JERSEY SHORE – In this last installment of our coverage of the governor race, we give the floor to Jack Ciattarelli and Mikie Sherrill to discuss what’s on their minds.
Ciattarelli was interviewed by this newspaper on September 22. Sherrill was interviewed on October 14. Their handlers were told ahead of time that school funding and utility costs would be the primary concern of the interviews. These became the first two articles.
They were told there would be no “gotcha” questions, but the interviewer would push back if something untrue was said or if more clarification was needed. The third part of the interview was “dealer’s choice,” where each candidate was given an opportunity to speak their minds about any topic. The results are below.
Jack Ciattarelli
Jack Ciattarelli used his time to rapid fire through a list of issues and how he felt about them. He began by going back to education, stating that public school tests are showing a decline in New Jersey. He urged for more focus on “critical life skills and vocational training.”
He also wanted to get rid of what is widely known as state policy 5756. It’s guidance from the state. It has seven pages but the main sentence that caused controversy is “A school district shall accept a student’s asserted gender identity; parental consent is not required.”
“I really don’t believe (school) districts should be keeping secrets from parents,” he said. “Children are best served when parents and school workers are in partnership.”
Federal and private studies have concluded that LGBT+ children are more likely to be abused or kicked out of their home for their gender ideology than straight children. When this newspaper asked “what if this information leads to harm to the child,” he repeated his belief.
Another topic he wanted to speak about is bail reform. This change in 2017 assigned a risk category for someone charged with a crime, instead of someone staying in jail simply because they couldn’t afford to pay bail. Critics have said this allows people to re-offend.
“Arrest – release – repeat is real,” he said. “There has to be consequences for those who break the law.”
The third topic he wanted to talk about was suburban overdevelopment. One cause of this, he said, was the Mt. Laurel lawsuit from 40 years ago. Because of this, every town has to provide for a certain number of homes for those earning low- to moderate income.
He felt that this was not an appropriate way to address affordability. He wants to bring back regional contribution agreements.
These agreements allow one town to pay a neighbor to take some of its affordable housing obligation. They were amended out of the Fair Housing Act because, because some believed they didn’t solve the problem of a lack of affordable housing in each town.
Ciattarelli said regional contributions is smarter growth. A suburban town can fight sprawl and send affordable units to an urban area that already has the infrastructure and job market that these number of homes needs.
Mikie Sherrill
Sherrill said New Jersey needs someone who will fight for it, not lay down and allow Trump to cut support and programs for those in need.
“What I hear constantly is people are finding it too expensive to live here,” she said. “If you didn’t buy your house before Covid, you’re left behind.”
Between housing costs and health care costs, people are being squeezed too much.
“As I’m trying to drive down costs, the federal government, which usually is a partner with (the state), is rolling back” programs that make life more affordable, she said.
For example, the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program was just ended by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. They also cancelled all applications from fiscal years 2020-2023. This funding was used to prevent the kind of devastation we saw in Superstorm Sandy.
The federal government also put on hold all beach replenishment projects, she noted. These are crucial for the Jersey Shore and other areas.
“Tourism is a huge driver of the economy in our state,” she said.
“As I’m envisioning how to make the shore more affordable, we’re seeing the federal government rolling it back,” she said.
“Ciattarelli is backing it all,” she said. “He’s coming up with any reason to support Trump.”
“Back in the day, Jack voted against Superstorm Sandy funding so you see he’s only in it for himself. He’s not for the people,” she said.
Read Part I – Ciattarelli, Sherrill Share School Funding Plans
Read Part II – Ciattarelli, Sherrill: How They Will Fight High Electric Bills
