When I think back on my early adult life, two experiences in particular shaped myfeelings on this fundamental issue. First, when I was in college I became acquainted withan organization called `Bread For the World' which raised money to combat hunger in theThird World. Its members convinced me that America's tariff policies had destructiveconsequences both here and abroad. For example, the United States would give theDominican Republic credits to establish a shoemaking industry, but after they borrowed alot of money to build production facilities, we wouldn't let them export shoes into theUnited States. As a result of this contradictory policy, our domestic capital equipmentmanufacturers and bankers would benefit handsomely, but the Dominicans still couldn'tgenerate enough wealth to feed their people. By protecting our domestic industry, we notonly hurt American consumers and made our economy less efficient, but we also preventedthe poor from becoming prosperous producers.
hôtels Edimbourg The second experience which helped reaffirm my faith in markets occurred when Ivisited relatives in the former East Germany before the Wall came down. During my visit,I had the opportunity to drive a Trabant, the automobile produced by East Germany'sgovernment-owned factories. Driving a Trabant is a worldview-changing experience. Infact, I would encourage everyone to drive a Trabant for just one day. There is simply nobetter way to personally come to appreciate free markets and to experience the disastrousand inevitable consequences of a government monopoly. Even though the Trabant is adangerous, ugly, and environmentally destructive automobile, my relatives had to savetheir money for years and wait on a long list to have the privilege to buy one. Compare thegovernment manufactured Trabant to the automobiles produced by West Germany's twopremier auto manufacturers, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, and you immediately understandthe value of competition and market accountability. You immediately understand that amonopoly, regardless of whether its public or private, will inevitably lead to reducedquality and higher costs to consumers.
Both of these experiences have taught me to reject anti-market privilege -- of whichtariffs are a mild sort and government monopolies in the provision of essential services arethe cruelest sort. I support free markets and privatization so that the poor, not just theprivileged, have an opportunity to create and obtain wealth. I support privatization andfree markets so that consumers can obtain quality goods and services at the best possibleprice. I support privatization and free markets so that prosperity can replace poverty, andopportunity can replace oppression. To me, the privatization of government monopolies ismore than a matter of economic efficiency or political ideology. It is, once again, a matterof justice.
I do believe that there is a positive role for government to play in the world. Thereis a mid-point between laissez-faire and government monopoly. That mid-point isempowerment. In contrast to laissez-faire thinking, a philosophy of empowerment doesrecognize that some people are born with disadvantages, and it proactively seeks to ensurethat they are granted true opportunity. But in stark contrast to socialism, empowermentdoes not disenfranchise the individual citizen. It does not build a government monopolythat serves primarily government special interest groups, but not the people. Rather, itkeeps power in the hands of the intended beneficiaries, and through choice strives to createa competitive market in the provision of essential services.
As the Mayor of Jersey City, I want to use the philosophy of empowerment to guidemy administration's efforts to reform the way in which government provides safe and cleanstreets, quality schools, and economic opportunity for every member of our community. Iwant to establish policies that will reinvigorate our sense of community, and make ourresidents feel that they have the power, not only to make their immediate lives better, but tolay the groundwork for their children's future.
It is not surprising that residents in my economically distressed city sometimes havedespair for the future, since they frequently question their own immediate physical safety. So I decided early that one of the top priorities of my administration would be to reducecrime by increasing the number of police officers patrolling our streets. Rather than haveour police officers simply respond to crime by patrol car after the fact, our police officerswould be assigned to foot patrol in small, manageable neighborhood districts so that theycould prevent crime from happening.
Additionally, we decided we would help neighborhood residents organize intoneighborhood-police committees that will work cooperatively with the community policeofficers assigned to patrol in their area. These committees will have routine contact withthe Police Director's office so that residents can help establish the policing priorities intheir neighborhood, and so that the police officers assigned to foot patrol in a givenneighborhood will begin to feel accountable to the people they serve. In fact, we hope tohave different members of each neighborhood police committee actually walk for an houreveryday in their neighborhood with their community officer so that the officer can beintroduced to the residents and have an opportunity to learn about the problems andtrouble spots on his beat.
In order to man this new force of community police officers without further burdening our taxpayers, we are decreasing the size of our non-patrol specialist units,civilianizing station house desk jobs, and petitioning the Governor and State Legislature toreform binding arbitration statutes so that the city can secure a more cost-effective laborcontract. As increased police presence on the streets begins to re-establish order and detercrime, we believe that there will be less need for special investigative units who respondafter a crime has been committed. In addition, we believe that officers assigned to patrolspecific neighborhoods, who have the opportunity to get to know the people that live andwork in their district, will be able to gather information and solve crimes better thandetectives sent in from the outside.
Moving police officers from desk jobs to street patrol, and bringing in civilians toreplace them, will obviously increase the overall budget of the police department, but itneed not result in an overall increase in the city budget. That's because many of these newpolice department civilian employees will be transferred from our other municipaldepartments.
Obviously, our community policing program will require substantial changes in theinternal organizational culture of our police department, and it will require communitygroups to take a more pro-active role in providing for the safety of their neighborhood. But I am confident that once our police officer and residents begin to see the benefits ofcommunity policing -- once they realize that there is less crime because of their cooperation-- they will look for creative ways to expand and strengthen their working relationship.
Dublin hotels I would also like to give each neighborhood direct power to contract forsupplemental security and sanitation services from a private manager, similar to thebusiness improvement district that operates at Grand Central Station in New York City. These neighborhood improvement districts would give the residents of each district directcontrol over a portion of their tax dollars. In order to insure that the supplementalservices provided by a private manager were of the highest quality and lowest cost,residents would have the opportunity to hire or fire their managers at an annual vendors'convention, where private and not-for-profit firms could compete for contracts in eachneighborhood improvement district. Under this system, vendors would be directlyaccountable to the residents of each district because the citizens who live in the districtwould have the sole power to renew or terminate their contract.
Therefore, in addition to having a community police officer patrolling everyneighborhood, each neighborhood improvement district would also have two or threeadditional private security and/or sanitation workers to help insure that the streets areboth safe and clean. Private managers would also have the authority to hire supplementalworkers to remove graffiti from buildings and clear vacant lots of debris. This intensivesecurity presence will most certainly prevent crimes from occurring and improve thephysical appearance of each neighborhood. It will also allow us to reduce taxes ascompetition helps us stretch each dollar to the limit. Perhaps just as importantly, it willgive every resident an incentive to strengthen their ties with their neighbors.
In addition to safe and clean streets, our residents are concerned about thedeteriorating quality of our public schools. Jersey City has the unfortunate distinction ofhaving been the first city in America where the local school board was abolished and theState took control of our public schools. The Department of Education took thisextraordinary action because our school system had a long history of endemic corruptionand poor academic performance.
When the local school board was abolished we were spending $170 million per yearon education, and only 45% of our children were graduating high school. Now, after fiveyears of state control, with education spending increasing to $270 million per year, still lessthan half our children graduate from high school and student test scores remain far belowthe state average, barely having budged. Based on these results, I would argue that moneyand administrative mismanagement has never been the fundamental reason why JerseyCity's public schools have failed. Rather, the problem is that our education system is abureaucratically rigid monopoly which lacks the flexibility to respond to the needs of ourheterogenous and disadvantaged population of children.
Hotel Radission Triesenberg I would like to see the current bureaucracy replaced by a system that lets parents,teachers, and students benefit from the creativity of a market. For example, in EastHarlem, teachers are encouraged to join together and develop specialized programs ofstudy that operate as separate "schools within a school," and parents have the power tochoose the alternative school their child attends. As a result of these market-orientedreforms, East Harlem's test scores have risen from being the worst of New York's 32 schooldistricts to becoming the 15th best. The East Harlem experience shows that once teachersare freed to create a range of alternative programs, and parents are given the power tochoose the program that will best help their child, that even disadvantaged and challengedchildren can learn.
That's is why I have drafted education legislation which, when passed by the StateLegislature, will revolutionize Jersey City's education system. My legislation will giveevery child the opportunity to attend any school in the city, alternative public schools,charter schools, or private schools (with the help of a voucher). My legislation also requiresevery school to administer standardized examinations and to report their results to aparental information center so that parents can determine how well their children arelearning. When armed with this valuable information, parents will finally be able to holdschools accountable for their children's' academic performance.
Finally, I want to use the philosophy of empowerment to create an economic climatein Jersey City that attracts businesses, creates jobs, and helps those on welfare becomecontributing members of society. Rather than offer abatements and special tax breaks toindividual firms that express an interest in operating in Jersey City (which just transfersthe city's tax burden from commercial properties to one and two family homes), I want toreduce taxes in a way that benefits all our property owners. I know that government can'tcreate jobs, but it can create a climate that is conducive to business growth. I know that if Ican show the business community that Jersey City has safe and clean streets, a welleducated work force, good infrastructure, and a low tax rate, then I won't need to offerspecial incentives to entice businesses to relocate to my city. The facts will simply show thatJersey City is a place where businesses succeed.
In addition to creating a positive business climate, as public officials, we also have aresponsibility to help those who are experiencing economic difficulty. However, we have tomake sure that in our effort to provide these troubled individuals with the essentials of life --food, shelter, and health care -- that we do not discourage them from working. I think itwould be prudent for government, rather than continuing the destructive policies of thecurrent welfare system, to give every American adult a tax credit for these essentials. If anindividual is unemployed, or does not make enough money to take full advantage of thesefood, shelter, and health care tax credits, then we would give him vouchers of equal valueto purchase these essentials. This arrangement is preferable to the current welfare systembecause it doesn't punish recipients for taking a part-time or entry level job by removingthe benefits which they receive on welfare. Instead they are able to retain their health carecoverage or housing subsidy, either in the form of a voucher or refundable tax credit, andyet still be able to work towards their independence.
Stavanger luxury hotels Our society values work and independence, and for this reason, I also believegovernment should help the unem ployed find jobs. However, rather than havegovernment operate job placement centers, we should contract for this service with privateand non-profit vendors who can be paid based on how many welfare applicants theysuccessfully place in permanent jobs. Such performance based contracts would create aneconomic incentive for placement firms to find jobs for welfare recipients, which is in directcontrast with workers in government job placement monopolies who typically get paidwhether any unemployed people get placed or not. The State of New York has had such acontract with America Works since 1988, where the State pay $5,300 for every welfarerecipient that is successfully placed in a permanent full-time job after they have been therefor at least six months. Given that the average benefit package for a welfare family in NewYork City is over $23,000, I think everyone would agree that contracting a private firm toprovide job placement assistance for welfare recipients is a wise investment.
The principles we are trying to establish in Jersey City are very clear -- we want togive authority to the people we say we are trying to help; we want to give local communitiesmore control over how their tax dollars are spent; and we want to create a market foressential goods and services so that no one monopoly forces our citizens to accept poorquality services at a premium price.
"Power corrupts," Lord Acton said, "and absolute power corrupts absolutely." These are wise words indeed. Mankind will never be able to build a government which isbetter than the imperfect human beings who will make it up. That's why there is no suchthing as benevolent dictators, only dictators. If we want our government to serve ratherthan to oppress the people then we must not put power in the hands of government -- wemust keep it in the hands of the people. We should use government to expand the choicesavailable to people, but we must never allow government to restrict our choices.
If we follow the principles of empowerment, then we can make government a forcefor progress, instead of making it a source of oppression, as it increasingly is becomingtoday. We can have safe and clean streets. We can ensure that every child has access togood schools and recreational opportunities. We can have low taxes and a strong economythat creates enough jobs for everyone. And we can have a much happier society than wehave today.
I am convinced that all of this will come true because I am convinced thatempowerment is gradually becoming the dominant paradigm throughout the world.
Far from being at the twilight of civilization, our best days are ahead!