You can imagine my reaction this morning, Save Jerseyans, when I opened up my email box and saw the subject line “Join Cory’s Summer Book Club!” excitedly staring me down.
I’m grinning right now imagining yours.
“This summer, I’ve chosen Matthew Desmond’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, a book that I’ve recently picked up and can’t put back down because it deals with many issues—from poverty to bad housing conditions to economic injustice—that I confronted during my time in public office, starting nearly 20 years ago as a city councilman in Newark, New Jersey. The book focuses on Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but the heartbreaking stories of these families’ struggles following the 2008 financial crisis are stories that can be told in every American city,” Booker (D-Twitter) explains to his followers.
Booker’s “time in office” (for those of you who haven’t followed him closely until recently) includes a stint as Mayor of Newark from July 1, 2006 until October 31, 2013 when he resigned to replace Frank Lautenberg in the U.S. Senate.
Let’s hop in our Save Jersey time machine and revisit what, exactly, Cory Booker did for impoverished Newark residents during his time in office (h/t Phil Kerpen):
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Do a simple Google search if the numbers don’t move you.
I can’t find ANYTHING substantive accomplished by the Booker Administration to either (1) lift Newarkers out of poverty OR (2) affect progress on the housing issues identified in Booker’s book club invitation. And I’ve been looking since he’s been in public office.
In fact? Regarding that last point on housing?
When Booker had a personal opportunity to impact Newark’s housing crisis, the house he purchased reportedly fell into disrepair and, according to neighbors at the time, became overrun by squatters.
“He bought it and promised to be a good neighbor, but that hasn’t occurred,” Robert El, who owned the adjoining row home, told the The Record of Woodland Park back in 2013. “Shortly after he bought it, the squatters started moving in.”
Feel free to revisit our extensive Cory Booker archives or read Jersey native Olivia Nuzzi’s Ugly Truth post if you still need more evidence that Cory Booker’s commitment to America’s downtrodden and ‘evicted’ citizens is nonexistent independent of his Twitter rhetoric and cool new book club.
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