkers who regularly post on Newark Speaks, I would respectfully request that only Newark residents post questions for Mr. Booker.

Please post all your questions no late than this Friday, March 31st.
Remember we've got 30 minutes so lets make great use of it.

Whether you support Mr. Booker or not, post your questions.
As Newark citizens we deserve to be informed.

Thanks,

Webmaster

[hello2]

Will newark still move foward with the arena...and do he plan 2 move im embaressed 2 say my mayor lives in a run down apt building. what ward do he paln 2 move in.

[SpanishFemme]

Mr. Booker, (trying to be professional)...

Let me just start by congratulating you for stepping forward and not being afraid...God knows the city is in serious need for new leaders!

My questions are:

1) When you win... we (Police officers) know that you will "clean house" in the department. How are you planning to do that? Is this your first priority?

2) As an educate man you are well aware that our current director does not posses "any" degrees, only past experience of 20+ years in the department. Are you going to appoint or look for someone with a little more education and/or experience to run our department?

3) What are your plans to increase our "morale"? Officers are afraid of doing their jobs because when "the going gets tough" we are left standing alone. Many of us want to do "real police work".

Thanks for taking the time to address these questions.

[Thewifeofapopo]

1. In your campaign ad on WBLS, you stated that our children should not have to be afraid in school and that "the only shots they should be concerned with is the shots from the 3 Point line" Will you hire more cops? And will you provide adequate training to the new and seasoned cops? Will these cops be assigned inside the schools?

2. Sharpe mentioned in his letter that there is a 400mil surplus geared to job creation and housing development. What kinds of jobs do you forsee and who would benefit from these jobs? what types of affordable housing will be built? Personally, the seniors building should only be for seniors- not disabled or crack heads.

[Make Newark Clean]

What is your position on term limits for the mayor and council? If you support them, what is your strategy to bring them about?

What are your thoughts on the camera surveillance system in East Orange? The system allows the police to monitor high-crime locations "live." The other part of it allows the citizen to pull up a recorded picture "map" of the area to indicate exactly to law enforcement where a crime is in progress. The public don't see the live image. The police then access the cameras "live" and are more likely to catch a crime in progress and/or increase their response time. Do you think this idea is a sound one to implement in Newark?

Are there any new/novel ways you have explored to refurbish buildings like Brick Towers (and other disused structures in the city) in order to allow the marketplace aid in their rehabilitation as either low- or for-profit enterprises?

A recent NY Times article recently reported about the sorry state of black America, especially Black American males. Recently, television personality Tavis Smiley has held a State of the Black Union conference and has written the foreword to a book called The Covenant with Black America. I understand that these issues are larger than the city's government. However in keeping with your motto of "every person counts," what can be done from the municipal level to help alleviate this crisis? What can local officials countrywide do to frame this issue for the daily national attention that it deserves?

Do you agree with school choice? Could vouchers be a part of that program?
Can you apprecaite that any parent who really cares about his/her kid is duty-bound to get their children the best education they know how even if it involves surreptitiously sending their children to an adjoining, better performing school district? Of course, this is illegal. What alternatives can be provided for poor parents to provide the best educational opportunity for their children legally?

A broader question based on the last. I believe that inasmuch as people will refer to a "broken windows" theory: that lawfulness is discouraged due to overwhelming feelings of neighborhoods being out of control (powerlessness) that there is a flipside as well. That flipside is that human nature also likes to "keep up with the Joneses" when it's realistically feasible and presented as a viable possibility. How do we incubate positive vision and hope in environs often devoid of those things? (I see school choice initiatives as one of those "keep up with the Joneses" scenarios because it allows people who may otherwise feel disempowered to have hope to control their destiny.) What can be done immediately (of course, other than voting for you and your team ) that you feel would have the immediate effect of revitalizing (and making "infectious) the human can-do spirit in Newark?

[probooker]

Mr. Booker. You know how corrupt the Newark Housing Authority is - Harold Lucas plasma TV, improper layoffs, land deals, etc. What are your thoughts about rectifying this and bringing a new image to the agency. Thank you.

[NwkUnited]

Mr. Booker given your tv ads the Newark Public Schools is an your agenda. The school board election is on April 18th are you endorsing or supporting any candidates? If yes who? And if No. Why? Thank you.

[ForNwk]

What are your thoughts concerning the current budget cuts proposed by Governor Corzine? How do you think these cuts will affect the citizens of Newark? What plans do you have to address property tax increases, cuts to higher education, etc.?

Assuming you will hire additional police to address the increase in crime, do you have a strategic plan in place for these forces?

If elected, would you continue to hold meetings throughout the wards with residents to allow them the opportunity to interact directly with you to pose questions, register complaints, etc.?

Thank you Mr. Booker.

[Klap Bak]

If you will, please share your thoughts with the board on transition. There has been a lot of talk lately, which seems to be creating nervousness with some City Hall workers. Folks are afraid of being unemployed.

Again thanks for coming on.

Peace
Klap

[BraveHeart]

Your stance on school system reform in Newark is admirable in its theory and I hope to say the same for its application. Considering the large part of crime in Newark is committed by people in their teens and early twenties and that the majority of these same people are products of the James administration schools systems which have now been taken over by the state, my question is this;

Would you consider expanding the department's community affairs division so that we as officers can begin to help mold these young minds into something other than potential gang members?

I believe in the creation of new recreational facilities that are open late on the weekends and over the summer where these kids can go, or be picked up, and not be hanging out on street corners either as victims or victimizers. In collaboration with the school system and the P.A.L. a very productive program could be implemented where these kids can learn to respect the police and not fear and resent them. I would rather escort a young man to a rec center that I encounter on patrol than arrest him for a curfew violation. This can also be a place where parents can come for counselling and direction for those kids that may have already started down the wrong path.