PART TWO: Save Jersey's Interview with Mayor Steve Lonegan

By Matt Rooney | December 10, 2008

I enjoyed reading the tremendous feedback from Part One of my interview with Mayor Steve Lonegan. Check out Part Two below. Due to the length of the overall interview, I've decided to break it up into three segments instead of just two as I originally intended. Therefore, check back on Monday, December 15th for the final installment of my three-part talk with Mayor Lonegan.

   In this installment, the mayor and I discussed school choice and our cities, leading in a financial crisis, the nature of corruption, governing with a hostile legislature and, last but certainly not least, his unlawful arrest at a town hall meeting in January 2008.

I was particularly impressed by the mayor's approach to the corruption issue in New Jersey. The discussion of his arrest is also a poignant must-read for any citizen concerned about the future of liberty in our state.


On School Choice and Urban Politics

"One of my major goals is to bring school vouchers to New Jersey."

ROONEY: The other day, you probably saw the students protesting in Camden in support of a scholarship bill supported by senators Kean and Lesniak. As a Catholic school-educated individual, I happen to be a big fan of school choice initiatives. Not just because I think they work, but also because I think it's an issue Republicans can successfully champion in the inner cities. I wanted to get your thoughts not just on the school choice issue, but also on what a Lonegan-led NJGOP would do to try and rebuild the Republican Party's presence in our urban areas.

LONEGAN: The best thing we can do in those Abbott districts and urban areas is to bring competition into an education system that continues to fail despite massive amounts of money spent into that system, and continues to provide a mediocre education. We need to bring school vouchers and competition. My theory is that if a district cannot provide a quality education with the same amount of money that we do in any suburban town, then we should provide vouchers to the parents of those kids and let them attend the schools of their choice... just like Barack and Michelle Obama did in Washington, D.C.  They chose to put their kids in a private school. We should give that choice to all parents.

Competition is always a great thing, and it'll drive innovation, change and improvement in those districts. One of my major goals is to bring school vouchers to New Jersey.

ROONEY: Yes, I definitely agree that school choice could help revitalize under-performing urban districts. And for all John McCain didn't say in 2008 that he should've, I thought one of his truest themes was that bringing change and choice to the education system was the civil rights challenge of our time.

LONEGAN: Yes, agreed.

On His Readiness to Lead in a Financial Crisis

"I think we will make New Jersey the battleground for conservative values next year."

ROONEY: One thing every politician can agree on is that our state is in serious trouble. How have your experiences, both in government and in other spheres, prepared you to lead New Jersey through these incredibly challenging times?

LONEGAN: Well there's three things. There's my proven track record as a mayor not just talking about these things we've discussed today but also doing them. If you go to my website, Lonegan.com, you can compare Bogota spending versus the state. Adjusted for inflation, my budget the year I left office was less than it was 12 years earlier. And I brought all these kinds of significant changes: I cut spending, I outsourced, I privatized, and I downsized government. So I have the record to back my statements.

I also think my experience building and running a business in the state is also critical for facing our current challenges.

My ability to articulate this message, I think is better than the other candidates. I've had a lot of practice and education on the philosophical basis of a lot of these ideas which helps you a lot communicating a message.

And thirdly, my ability to build and lead a statewide movement, getting people on board to run in districts from Cape May to Sussex County, people who share these principles and who are committed and think we can actually win and govern and change the course of history.

I think other candidates- I think whoever they may be, they're all good guys. Rick Merkt is terrific, he's a friend of mine in the Legislature, but we need to think outside the box and think big. And I think we will make New Jersey the battleground for conservative values next year. There's only two races in the country next year: us and Virginia. And so the eyes of the nation are going to be on this race.

On Understand Corruption and Electorate

"Corruption is a natural byproduct of big government."

ROONEY: Another issue that I think has always confounded New Jersey Republicans, and I definitely think it's characterized the last few election cycles - had mixed results as an issue in the last election cycle, where it didn't play well it Bergen but played a little better down in Atlantic County - is the issue of corruption. It seems like either Republican candidates have been able to successfully campaign on the issue or the people of our great state have become convinced that both sides are too hopelessly corrupt to make their votes meaningful. Perhaps the issue just doesn't have any salience for a jaded electorate?

What do you think? Does corruption have any potency as an issue? And how do you plan to address the issue in an attempt to make taxpayers understand the connection between corruption and a less-affordable New Jersey?

LONEGAN: Corruption is a natural byproduct of big government. It's been that way since the beginning of civilization. From the Greeks through the Romans- whenever you have big bloated government, corruption in democracy will always be a natural byproduct of that. So again, by cutting the size of government, by making them have to squeal for every nickel, we can begin to eliminate the availability of things by which to be corrupted.

Corruption is bad, but the voters do not perceive that the Democrats are corrupt and the Republicans are not. They do not perceive that Jon Corzine is corrupt and some other candidate is not. They think all politicians are corrupt. And, you know, there's been plenty of indictments of Republicans. Look out in California, across the country and even in our own state. So, it's not like the Republican Party can label the Democrat Party for being the corrupt party. Voters aren't buying that. Only 3% of those polled in a recent survey identified corruption as the #1 issue. 45% said taxes. And I think that makes good sense, because high taxes allow the government to be corrupt. And that's why my number one issue is and will be taxes.

And there's also different types of corruption. There's criminal corruption, where someone steals a bag of money from the drawer or gives a contract to a friend and gets a kick-back. You indict that guy, he goes to jail, you see it all the time.

The other type of corruption is systematic corruption. That's where the state government corrupts our constitutional rights to have the right to vote on new debt, and they go out and start borrowing money without voter approval under some court mandate or phony claim. That's systematic corruption of the state government. This kind of corruption occurs when state legislators serve in office for 10-15-20 years and are in the state pension system. Then at the end of their term, they go to work for the government in a high-salary job and collect a big, fat pension.

That's systematic corruption. It's not illegal, people know it happens. But that corruption is far more costly to taxpayers than criminal corruption because there is a constant, long-term effect. And the way you address that kind of corruption is by rebuilding government and re-instituting constitutional controls. And that's what I intend to do.

On Governing Boldly with a Hostile Legislature

"I'm going to engage the grassroots to back me, their governor, to force the legislature into backing tax cuts and to vote for taking back our state... or risk being thrown out of office."


ROONEY: You are proposing a very bold agenda for Drumthwacket, including some great stuff like 20% across-the-board reductions in government spending. However, in all likelihood, at least one house of the state legislature will still be under Democrat control in January 2010. So how do you plan to implement this unambiguously conservative plan you're campaigning on?

LONEGAN: By using the tools that the founders of our state government and our state constitution intended. The office of NJ governor is the most powerful executive office in the country, allowing the ability to use executive orders, appointments, and the bully pulpit, the ability to have one voice and one microphone to talk to the taxpayers to explain to them what we're doing and why we're doing it. We'll get the taxpayers themselves to pressure their legislators to vote the right way on items I need them to vote on.

Governor Corzine, when he went out to sell his 800% toll hike scheme, tried to do 21 town hall meetings in 21 counties. It didn't work. I'm going to do the same thing, but I'm going to talk about how we're going to cut taxes and the size of government and the what-where-why of how we're going to do that. And I'm going to engage the grassroots to back me, their governor, to force the legislature into backing tax cuts and to vote for taking back our state... or risk being thrown out of office. And that's a big effort, and it's going to be challenging, but it's something we're going to have to do if we're truly committed to turning this state around.

On His Arrest in January 2008

"I recognized, from that lesson, how thin the defense is of our most fundamental rights and how government can becomes very dangerous very quickly."

ROONEY: I wanted to discuss your arrest back in... January 2008?

LONEGAN: January 15th. Martin Luther King Day Weekend.

ROONEY: How terribly ironic considering the circumstances. Here you are, on a civil rights leader's official holiday, being arrested for simply exercising your 1st Amendment rights as a free citizen.  For the benefit of those of us watching from afar, what were some of the thoughts going through your head as this injustice unfolded? And what does it say to you about how far we've strayed from our founding democratic principles here in New Jersey?

LONEGAN: Well Matt, it happened very spontaneously and unexpectedly. You know, I'm standing there handing out fliers to this group of well-meaning citizens who were listening to me. And all of a sudden, I'm approached by a police lieutenant who tells me we can't hand out these fliers because it was "private property." However it was a public meeting, paid for by taxpayers to which all taxpayers were invited. I was handing out fliers under my 1st Amendment right.

To make a long-story short, the only way they were going to stop me was to arrest me. I turned around and realized there were seven police officers behind me, lined up shoulder-to-shoulder. Then, when they were handcuffing me, I said "Oh, what happened?!" Really, my heart was in my mouth, you know, being handcuffed and hauled off to jail. I was handcuffed to the wall of the holding cell for about an hour while I was processed.

I realized what they had done was a big mistake on their part. That this had to backfire; after all, America was still America. But what was most disturbing about that experience was that the people there with me, and they were good people, standing there... as I was being arrested, they all got really quiet. And they just looked down at the ground, and they just started melting away. And as I was being taken off, I was told by this one guy involved "We're really sorry." And all I could think was "Where's the outcry? Where's the American spirit?" No one said "you can't arrest this guy, he has a right to speak out."

I recognized, from that lesson, how thin the defense is of our most fundamental rights and how government can become very dangerous very quickly. And what it must be like to live in the Soviet Union or Cuba where this kind of thing happens every day. Those rights that are put in the Constitution are hanging by a thread, and it's up to us as citizens to defend those rights every single day.

So that was a quick snapshot of what can happen, but it certainly brought a lot of attention to the toll hike issue. And I think if you look at the toll hike scheme, it was that day that the plan began to crash and burn.

~~~


Remember to check back on Monday, December 15th for the final installment of my three-part talk with Mayor Lonegan. We'll feature some of the more controversial topics discussed for the grand finale, including:
  • Alleged public financing hypocrisy
  • His attacks on Nick Asselta in 2007
  • Something Corzine did right?
  • Rumors of alternative primary slates
... and some advice for the next generation of conservative activists.

 del.icio.us  Stumbleupon  Technorati  Digg 

 

What did you think of this article?




Trackbacks
  • No trackbacks exist for this entry.
Comments

  • Wednesday, December 10, 2008 8:04 AM Mike Halfacre wrote:
    Interesting, Lonegan says big government leads to corruption, while Christie takes the Corzine approach of blaming our problems on home rule and multiple municipalities...Christie just lost me a little more.

    Christie has now spoken publicly on two issues, immigration and the size of government, and frankly, has blown both of them.

    This is going to get very interesting...
    Reply to this
    1. Wednesday, December 10, 2008 10:10 AM NJConservativeLion wrote:
      Now you are just making stuff up! It amazes me how Loneganites harbor such hatred for Mr. Christie. Would you be happier if Christie had busted criminals with a big pink pig at his press conferences?
      Reply to this
  • Wednesday, December 10, 2008 1:09 PM Mike Halfacre wrote:
    Come on NJ ConservativeLion, do some homework. Chrsite was quoted as follows:

    "He said that with more than 600 school districts and more than 500 municipalities splitting up billions in tax dollars, "it's hard to find hardworking, honest people to oversee all these pots of money."

    The state has "too much government spending too much money out there and it tempts people," he said.

    At some point, he said, New Jerseyans will have to decide whether stopping corruption is more important than the many layers of government in the state."

    http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/elections/20081210_Christie__N_J__has__too_much_government_.html

    There is a difference between Lonegan saying the State government is too big and Christie saying there are too many local governments and not enough honest citizens to run them.

    When he says we need to choose between home rule and corruption, it is simply another way to consolidaiton, which is Corzine's schtick.

    The vast majority of those 566 municipalites are honestly and efficiently run small towns. But they're the problem?

    Come on.

    And call me a "Loneganite" if you want, but I and everyone else harbors is complete ignorance on Christie and the issues. I still have not heard a single policy position from Christie other than "Corruption is bad". duh.

    I am not schilling for Lonegan, but I am not willing to blindly support a guy whom we know virtually nothing about.
    Reply to this
    1. Wednesday, December 10, 2008 2:14 PM NJConservativeLion wrote:
      You are King Schill!

      1) Unlike your beloved agitator-in-chief, Christie kinda had a job for the last 7 years. In that capacity, he couldn't speak/strategize on political matters. Let the man have a month to hug his kids and get his life together! He deserves a month to talk to people and get the campaign assembled. If he did otherwise, you'd accuse him of being overly political. It's refreshing to see someone who's entire life isn't about the "permanent campaign". I bet most voters will agree.

      2) Christie's statement was 100% correct. NJ has too much government spending too much money. There's waste in Trenton, but there's also tons of waste at the the county level. For example, some of these small school districts in towns with less than 5k people shouldn't have a superintendent, principle, vice principle and separate administration building! The extraordinary power of freeholder boards is another great example. There's no way to police it all!

      Chris never said that he favored eliminating "home rule" or consolidating towns. To say otherwise is a lie. He merely stated the obvious--> that too much money, in too many hands, creates a perfect environment for corruption. Why? b/c there's no transparency in a system that's so large operating on so many layers.

      Common sense, Mike.
      Reply to this
      1. Wednesday, December 10, 2008 2:16 PM NJConservativeLion wrote:
        AND ANOTHER THING....

        No one is asking you to "blindly" support anyone! All we ask is that you stop attacking someone who, in all likelihood, has a 50-50 percent chance of being our nominee.

        Start talking about why Lonegan is good-- there's plenty of valid reasons... and PLEASE stop knocking down our other potential candidate! We need to beat Corzine either way.
        Reply to this
        1. Thursday, December 11, 2008 6:48 AM Alexander wrote:
          It seems like your position is that any disagreement with Christie's positions is an attack against him. However your interpretation might just based upon your bias in favor of him or - more likely - inability to refute what Mr. Halfacre is saying.

          Christie was a good prosecutor, but his comments continue to show he has no knowledge on how to run a government as an executive nor how to fix the current fiscal crisis in New Jersey. Christie is pointing out that he favors consolidation and more centralization. If that is his position that is fine and let's debate the drawbacks of that versus less consolidated control, but to call any comments about Christie's statements as "shilling" is just plain inaccurate. ... (Actually, I believe, based on your comments on other posts NJConservativeLion, you could be labeled a Christie shill and have done nothing but attack Lonegan and call him names rather than try to debate his positions on the issues).

          If you want reasons why Lonegan is the best man for the job you can look to his knowledge and understanding of the most important issues (economic and tax/spending issues), his experience and record as mayor and cutting the size of government and spending and keeping taxes down (the fact he did what he said he is going to do in Trenton showing he can do it), the fact he is reaching out to everyone in the Republican party and his positions on all issues can garner support from everyone in the party, and the list goes on.
          Reply to this
  • Sunday, March 08, 2009 4:43 PM RICHARD MILLS wrote:
    Attn: N.J. GOP Candidate Steve Lonegan,
    Please be aware former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, Rogue members of the F.B.I. and members of his former / current U.S. Atttorneys office and others are involved in the cover up (See Below & Attached). Two recent former U.S. Attorneys involved Colm Connolly and Allen Harberg once Subpoenaed will both confirm that Mills vs. Mills was and is in fact still being covered up by the F.B.I. N.J. Inspector General Mary Jane Cooper is to look into this matter. Case / Confirmation #20090303-345. I also received a voice mail from recently departed U.S. Attorney Allen Harberg's admitting that Mills vs. Mills is in fact a local F.B.I. cover up. My name is Richard Mills Soc Sec # 150-78-0087 and I am the victim of many crimes which fail to be investigated. I may be reached at 856-874-4077.
    All four of my divorce attorneys were paid off. My former inlaws and their business partners and allies stole millions from me unlawfully during Burlington County Superior Court Divorce Proceedings and Post Divorce Proceedings.
    ----- Forwarded Message ----
    From: Richard Mills
    To: ag.mccollum@myfloridalegal.com
    Cc: criminal.division@usdoj.gov; a.brian.albritton@usdoj.gov; chris.griffiths@usdoj.gov; AskDOJ@usdoj.gov
    Sent: Friday, March 6, 2009 8:09:22 PM
    Subject: RE: Reporting F.B.I. Criminal Acts & Political Corruption


    Florida Attorney General's Office / DOJ,

    I am a Crime Victim and have case numbers assisgned for investigation.
    Many serious crimes have been committed against me in the States of Delaware, N.J. PA, Florida, Maryland and the District of Colombia.I IMPLORE you to please share this information with Eric Holder U.S. Attorney General and the U.S. Office of the Inspector General Investigations Division on my behalf. I also request victim witness assistance. Your office advised me previously as shown in below email trail. I need your help as my certified letters have been intercepted and was denied visiting entry by the F.B.I. at the Dept. of Justice in Washington and at other offices.
    N.J. O.I.G. Case# 20081112-314 & Case# 20090303-345 - Politcal Corruption
    N.J. Attorney General Case#200706634 / Investigator Charles Crescenz @ 609-984-5655
    ( MaritalTheft / Court Fraud N.J. Docket #FM-03-826-05W )
    IRS Case# 4228594 (1999 & 2000 stolen tax records)

    Rogue members of the F.B.I. are Obstructing Justice and preventing investigations from occurring. This matter involves serious F.B.I. Criminal Acts & Political Corruption and involves the U.S. Attorneys offices of N.J. & Delaware. Two recently departed former U.S. Attorneys involved Colm Connolly and Allen Harberg once Subpoenaed will both confirm that Mills vs. Mills was and is in fact being covered up by the F.B.I. I also received a voice mail from recently departed U.S. Attorney Allen Harberg' admitting such.
    Reply to this
  • Friday, April 03, 2009 8:18 AM Lindy wrote:
    Hi. Lack of money is no obstacle. Lack of an idea is an obstacle.
    I am from Tajikistan and also am speaking English, give true I wrote the following sentence: "A simple guide to buying the cheapest flight tickets and airplane travel survival."

    With love :p, Lindy.
    Reply to this
Leave a comment

 Enter the above security code (required)

 Name

 Email (will not be published)

 Website

Your comment is 0 characters limited to 3000 characters.