I’ve been feeling slightly more cynical about Trenton these days than I would like to admit. The Katie Brennan scandal and the Murphy administration’s jarring silence about it makes my stomach curl. Seems no one wants to admit to the Senate’s investigative committee who hired the man accused and Murphy’s silenced his entire administration with gag orders.
The so-called “patronage pit” scandal coming out the School Development Authority and Lizette Delgado-Polanco’s blatant hiring practices does the same. The authority fired over thirty qualified and seasoned officials who were quickly replaced by people extremely connected to her, some who were even related to her. (I actually met Delgado-Polanco a few times back in #summer16 when I attended the state democratic committee’s Building Our Future political operative program. *Side note: she is also the vice president of the State Democratic Party).
Now I would never switch parties or talk poorly about it overall, but I would and will distance myself from any administration or individual, regardless of our shared beliefs, if this is how they behave. Democrats have controlled the state for decades in the Legislature, yet it seems like the everyday people they represent are constantly fighting the people they voted for.
I voted for Democrat Phil Murphy and now I have to ask and wait for transparency about why he’s not protecting women in his own administration. I voted for my Democratic state senator and assemblypersons and now I have to scream and shout at them to not gerrymander the state or give a tax break to a huge corporation with almost no strings attached. I voted for my Democratic officials here in Camden and now I have to stand in a packed council chamber of terrified city residents as the zoning board grants another variance to destroy another part of their community.
I still believe in the values and ideals of the Democratic party, but right now in New Jersey they don’t look the same. I want to vote for a Governor that knows when yes is yes and no is no – a Governor that easily stands behind and up for a woman and her truth. I want to vote for a Legislature that remains even-keeled in the face of political adversity – a Legislature that doesn’t waiver to the whims of special interests or power bosses. I want to vote for city officials that care for the people in their neighborhoods more than waterfront real estate that won’t contribute to a tax base – officials that don’t have ten year timelines to gentrify people of color out of a city, but instead truly prioritize those they are elected to serve.
I suppose at a certain point we have to ask ourselves how much longer we will hope before we just collectively kick them out and fill the seats ourselves.
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