A valuable reminder of who Chris Christie serves. - promoted by Rosi
In a powerful, stirring speech at the Housing and Community Development Network's semi-annual membership meeting last week, Asm. Jerry Green, Speaker Pro Tempore and Chair of the Housing and Local Government Committee, described his fight with Gov. Christie on housing reform. Green's speech came as he accepted one of two 2011 Legislators of the Year awards from the Network, along with Speaker Sheila Oliver (who was not able to attend at the last minute and had her Chief of Staff Thurman Barnes receive the award in her place).
Green gave a great overview of the standoff between him and Christie - and the issues at stake - in his speech:
Green noted the widening impacts of New Jersey's housing crisis:
The last 30-40 years I've been in the trenches it's always been about poor black people. . . But now it's middle income white America that's in the same boat. They're hurting. They don't see an opportunity for decent housing for their own kids.
I have legislators coming up to me saying Jerry, you know something, you're right. My kids can't even afford to live in the neighborhood. You have teachers who can't afford to live in their neighborhoods. This is not fair.
And he said he would continue to take on Christie to fight for those decent homes:
My plan for the next two years is to meet with the Administration and meet with the Governor. He's made it very clear: my way or no way. Well, Chris: it's MY way or no way.
A brief reminder of how we got here, and more, below the fold...
Here's quick reminder of the fight that united Green and other legislative leaders with a broad range of unlikely allies to stop one of Gov. Christie's key first-year priorities:
In early 2010, Gov. Christie attempted to ram through a proposal that would let wealthy towns keep out whoever they wanted - working families, people with special needs, lower-income seniors - through restrictive zoning laws. He thus showed his philosophy that certain government regulations are good - those that enable wealthy communities to artificially ban people who work there from living there. He first attempted to do so through an Executive Order, which a court, for only the second time in New Jersey history, stayed due to its illegality.
Having failed in that route, Chrisite then went to the Legislature, and found a Democratic ally - Sen. Ray Lesniak. Lesniak and many other Senators rammed through a bill that would have also allowed exclusionary zoning in wealthy towns which passed the Senate in June 2010. But then, thanks to a public outcry including the NAACP, special needs groups, environmental groups, much of New Jersey's business community, and many Blue Jersey readers, the Assembly, with the leadership of Speaker Oliver, then-Majority Leader Cryan, and Speaker Pro Tempore Green, among others, decided to stop what the Asbury Park Press had called a "runaway train" and actually hold a public hearing where people could testify - unlike in the Senate where Lesniak banned everyone from the DCA commissioner to NAACP representatives from speaking.
That hearing - presided over by Housing and Local Government Committee Chair and Vice-Chair Jerry Green and Mila Jasey - led to a rewrite of the bill, ending up with legislation that, while still flawed (in large part due to last minute amendments in the Senate by Lesniak), was far better than the original bill and garnered support of many housing, business, and special needs groups. The bill passed both houses in January and was then conditionally vetoed by Governor Christie, who attacked Green and other lawmakers who wrote the bill and called for them to revise it.
Lesniak, to his credit, then withdrew the bill from consideration (something he had the authority to do as sponsor of the original bill) rather than deal with Christie's unreasonable positions and attacks. And that's where things stand, throwing the issue into the courts as the Christie Administration continues to take illegal actions that fail to enforce existing law.
Jerry Green in this speech showed why he deserved the award. He demonstrated true leadership in fighting alongside the thousands of people to derail Gov. Christie's plans to let towns put up a "families not wanted" or "people with special needs not wanted" sign at their borders. And his pledge to continue that leadership through the remainder of the Christie Administration places him on the side of the community leaders, clergy, civil rights groups, environmental leaders, and businesses who know that an exclusionary New Jersey is not the future we want for our kids.
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