Good day East Orange,
My name is John Thompson Jr., and I am officially declaring my candidacy for Mayor. I believe with the current state of our City, we can no long afford to wait for the Democratic Party, as it is currently stands to solve our problems. East Orange Deserves Better!
Rising taxes, foreclosures and a bloated budget are a few of the issues that are destroying our community. The move towards gentrification has officially begun with the projects outlined in a recent speech by the mayor. Trust me when I say this move isn’t good for our community. The buildings going up with these constructions come as the result of tax exemptions and abatements. Who do you think gets stuck footing the bill? You and I, the tax payers!
I believe that we live in a time where government should be ever more cautious on spending and leery of whom we allow into our community. Tax exemptions and abatements can be used to lure new business, but not at the rate at which the current administration is moving. These tax incentives for new businesses translate into immediate tax hikes for East Orange residents. These practices are forcing more hardship on our community, and pushing more citizens to financial despair. Our government should not be in the business of making its citizens poor!
In regards to education, our kids are leaving high school less prepared than ever before. I believe our kids need more than just a basic education. We need to go above and beyond to make sure our youth is prepared to enter the real world with the tools to effectively shape their communities in a positive way. They need to be shown how they can actually solve some of the problems we face in the world.
Too many of our teenagers and young adults are often caught up in the web of the criminal justice system. Having a criminal record is an unfortunate reality for many young adults and haunts them for the rest of their lives. I believe that by making changes within our government and implementing new policies we can create a better platform to address these issues.
An example of one policy I hope to promote is community intervention. Instead of taking kids directly to the police station for a minor offense, we can introduce intervention sessions with parents, school administration, local church members and police officers. By moving the venue of these events outside of the police station, we can have serious discussions as to why this type of behavior is detrimental without having the negative psychological effects jail can have on a young person’s psyche.
Also, we as a community can no longer vote with the same habits! These voting patterns have only worsened the bad fortunes in our community. We all bear some responsibility as to how this has all played out over the years. WE as a community should vote OUR interest and not because a person is associated with LINE A of the Democratic Party. Learn about your candidate.
Based on the General Election, the Democratic Party as we know it is broken. The party has gone so far away from its people it is difficult to believe in those listed under LINE A. Looking at our community, LINE A has destroyed it through high taxes, poor schools and decaying neighborhoods. So continuing to support this line and any candidate affiliated with them; is only going to continue destroying our community.
We as a community have to start voting our conscience! Today I am here to assure you that; I, John Thompson Jr., will work with the community to set forth viable solutions that address and repair community issues that will lead us closer to the goal of community growth and opportunity and upward mobility. Hopefully in the process WE the people will give life to New Democratic leadership; one that follow’s up and follows through on commitments made to you; one is an advocate for the community they serve and will ensure each person feels included rather than excluded and neglected. One that is a government of the people, for the people! East Orange let’s start voting our conscience and let’s get away from voting our habit.
Our kids deserve better, our taxpayers deserve better and East Orange Deserves Better.
