Newark 'Can Do Better,' Mayoral Candidate Says

Shavar Jeffries officially began his quest for mayor of Newark Tuesday from the same Boys and Girls Club he credited with helping him overcome childhood tragedy to become an assistant state Attorney General and law school professor.

“The Newark we know, the Newark we love, is in danger. But there is hope. We can do better,” Jeffries said to a crowd of at least three hundred supporters and curious onlookers gathered in a sweltering gym at the Avon Avenue facility.

“We are five wards with one destiny,” Jeffries later said. “Together we can do great things.”

Among the attendees Tuesday was William Payne, a member of the South Ward political dynasty that has produced two members of Congress.

Throughout his brief speech, the 38-year-old city native repeatedly alluded to his compelling biography. When he was still in grade school, Jeffries’ mother -- who was an unwed teenager when he was born --  was murdered, leaving him in the care of his grandmother and an aunt.

Growing up in a Harding Terrace neighborhood where “crack vials outnumbered college graduates,” Jeffries distinguished himself as a member of the Boys and Girls Club, then went on to graduate from Duke University and the Columbia School of Law.

Jeffries, who hopes to succeed an outgoing Mayor Cory Booker in 2014, then clerked for a federal judge in Ohio, served as assistant state attorney general, was elected president of the Newark School Advisory Board, and now works as a professor at Seton Hall’s law school and as a civil rights attorney after also serving as a fellow at the Gibbons law firm in Newark. He also helped found  the Team Charter Academy, a charter school with a college-prep curriculum.

He and his wife Tenagne, a Howard University graduate and marketing executive, have two young children, Naomi and Caleb.

Education was a consistent theme during Jeffries’ remarks.

“Over 75 percent of new jobs require education beyond high school, but we only get one out of every two of our kids out of high school,” said Jeffries, who helped restore $30 million in reduced school funding while a member of the school advisory board.

He also said he would use his experience in state-level law enforcement to combat Newark’s crime, which has plateaued in many categories after dropping steeply just a few years ago.

“Focussing every day on results, we reduced violent crime for three years in the state of New Jersey,” he said, adding that he would also make the hiring of additional police a priority.

During his speech and in comments afterwards, Jeffries also praised Booker for his record on economic development, vowing to continue Booker’s efforts to lure major corporations and businesses to the city despite what Jeffries described as a “strain of thought” among some who fear outside commerce coming in.

“We cannot afford leaders who see development as a problem,” he said, declining to name specific officials.

“Yes, we need to manage that growth, but a rising tide lifts all boats,” he added, also stating he would  work to boost internships and other employment opportunities for city residents.

Jeffries also said he helped write rules expanding opportunities for women- and minority-owned businesses to get government contracts and helped homeowners in court against predatory lenders during the ongoing home-foreclosure crisis gripping the city.

Jeffries is not the first to throw his hat in the ring to succeed Booker, who plans to run for US Senate next year, when his second term as mayor ends. Another South Warder, Councilman Ras Baraka, has also begun campaigning for Booker’s job.

With the election still nearly a year away, however, many prospective voters remain on the fence, like Isaac Jenkins, a 66-year-old district leader in the South Ward.

“I want to hear his platform first. If he’s got a good platform, who knows?” Jenkins said shortly before Jeffries spoke.

And afterwards?

“I was impressed,” Jenkins said.