NJ Citizens For Assembly Unite To Take Back NJ With Common Sense Pledge
By Alonzo Hosford
Forty one citizens from various walks of life are placing their careers, businesses and lives on hold to run for the NJ State Assembly. Calling themselves Citizens For Assembly, they joined together on the steps of the NJ State House in Trenton on September 30, 2009 to announce their combined intentions.
Citizen Candidates for NJ 2009 State Assembly at Trenton State House: www.citizensforassembly.com
Every Day People Stepping Up to Fill a Voting Choice Gap
Reminiscent of the 1994 Contract with America that swept Democrats from power in DC, the nature of the candidates reveals a marked difference.
Barry Funt, a candidate for District 27, echos the sentiments of why these candidates are running , “I decided to run for one simple reason, I did not think there was anyone in my district who represents me”.
Some like Mitchell Dobies have stopped running their businesses. Mitchell, who made his decision only three weeks back, said to dedicate himself to this as a citizen his wife has to assume the role of running his business. Mitchell is only now organizing a web site and other campaign communication activities. In the mean time his business web site The Aqua Short is how you will reach him.
Most districts have Citizens for Assembly candidates further along. Stepfanie Velez-Gentry, a small business owner and working mother of two, choose to bring her first hand grass roots work with community organizations like the Girl Scouts to the process and thinking in Trenton. Stepfanie is running in District 5.
Growing Citizen Activism To Correct Failures of NJ Government
Barry recognizes the disconnect regular citizens are expressing about their elected officials. “We can see this at Tea Parties, health care town hall meetings and other gatherings all across New Jersey as citizen activism enters the mainstream”. Barry in his address enumerated several recent citizen activism events within NJ. “In Newark hundreds of citizens have peacefully taken to the streets to try to put and end to urban violence.” “In Secaucus, Hoboken [and] Ridgefield citizens have gathered at city hall to protest the latest wave of political corruption.” “In Camden, Elizabeth, Newark and Trenton and in too many other cities with failing schools parents have gathered demanding choice in education.”
Barry Funt Outlines Motives for Citizen Candidates and Common Sense Pledge
The Common Sense Pledge for A New New Jersey
The candidates pledged an allegiance to the Common Sense Pledge that includes popular reform themes such as true property tax reform, school choice and citizen oversight of the NJ Government. These themes represent the sentiments of the grass roots movements dominating town halls and citizen rallies this year. Werner Graf, running for District 15, describes the team commitment to the pledge designed to take New Jersey Government back for New Jersey citizens. “These folks … are your neighbors and together with you they are the new New Jersey.” “Sick of corruption, intolerant of waste, and committed to building something better in New Jersey for our children.” [See related story: Common Sense Pledge A Citizen Friendly Contract for NJ]
Werner Graf Introduces The NJ Citizens For Assembly Movement
Meeting the NJ Citizens for Assembly Candidates
You can read the candidate biographies yourself, available at Citizens for Assembly web site, and judge how they represent their About Us page statement “… not about career politicians or more of the same empty rhetoric — it’s about electing legislators who will truly represent regular Citizens.”
Barry Funt Introduces the Citizens for Assembly Candidates
11 Comments
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Israel – I believe Tea Maker’s issue re: taking votes away from Christie is that those who may be inclined to vote for an independent candidate for Assembly may also re-think their choice for Governor. But you are probably right in saying that the net impact will be minimal.
Tea Maker – can you provide any references regarding your issues with the Morristown Tea Party? I’ve looked at their website and don’t see anything regarding Christie. I do share your concern that the tea party movement may be headed towards supporting “independent” candidates, which is a losing proposition.
Tea Maker sees a problem where none exists. Why would 40 citizen Assembly candidates take away votes from Christie? They aren’t running against him. On the contrary, they are highlighting many of the issues he is touting, such as school choice and clean government. I suspect that Tea Maker is a Corzine plant. He gives himself away when he says, “I believe this Citizens for Assembly like the Daggart candidacy is really an attempt by Democrats who infiltrated this NJ Tea Party movement to pull enough votes away from Christi and GOP candidates to insure another Democrat victory.” Having been closely involved in the grass roots movement which resulted in Citizens for Assembly, please be assured that nothing can be further from the truth. These are dedicated and couragious individuals who seek to take back government for the people.
Should The Federal System of Government be Changed to A Parliamentary System.
The Federal System was created at a time when the nation was 90 percent farmers. This system of government has shown that it is incapable of representing the third largest nation in the world (300 million people) in a modern era. Our lives and the lives of prodigy are in peril by a Government that now despises and in fact hates the people sworn to protect. Volumes could be written describing the injustice our people suffer today by all agencies of this government. What to do?
Two Amendments to the US Constitution would correct much of the tyranny we now endure.
1. The Elimination of the US Senate. This body was intended to represent and protect the sovereignty of the individual states. These Senators should never have been elected. Since State governors change frequently, new governors would choose new Senators. This is why term limits were not build into the US Constitution. This is why we now have career Senators.
2. Require the US Supreme Court Judges to Run for Election. Most of the States already elect their judges including State Supreme Court Judges. These judges are no different than any of us other than their parents had the money to send them to the best law schools in the nation. The US Supreme Court Judges want to legislate from the bench so let them, but require that they run for office just like other legislators.
If changes like this are not made, this new tyranny we now face will destroy us. It could be that just like the USSR, our nation is already dead but we are too stupid to fall down.
Fair and Equal
40 CANDIDATES A BIG MISTAKE AND LACKS COMMON SENSE
These forty unknown Citizens for Assembly candidates will take votes away from Christi and the GOP to insure that unpopular Corzin and NJ Democrats win another four years Where did these people come from and why would anyone want to vote for them? Why are they needed right now?
I believe this Citizens for Assembly like the Daggart candidacy is really an attempt by Democrats who infiltrated this NJ Tea Party movement to pull enough votes away from Christi and GOP candidates to insure another Democrat victory. The Morristown Tea Party and NJ Common Sense seems committed to detracting from Christi and the GOP while ignoring the corruption of Corzin and Democrats throughout New Jersey
All of the NJ Tea Party advocates should continue to look closer at the Morristown Tea Party group advocacy to determine where it is going and what it really is supporting. We did not march on Washington to protest Christi’s driving record.
Fair and Equal.