MAYOR RAS J. BARAKA TO ANNOUNCE 2018 REELECTION PLANS ON THURSDAY, JUNE 22, 12 PM ON THE STEPS OF CITY HALL
ON THE STEPS OF CITY HALL,
920 BROAD STREET, NEWARK
MAYOR WILL BE JOINED BY NEWARK MUNICIPAL COUNCIL CANDIDATE SLATE AND DEMOCRATIC GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE PHIL MURPHY
The Mayor, who is preparing to launch a pioneering collective impact initiative with nearly two dozen of the City’s premiere stakeholder institutions next week, is heading a slate of municipal candidates which includes eight of the nine incumbent office holders.
“Over the past 3 years, our beloved City has grown from ‘Newark 2.0’ and then ‘Newark 3.0’ to ‘Newark Forward’. This represents our vision for moving our City — our economic growth, our institutions, and most importantly, our people,” said Mayor Baraka. “We believe that our team — from my office to our City Councilmembers and from our County delegation to our federal representatives – embodies the type of leadership that the citizens of Newark and New Jersey need during this critical time. I look forward to continuing to work with them all to ensure that the interests of our residents are protected and that we remain vigilant in our service to them all.”
During his first term in office, Mayor Baraka’s progressive approach to governing has won him accolades from grassroots organizations to the White House. He was listed in The Nation’s 2015 “Most Valuable Progressives” as “Most Valuable Mayor”, Ebony Magazine’s “Power 100” and on the front page of the New York Times for “defying expectations” during his first year-and-half in office.
He has been one of the nation’s most vocal leaders on issues ranging from raising the minimum wage to Newark’s status as a sanctuary city. In response to criticism about crime, he consolidated the public safety agency and has made the hiring of new officers a priority. Since July 2014, 253 new officers have graduated from the police academy and due to innovative safety programs; Newark saw the biggest crime drop in 50 years.
President Barack Obama announced his sweeping plan for criminal justice reform while visiting a Newark reentry center with Mayor Baraka and because of Mayor Baraka’s diplomatic skill and strong advocacy, Newark Public Schools can expect to be returned to the control of the City for the first time in more than two decades. Throughout the City’s five wards, he is beloved as an educator, former principal, basketball coach, neighbor, mentor, and friend.
From the launch of a social impact venture fund to accelerate the development of technology and the opening of the nation’s largest vertical indoor farm, to the creation of the City’s first-ever police Civilian Complaint Review Board to mobilizing residents to combat violence in high-crime areas, Mayor Baraka’s leadership has married a profound vision with an unshakeable passion for the City where he has lived and worked for more than four decades.
There is currently $2 billion in economic development underway in Newark and in his first 100 days in office, Mayor Baraka closed the City’s budget gap without laying off employees. The City of Newark had another successful year in collecting a record amount of revenues for 2016, with a property tax collection rate of more than 96%. Increased revenue was largely due to strong collections for special taxes such as payroll, parking, and hotel.
His perspective on economic development has won him favor with Fortune 500© leaders, small business owners and investors. Capping years of advocacy by Mayor Baraka and the Municipal Council, the Port Authority voted in February to fund the extension of PATH to Newark International Airport including a station in the South Ward’s Weequahic-Dayton. This project will also reinforce Newark Liberty International Airport’s potential as a major source of jobs for Newark and Elizabeth residents. The project will transform the surrounding area, creating economic growth, jobs, new housing and an improved quality of life.
Mayor Baraka’s insight into the needs of Newark citizens led him to collaborate with Panasonic and the National Action Network to bring NAN-Newark Tech World to the City’s South Ward. NAN-Newark Tech serves as a high-tech community center for the City of Newark and offers Newark residents courses in web design, graphic design, digital literacy, networking and more. Several blocks away, construction is underway on a building that stood unoccupied for decades but which will soon be an artists’ residence in a space named for the legendary singer who was a frequent visitor to the Mayor’s childhood home — Nina Simone.
Other significant economic highlights from last year include the reopening of the Hahne’s & Co. Building, which is now a mixed-use space with 160 apartments, City National Bank’s headquarters, and a Rutgers University arts and cultural center and incubator; the sale of the former Newark Bears Stadium to a private developer and will be a new space which will include residential units, arts and technology anchors, contributing to the continued development of Newark’s downtown and waterfront; construction of One Theater Square and Riverview at Rector which will, when completed, include a total of approximately 400 residential units and 20,000 square feet of retail space; and breaking ground on Mulberry Commons, a $100-million+ investment, in public, open space as well as retail establishments, restaurants and commercial spaces, all better connecting the Ironbound and downtown to Newark Penn Station. Additionally, later this year, the City will welcome the Grammy Museum at Prudential Center downtown, adding to the vibrancy of this fast-growing area.
The reelection campaign will open headquarters in each of the City’s five wards over the next several months. The campaign is being led by longtime political advisor Amiri Baraka.
