(upbeat music) - Hi, everyone.

Steve Adubato.

We kick off the program with the mayor of the great City of Newark, New Jersey, Ras Baraka, who's also a Democratic candidate for governor in New Jersey.

This is part of our series, New Jersey's Next Governor: Decision 2025.

Mr. Mayor, great to have you with us.

- Glad to be here.

Thank you.

- Now, you've been the mayor since 2014.

If you, in fact, became the governor and took office first day of 2026, describe the top two, three priorities of Governor Baraka's administration, please.

- I mean, obviously, one is the budget and tax policy.

Trying to make sure we have a fair tax policy, that we can figure out how to get the revenue that we need to run the government the way we need to run it, to figure out how to fund transportation systems and infrastructure in this state.

How to invest in the things that are necessary to bring business and develop business in the city, in the state that's already here.

That's number one.

Two, trying to really push forward a housing policy that works.

Beginning to be more present and aggressive around developing affordable housing around the State of New Jersey.

Sending housing navigators to particular communities and regions.

Trying to work with them to figure out how to build housing that fits local kind of expectations, but also fits state expectations to build the kind of affordable housing that we need and desire in this state.

- Mayor, let me try this.

People think all Democrats or Republicans think the same, which is absurd.

You were very critical of the governor signing, Governor Murphy, a Democrat, signing legislation that significantly changes the Open Public Records Act and how people will get access to information about government activities.

You said, quote, "You can't have democracy without transparency."

Talk about that, Mr. Mayor.

- Oh, right.

And so, look, I'm a mayor, the mayor of the largest city in the state.

And I understand the frustrations of people who have monetized OPRA, who have used it in a very negative way, who have taken advantage of the system.

But ultimately, we can't throw the baby out with the bath water.

It's important for us to maintain faith in government.

Right now, people's belief and faith in government is very low.

To gut OPRA just eroded that even more.

We eroded people's faith and trust in public servants.

And we have to have some transparency.

People have to have an eye into what it is that we're doing in city and state and local government.

We just have to give them the ability to do that.

Whether it's painful or not, that's a part of democracy.

- Mayor, let's talk about education.

The StarLedger/NJ.com.

And you read the editorial.

I'm sure you have strong thoughts about the editorial.

Talked about the education system in the public schools of Newark.

In the editorial, quoted, 80% of third graders can't pass a reading test on grade level.

At five schools, only one third grader passed the state reading exam.

It was highly critical of public education in the City of Newark.

Your response to that editorial, Mayor?

- Well, I think the editorial board has always been highly critical of the educational system and Newark public system in Newark.

They obviously leaned towards something else.

But ultimately, like, the schools have been doing incredibly well and better before COVID.

And they're not putting it in context when COVID hit and after COVID.

There's been incredible challenges, not just in Newark, but around the state, around the country.

And Newark has suffered greatly in that.

And I think there's a lot more work to be done by the school board, the superintendent, and folks.

And I think they're trying to do the best that they can.

We've entered that fight with helping them to get the third graders to read on grade level by instituting a citywide focus on literacy from the mayor's office.

Really trying to help boost that up, making sure that summer programs, that athletic programs, that anything the city offers has a literacy component attached to it.

So we've been working with families and mothers and pregnant mothers, all these things, to make sure kids are ready to start school prepared to learn.

And so we've, like, really put our shoulder and elbow into that, and we hopefully believe that it's gonna have some dividend at the end.

- Mayor, I'm sure you also saw the New York Times story that talked about crime in the City of Newark and on a long standing issue.

That the New York Times talked about the fact there's been an uptick in certain crimes, but that you, who were featured in that article, talked about the importance of reinstituting a curfew for young people.

Talk about the curfew that you propose and its connection to crime as it relates to younger people in the city.

And let me also say that the mayor is the former principal of one of the most significant public high schools in the state, excuse me, in the City of Newark at Central High School.

He understands young people and the challenges of young people better than most.

Please, Mayor.

- Well, violent crime in Newark is down, actually.

Homicide is down.

60-year low.

We're lower even now than we were last year, so- - [Steve] What crime is up?

Is it car theft?

- That's a good thing.

Yeah.

I mean, not car theft.

Theft from auto, petty theft.

You know, there's been some robbery that's been up, But ultimately what they were saying is crime amongst youth is increasing.

Young people that are engaged in crime or becoming victims of crime.

So it's not just them doing crime, it's actually them being victimized by crime in those hours of the night where we believe that they should probably be in a structured environment or at home.

And so that's why a curfew is important.

And it's being led by Office of Violence Prevention and not really the police department.

The police is partnering with them to make sure to, you know, that we provide services to these young people that we catch on the street.

Some people we get on the street now are not even from Newark.

They're from other surrounding cities.

And they get a free ride home.

But we are putting a lot of emphasis on, you know, the late hours in the morning, the late hours in the evening to make sure kids are not on the street.

Whether they're engaged in something they have no business being engaged in, or prevent them from being a victim, at the same time, we just take them home.

We don't find the parent.

We don't jail the parent.

We don't do anything.

Unless, obviously, there's a crime being committed, or we find that there's something going on in the household that needs further investigation.

Other than that, these kids are just getting free rides home.

- There’s a whole bunch of people who believe, Mr. Mayor, as they're watching right now, that there's a direct correlation between the migrant crisis in the nation, the president, President Biden, as we speak, late in June, an executive order on the issue of immigration.

A lot of people believe there's a direct correlation between the migrant crisis and the increase in crime, particularly in areas where migrants wind up.

A, that's what a lot of people believe, respond to that.

And B, how is it playing out in Newark?

- Well it's just not true.

Migrants are probably more likely to be a victim of crime than they are, particularly in Newark, than they are actually committing crime.

A lot of these robberies that have been going on, we have a uptick in robberies because this is a cash business.

These folks are not supposed to be working.

They're working in places that are paying them cash, and they become victims of crime.

I think when migrants commit crime, it's politicized.

The media runs with it.

They take it, and they just outsize.

- But it's real, Mr. Mayor.

- It's real, but the amount of incidents that take place in proportion to what else is going on is completely insignificant, right?

So I mean, the amount of robberies and other things that are taking in the city, the violence in the city is happening without migrants.

Obviously, if migrants are doing some, it'll add a little bit to that, but the proportion of that that's happening is being overstated, is what I'm saying.

- If you were governor, what would you do differently, if anything at all, as it relates to state policy to protect people who believe they're more at risk because of the immigration crisis?

- Well, how do you protect people that believe that that's their perception?

And so what you have to do is fight against these perceptions that make people believe these things.

Some of it is racist.

Some of it is just misinformation that they have.

- Go back to the racist part, Mayor.

Which part is racist in your view?

- When people believe in their mind that migrants automatically commit crimes simply because they are migrants.

Or simply because they are, you know, immigrants from another country.

They've come here, and they commit crime.

And that is fostered and pushed by outlets and individuals who benefit from that.

- Has former President Trump contributed to that in your view?

- Of course.

Not just Trump.

And I think he is a distraction, but there are many people who believe that that are not Trump, who push this narrative.

But ultimately, Steve, it's not true.

And so we have to push back against that.

And what we need to do is get federal policy instituted that allows for serious immigration reform, that gives them a clear pathway to citizenship, that talks about giving people the opportunity to work.

You're talking about cities that have to take thousands of people into their borders that cannot get a job, that cannot get a state or county subsidy, that cannot get any of these things that are basically there.

But you're still responsible for finding them the opportunity for food, clothing, and shelter, which puts an undue burden on these municipalities to do that.

The state has to work aggressively with the federal government to find opportunities for migrants.

- President Biden on the issue of immigration, you say, good job, fair job, poor job?

What?

- Well, I think it's unfair to put it on Biden by himself.

I think Biden has been pushing an agenda to help deal with the migrant issue and the border.

You know, it's been super politicized, and folks cannot seem to get together in DC to figure this out.

And there's enough blame to go around for everybody.

- Finally, are you concerned about President Biden being 86, if elected on the back end of a second term, about his mental acuity and his ability to do the job?

Any real concerns?

- Well, I have questions about people's mental acuity that's 46, nevermind 80 something.

I believe Biden is strong enough.

He's mentally aware and alert.

He can do the job, he has been doing the job, and he's gonna be the president of the United States.

- Mr. Mayor, let's talk about the Lionsgate project.

We had Tim Sullivan, the head of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, talking about the Lionsgate situation, a Lionsgate project in Newark.

He said, quote, "We were Hollywood before there was a Hollywood," according to Tim Sullivan of the EDA, Economic Development Authority.

What's the Lionsgate Newark Project?

And why is it significant, Mayor?

- It's significant for so many reasons.

One, it took the oldest and largest housing project in the City of Newark, demolished it, and is gonna turn it into seven studios to create thousands of jobs in that community and supplemental jobs that go with that.

Long-term permanent jobs as well.

It puts a highlight on the city as it relates to film and the industry itself.

It's right in the area that needs redevelopment.

About five minutes from the airport.

It's gonna redevelop an entire part of the community.

It's gonna be a regional hub, you know, at the same time.

And we're also building housing and other kinds of there as well.

So it's gonna be a complete rejuvenation and overhaul of a neighborhood that is desperately in need of that and in a region that will have an incredible boost because of it.

- Mr. Mayor, we thank you, and we look forward to more conversations about important issues that matter to the people in New Jersey with you.

Thank you, Mayor.

- Thank you, man.

It's always a pleasure.

- Absolutely.

Same here.

Stay with us, we'll be right back.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Celebrating 30 years in public broadcasting.

Funding has been provided by Hackensack Meridian Health.

New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Veolia, New Brunswick Development Corporation.

The Fidelco Group.

New Jersey Children’s Foundation.

The Turrell Fund, a foundation serving children.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey.

And by these public spirited organizations, individuals and associations committed to informing New Jersey citizens about the important issues facing the Garden State.

And by Employers Association of New Jersey.

Promotional support provided by ROI-NJ.

And by Insider NJ.

(Sounds of Water) - (Narrator) Most people don’t think of where there water comes from.

But we do.

Veolia, more than water.

Resourcing the world.