Word: booker
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Fair questions. Booker's team can rattle off a list of accomplishments beyond murder reduction. For example, his administration has doubled the number of affordable housing units currently under construction and quadrupled the affordable stock in predevelopment. Almost a dozen parks have been refurbished. Booker's national profile and endless advocacy for Newark have attracted more than $100 million in private philanthropy - money that is even more crucial for Newark in a recession...
...Booker well knows, philanthropy and social programming, no matter how creative, won't solve Newark's most pressing problems. Unemployment in the city rose to 13.5% in May, the city's highest level in nearly six years. Foreclosures have tripled, and boarded-up homes taint many blocks...
...mayor remains upbeat. "I don't say this in an exaggerated way, but in five years, we're going to shock the nation," Booker says. "In a way that you're kind of resuscitating people's belief in democracy and belief in the American ideals." If you're a politician who could possibly face Booker down the road, clip that quote. The city is burdened with the same drug, crime and urban-decay issues it had four, 10, 20 years ago. Booker talks a big game, and three years into his term, he has certainly impressed. But despite Booker...
Read TIME's 2000 article on Booker "The Savior of Newark...
...Leadership, but for How Long? Still, Booker's political future in Newark remains bright. According to an internal poll, he enjoys an 80% approval rating. More important, a strong opponent has yet to enter next year's mayoral election. Booker's victory looks like a foregone conclusion. "For the first time in my life, Newark is looked at more positively because of its mayor," says Steve Adubato Sr., a longtime local power broker, and former Booker foe, who runs a nonprofit in the city. "Newark is no longer a big joke." (Read "No Charisma? Don't Worry, You Can Still...