Newton-Moses and Smith fight down to the wire

L. Harvey Smith served as Acting Mayor of Jersey City after Glenn Cunningham died, and spent a few months in the State Senate

by MAX PIZARRO
PoliticsNJ.com

It's a long life in public service versus a life of fiesty private enterprise in this district 31 undercard where veteran former Jersey City Mayor, State Senator and Council President L. Harvey Smith will fight today with businesswoman and private school educator Shelia Newton Moses for votes in Jersey City and Bayonne.

Both candidates expect to pull votes in Ward F, which is about 85 percent African-American. Wards A and B also contain a large percentage of the district’s African American voters, particularly A, where Smith is banking on his reputation with his base, and Newton-Moses hopes her community activism and vitality count for some votes.

"We rebuilt the city," says Smith, who works as an undersheriff for Hudson County. "We have had the largest growth periods in the history of the city. We have seen the redevelopment of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard area, the redevelopment of Monticello... I stayed the course on the chromium sites. We have light rail."

He’s distrustful of turning key government services, like prisons, over to private companies, and wants to work to secure more money for public programs here and oversee a state diversity study.

"What I grew up and what these kids have today are two different societies," says Smith, born and reared in Jersey city and a basketball star in high school before becoming a teacher and coach. "It was segregated, the Jersey City I grew up in. The blacks went to Christ the King and the whites went to St. Pat’s. The African American community was unified. We didn’t have computers.

"I would not be here today if Jersey City were like it was today," he says. "There were people who took an interest in me. They took an interest in us. There was an unspoken code of ethics we were governed by."

His fought with the late Mayor Glenn Cunningham. Now he’s on a ticket with Cunningham’s widow, Sandra, who's running for state Senate.

"I had a different point of view," says Smith, looking back on his battles with the late mayor, "but most of the time we agreed on what was good for Jersey City. I think people misunderstood. I wish Glenn was still with us. We wanted the same things. A lot of the people who vilified me never came to all of the council meetings. I think I was made into the villain at the time around Glenn’s death, but people have to understand. This was a difficult time for me as well. I lost a son during that whole thing."

A native of Antigua who has lived in Jersey City for 18 years, Newton-Moses wants to go to Trenton in part to oversee the proper administration of Abbott District funds. She runs 10 private childcare centers in Hudson County for approximately 250 children, and employs about 65 people. Education is the heart of what she wants to address, but it goes deeper than trying to raise test scores.

“When you talk about these young people in our community, you’re not talking about failing, you’re talking about dying,” says the candidate, who is in her 30s.

She believes the philosophy behind funding for schools is correct, but she takes issue with the application of that funding.

“When (state Senate candidate) Lou Manzo picked me he knew he was picking someone who has the experience,” says Newton-Moses. “I have no political background, but I have been doing the real politicking: out there working. I’m more experienced than the people running against me. None of the people against me can show the track record I have."