From the editor: I sent out some questions for all the candidates - 18 in total - running for office in Montclair. Click here when you are done to read each candidates responses - if any - by clicking under their photo to reach their own landing page. - Diane Lilli
Tell me about your leadership style. In Montclair, this can be the key to your success as a councilor.
Leadership is a multi-faceted concept. On one end of the spectrum are the Dr. Dorothy Irene Heights of the world-- the Master Dreamers and Master Builders, whose selfless, visionary, courageous, determined and enduring leadership, as well as their potent voice and compelling advocacy for justice yields sustained change. In the case of Dr. Height, the melding of her passion and her profession yielded a strong, sustained national coalition of women across the globe working collaboratively to transform the lives of those who have least among us at home and abroad. Dr. Height’s leadership resulted in the training of tens of thousands of women how to start and sustain enterprises, how to lead their families, lead major corporations, states and nations. Her leadership prepared women how to feed their families and feed the minds, bodies and souls of diverse people worldwide. She prepared, inspired and supported women who are corporate, philanthropic, government, civic, faith, community and family leaders …women who possess qualities of Sojourner Truth, Mary McLeod Bethune, Eleanor Roosevelt, Marva Collins, Mother Theresa, Wynona Lipman, Shirley Chisholm, Oprah Winfrey, Marian Wright Edelman and others.
On the other end of the spectrum are leaders whose simple acts of episodic or constant and enduring self expression--- or whose action when conviction overcomes their reticence---thrusts the leaders into making known their conviction by challenging someone else’s truth and calling injustice by its name. Esther, comes immediately to mind when I think about this leadership prototype. You will recall that Esther, Queen of Persia dared to defy the King—her husband, who not knowing that his wife was a Jew was poised to have his Prime Minister, Haman, kill all Jews. Esther’s leadership was spurred by her cousin Mordecai who had raised the orphaned young woman and encouraged her to “pass’ so that the king would marry her, and provide her a better life. Esther was physically beautiful, beguiling, bright and strategic. She trained for more than one year in the art of pleasing the king and achieved her desired results. She pleased the king and was ultimately taken into his harem where she enjoyed the benefits of being queen. At some point, Esther’s Uncle Mordecai spurred a mass “racial cleansing” by declining to bow or give reverence to Prime Minister Haman. As a result of Mordecai’s actions, all of the Jews were ordered killed. At first Esther wanted to ignore the situation, preferring to remain in her comfort zone and continue passing for gentile. In desperation, Mordecai reminded Esther of her true ethnic identity and pleaded that she speak up, that she serve as a voice of salvation for her people. With great trepidation, Esther ultimately dared to speak up and take action, saying: If I perish, I perish, I am going to see the king.”
Esther was a person of faith, goodness, devotion and courage; a strategic thinker and actor, who solicited wise counsel from those she trusted, listened more than she talked, weighed all of the facts, devised a strategic plan then executed it with precision, alacrity and dispatch, with redounding results. We all know Esthers of today who are leading from their respective points of service. We know people in Montclair and elsewhere in Essex County whose leadership qualities are admirable: the persistent acts of a parent, a teacher, a shop steward, someone in a prison, a food pantry, a rehab center, an after school program, a church, synagogue, mosque, temple, or on a basketball court or some other places whose human character undergoes its most challenging trials but who continue to give their all to help a fellow being.
I try to emulate the best of a wide variety of leaders and leadership styles. In the above styles and other leadership styles I admire, the leaders are driven by their faith and truths, their convictions and the best evidence available to them at the time. They are people of passion, courage, caring, data-driven affirmative action. They are people who are inclusive and who give voice to the voiceless. They use their time, talent and treasure to build “Coalitions of Conscience” to assist all of their constituents by helping those who have least among us. They know that they are chosen to provide voice for good but they also realize that like all of God’s children, they are a “work in process” and that some of their actions and decisions will require rethinking and recalibrating.
From each of my vantages of service to date, and every one of the leaders for or with whom I have worked, as well as from my father, Charles W. Baskerville, the quintessential Pater Familias, my mother Marjorie Henry Baskerville, a true Renaissance Woman, and from others in my circle of family and friends, I learned invaluable lessons about leadership.
During my first term as the Forth Ward City Counselor, I tried to build on the best lessons from the above referenced leaders to devise a leadership style for today’s multicultural age, grounded in the best traditions of my foreparents and others whose leadership style I respect. I engaged a broad and diverse group of residents and experts in a collaborative decision making process about issues of importance to Forth Ward residents every month during my first four years in office. The Forth Ward Collaborative was my “Coalition of Conscience.” Through our monthly meeting that averaged more than 100 residents, diverse stakeholders shared their perspectives with me to assist me in fully and fairly representing the voice of my constituents. I strove to balance individualism with community good, always returning to the best of my culture and to my conscience. I call the harkening back to my roots and the grounding of all of my decisions ultimately in what I believe to be the “good of the whole,” the leadership style of Ubuntu.
According to The New World Encyclopedia:
“The word “ubuntu comes from the Zulu and Xhola languages, and can be roughly translated as "humanity towards others." Ubuntu embodies all those virtues that maintain harmony and the spirit of sharing among the members of a society. It implies an appreciation of traditional beliefs, and a constant awareness that an individual’s actions today are a reflection on the past, and will have far-reaching consequences for the future. A person with ubuntu knows his or her place in the universe and is consequently able to interact gracefully with other individuals. One aspect of ubuntu is that, at all times, the individual effectively represents the people from among whom he or she comes, and therefore tries to behave according to the highest standards and exhibit the virtues upheld by his or her society.
“During the 1990s, the concept of ubuntu was adapted as an ideology by post-apartheid South Africa, as a vehicle to bring about harmony and cooperation among its many racial and ethnic groups. The ethical values of ubuntu include respect for others, helpfulness, community, sharing, caring, trust and unselfishness. Ubuntu underscores the importance of agreement or consensus, and gives priority to the well-being of the community as a whole.”
What do you consider to be your biggest challenges as a COUNCILOR?
The challenges that we fact as a Township today are as many and varied as those with which the nation is grappling. We are grappling in microcosm in Montclair with the same issues with which the nation is grappling in macrocosm. 44 years and five days ago, on April 4, 1968 when Dr. King had his life snuffed out by a deranged person -- 25.4 million Americans, including 11 million children were living below the poverty line. Today, 46 million Americans, including 13 million children are living below the officially defined poverty line. Intractable poverty, unbridled bigotry, racism and militarism stoked flames of fear, anger, desperation and despair. It was a presidential election year and the nation was deeply divided.
Today, 44 years later, our nation and our Township are alarmingly off-track. Our gross domestic product is three (3) times larger than in 1968—but 21 million more Americans and 2 million more children are living in officially defined poverty. In Montclair, too many young people and our elders are hurting, and too many of our institutions are failing them. More than a few of our residents are mired in poverty of spirit and cashflow....they are hopeless and acting out in desperation and despair. Witness the recent killings in our Township, two of which took place in the Forth Ward. Wanton acts of violence are occurring in the Township of my birth which used to be considered a safe haven. Today, too many in the Township are captives: captive to drugs, captive to alcohol, captive to personal habits equally as destructive to their lives and to the lives of those around them. While those in the Township of least advantage are hurting most, the pain and polarization we are witnessing in my hometown are not limited to one Ward or one section of Town. Families across the four Wards are still reeling from the pangs of 911 that disrupted the lives of many residents of Montclair. Montclairites have lost loved ones in the wars on foreign soils and to personal battles. Montclairites have experienced a tremendous loss of jobs, enterprises, and funds during the financial crisis from which we are just beginning to rebound as the Obama policies are taking effect. Homelessness and displacement are becoming increasingly familiar to our residents who are losing their homes as the result of the Township’s uncontained property taxes and the failings of the savings and loan industry.
The crisis in which we find ourselves today is heightened in communities of color in which nationally African Americans have seen their wealth fall by 53% as compared with 13% for whites—a collective $200B wealth loss among African Americans and Latinos —with the typical African American household with just $5,700 in wealth, Latinos $6,300, and whites $113, 000. The African American, Latino, Hispanic and other communities of color in Montclair have not been spared from these challenges.
Amid the above challenges and despair, one daunting challenge for me is to build on the many things that continue to make Montclair a great place in which to live: our diversity, our appreciation of the heritage and cultures of others, our shared values of faith, family, and friends; our belief that we should have a green, safe and secure environment in which our residents can grow to capacity and thrive from cradle to grave; and the belief among many in collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, unity, self determination and innovation. I tried and will continue to try to build on the Tonwship’s core values while making tough decisions about how best to invest our tax dollars to support our municipal workers, to ensure the public safety, to attract and sustain businesses in every Ward in the Township, and to move Montclair 4Ward at a greater pace than the state and the nation.
Montclair needs ratables. Any ideas?
Traditional wisdom among municipal leaders has been that one approach to preventing property tax rates from skyrocketing is to encourage non-residential development like office complexes, shopping centers and revenue generating cultural and recreational attractions. This process, referred to as luring “ratables” or highly taxable properties has been designed to offset the property tax revenues generated by the property taxes of residents, especially in places like Montclair, where the residents are taxed to and beyond their limit and the residential property tax base is still inadequate to meet all of the municipal service, infrastructure, and public education needs of the Township.
Because commercial properties generally generate a higher property tax base and higher revenues without a concomitant high demand for municipal services, “ratable” must be considered as we seek ways to build on the best of social, civic, cultural, and residential life of the Township without raising property taxes. There are other approaches that are serving some communities well, such as targeted business, tax, and education zones that offer tax relief for investment in areas targeted for growth.
The Forth Ward Collaborative and I will host a CalmUnity Ward meeting to engage the residents of the 4th Ward in thoughtful deliberations about the best approach to values-based taxation that will ensure the integrity, safety, security and diversity of the 4th Ward and the Township.
Education: Every Montclair Mayor has a huge responsibility in regards to the schools. Tell us some of your ideas in regards to the school board, superintendent, school budget.
This question indicated that it is just for mayoral candidates. I want to address it because I believe that moving our education system “From Good to Great” and ensuring that it works for all of the diverse students and families in the Township is key to the future strength of our Township. I want to share my views about education as a product of the Montclair Public School system, the daughter of a father who was a product of the Montclair Public School System, the mother of a son who is the product of the Montclair School system and a former member of the School Board. I am concerned that the Montclair Public School System will loose its coveted position as a model of academic excellence and diversity and inclusion of all students, without the right leadership.
I am sharing my thoughts about education in this Township because as the former Public Member and Vice President of the Montclair Board of Education, I provided voice for rigorous courses and high standards for all students; student, teacher, administration and curriculum diversity; integration into the curriculum and extra-curricular activities, of proven measures to close the minority achievement gap; measures to strengthen the administration of our schools, teaching and learning in our schools, the curriculum, and to expand extra-learning opportunities for our students; and strengthened controls to ensure sound fiscal management. During my first four years in office, as a member of the BOSE, I fought solo on the Council to prod investments in health care benefits for our teaching assistants so that these professionals who work alongside our teachers can attend to their wellbeing as they seek to assist in educating our sons and daughters.
As an original member of the Community Impact Subcommittee for the New School in Ward 4, I helped to identify and raise issues that would impact the community immediately surrounding the New School (student safety, traffic, parking, community access to the new facility) I worked with the BOE Subcommittee to advance the naming of the New School, built on the site of the African American YMCA, for Charles H. Bullock, a late Montclair resident and Director of the Y for nearly two decades. As Forth Ward Councilor, I was humbled to be able to advance the name for this school and to participate in all of the steps leading up to the final ribbon cutting for what is now the Bullock School, the first public building in Montclair named for an African American. As Forth Ward Councilor during the past four years, I was privileged to host community meetings with hundreds of individuals coming together to adjust the traffic patterns to protect our children and families in the neighborhood from the dangers of the additional traffic in the neighborhood, and to ensure a smooth transition.
I recall with pride the days in which Dr. Edmond W. Gordon, the John M. Musser Professor of Psychology, Emeritus at Yale University, Richard March Hoe Professor, Emeritus of Psychology and Education and Director of the Institute of Urban and Minority Education (IUME) and Interim Dean at Teachers College, Columbia University, and the celebrated national education leader for whom ETS has named a Chair, cited Montclair Public Schools as a model of excellence and diversity. I recall also when, following protracted battles to desegregate the Montclair Public School System, during my early years, with leadership from my parents, Harold and Allison Moore, Fran and Al More, Joe and Audry Green, Alan and Pat Clark, Matt and Fran Carter, Bunny and George Rice, Bobbi Riely, Wally and Selene Choice, the list goes on….all of my many aunts and uncles “in the village.” The Township experimented with a number of programs including pupil transportation and magnet schools that yielded significant, quantifiable affirmative results.
In recent years, however, we have not insulated our school s from the national trends in which we are losing far too many African American boys. We hear chilling statistics about African American males. They are at or near the bottom of every statistical measurement of health, education and well being. The Bureau of Prison Statistics reports, for example, that of today’s 2.3 million inmates in custody, 35% are black males, even though they make up only 10% of the US population and only 8% of those in college. The Pew Center on the States reports that 1 in 9 young black men between the ages of 20 and 34 are incarcerated as compared with 1 in 30 for other men in the same age group. Nearly 800,000 black men are in prison and only 600,000 are enrolled in college. According to the National Education Association (NEA), the average African-American male has a higher chance of being expelled from school or being incarcerated and much lower chances of completing a high school or college degree than any other ethnic group. The Schott Foundation for Public Education’s 2005 State Report Card on Public Education and Black Males found that nearly 70 percent of African-American males are failing out of school and not graduating from high school with their cohorts. The test scores of both our African American sons and daughters lag behind those of others; and disproportionate numbers are in special education and on suspension. The data in Montclair are in alignment with the national figures although I am proud to say that our statistics are not quite that dismal. Our future education approach must include reaching, engaging, retaining and graduating all of our students, especially African American boys. Our future education approach MUST include continuing to move towards racial, gender and aptitude integration of all of our classrooms.
Not only am I concerned about our African American boys, but I am concerned, too, about our girls across the lines of race, ethnicity, and socio-economic strata. President Obama indicated that we need 100,000 new teachers in the sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in the next five years, and he has called on every school district to assist in moving the nation toward having 60% of all adults with a 2- or 4-year college degree by 2020. We will reach neither goal if we do not prepare, inspire and channel more of our girls into STEM. In Montclair as with elsewhere, we are not faring well as I would like, in moving our girls 4ward in STEM. But we now have a number of model pipeline programs, such as our partnership with Montclair State University in which we are exciting girls about STEM early in school and preparing and inspiring them into the sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics—the growth and high need disciplines of the future, and the disciplines upon which global innovation will be grounded. We also have supplemental education in the form of clubs and afterschool activities and an outstanding program developed by Christine Delisanti-Miller, to help our girls to be able to lead the way in these disciplines.
Transparency: This is a big issue for voters. I noticed most of you all seem to have a great platform and venue to "get the word out" about your campaigns. Any plans to bring this to your term as Mayor - OR COUNCILOR - to the township? In other words, will you institute any kind of communication that reaches residents directly as a review or newsletter?
Transparency generally implies openness and accountability. In the context of elective office, it generally refers to the solemn duty of public officials, as stewards of public resources, to be trust worthy, open, responsible, efficient, and above reproach relative to allocating taxpayer dollars and the manner in which they make decisions in the public interest.
Your question speaks more directly to how respondents (mayoral and council candidates) plan to remain engaged with and communicate with constituents.
I continue to build upon the strong foundation of community engagement and informed, collaborative decision-making I began in my first four years in office. As referenced in answer to the leadership question above, I pledged that all of my decisions as Forth Ward Councilor would reflect the “will of the people” to the extent that the peoples’ will was not inconsistent with my conscience. To make certain that my decisions reflected the will of the people, for four years at least once every month, 48 months out of every year, 192 months in four years, and on other occasions as issues arose that directly impacted my constituents and where there were differences of opinion about approaches to resolving the issues, I hosted “CalmUnity” meetings at which I listened to the opinions of 4th Ward residents augmented by experts in the fields, to ensure data-driven consensus building. A sampling of the issues for which I sought and secured community input in our CalmUnity consensus process include: assessing the benefits of an elected school board versus an appointed school board; evaluating the benefits of maintaining a separate municipal election in May as opposed to aligning the municipal election with the November elections; determining promising practices for ensuring the well being of community members when confronted by seemingly insurmountable challenges such as sustained periods of unemployment, foreclosures, and relocations as the result of property taxes escalating at higher rates than families incomes; evaluating innovative approaches to smart growth while maintaining the character of our neighborhoods; ensuring housing choices for persons of all abilities and incomes .
The monthly meetings worked well. I will continue these meetings during my next term in office. I will augment these meetings with social media that will permit me to get the pulse of a broad swath of constituents quickly and engage them in ongoing debates. I will also have a website. I did not maintain a website during my first four years in office because I lacked the time and resources to maintain a website in the manner I would have liked. But I have seen how a well organized, well maintained, current website can add value to public service and keep constituents connected to resources and opportunities, and provide them another outlet to provide voice and remain connected with their representatives.
Last question: Why are you running for councilor?
I am seeking re-election to the office of Ward 4 City Councilwoman in the Township of Montclair because I love my hometown and I it has been my distinct privilege to work indefatigably and strategically to champion the issues and interests of the residents of the 4th Ward for the past four years. While there is much yet to be done, working with the Forth Ward Collaborative and other strategic alliances, and by engaging with residents on every block in the Ward and others whose interests and actions would directly impact the residents of the Forth Ward, I have offered my neighbors and friends, new hopes, new possibilities, and better results. I worked to ensure that our children are safe and protected, “From the Pools to the Schools, From Recess to Success.” I held community meetings to ensure the safety and security of our community, including the paths that our children trod to and from school; to guaranty their safety once in school; and to make certain that once in school our students were in a nurturing, rigorous, culturally diverse and sensitive environment in which each child is valued and supported to his or her potential.
During my first four years in office, by leveraging federal and county funds, I was able to assist in offering foreclosure relief to some of the residents of the Fourth Ward and to establish financing mechanisms for the purchase and redevelopment of foreclosed homes and residential properties, “including such mechanisms as soft-seconds, loan loss reserves, and shared-equity loans for low- and moderate- income homebuyers,” as is permitted under the NSP guidelines. I did that at the time when some parts of Ward 4 had a foreclosure rate among the highest in Essex County.
