We have been through a lot, most notably during and following “The Covid Years,” with challenges, I feel secure in concluding, we couldn’t have anticipated. We faced a deadly epidemic that set off an economic downturn leaving millions without jobs; we heard anguished cries for racial justice and barely managed to secure our fragile democracy during a presidential election that laid bare the divisions in our society, with one side challenging the very integrity of the vote, and an assault on the very citadel of our democracy, the U.S. Capitol building, as Trump supporters tried to deny the certified winner of the presidential election his rightful place.
Trump I, a challenge for sure, but hardly prepared the nation for Trump II, a very different Trump presidency; with few guardrails, reduced in size and changed in focus, its actions will have significant impact on the states, with reductions in federal services, the elimination of agencies or major changes in their missions and, of course, significant reductions in funding.
Accordingly, those states that held elections for governor, in 2025, understandably, were in the spotlight, front and center.
They remain there.
In smart government we trust
How do we move forward to meet pressing public needs when support for the very democratic institutions that are critical to the equation are threatened?
This is a challenge that presents an opportunity for New Jersey. We have to see this, in simple words, as a new day. We need to start by demonstrating to our citizens that trust and confidence in government is warranted. We can’t expect it to be easy, given the decades of elected and appointed leaders and political parties acting to limit its scope, use it for corrupt ends, undermine its effectiveness and hollow out its capacity.
Blistering attacks on government have been going on for quite some time, even back to the nation’s birth in rebellion against tyranny. It’s been a well-trod path since then, too often milked by politicians seeking advantage.
On the other hand, fortunately, we have had presidents, and governors, who saw the good that government can do; they converted concern for the common good–for the safety, health and welfare of their people and their civil rights–into law and policy to benefit the nation, and the state, while prompting regard for professionalism, even nobility, in government service.
We need to build on that tradition and return, now, to what “We the People” need and want government to do and how to do it.
It needs to feel like a new start, perhaps one we’re being scared into but if we, in New Jersey,with a governor committed to do this, can turn fear and assaults on our institutions into opportunities that open the right path to follow, there is a good chance we can succeed.
Start with common interests
A good start for the governor would be to focus less on the differences that were highlighted during the contentious campaign, and build on the obvious interests we share. Being able to use roads and bridges safely, to have access to unemployment insurance, ensure our kids can go to community college or four-year college at reasonable cost, that veterans are treated respectfully and can get the housing and health services they need, and to make sure that food, sold in stores, is free of disease, that we secure the safety of the water we drink and the air that we breathe, and, that we move to restore some balance into our economy to reduce inequality, advance justice and broaden prosperity.
Other areas are known to have broad support as well, despite differences over how to accomplish them, include increasing economic opportunity; providing affordable childcare, keeping jobs in the state, and working with our state’s representatives to ensure access to affordable healthcare, and the implementation of fair and responsible immigration policies–many long overdue and supported in opinion polls by substantial margins–and to continue the essential federal role in scientific research at universities, now challenged by the writers of the script for 2025.
As unusual as it may seem, close cooperation between the parties along with nonprofit leaders operating in public domains, makes good sense. Great ideas don’t originate or rest with only Democrats or Republicans.
Citizen engagement
A critical part of the picture includes the role of citizens, working with government, to meet public needs. The vitality and scope of the vote in 2020 and 2024, is promising; people engaged in unprecedented numbers, and they organized; ran for office, assisted others to run and worked hard to get out the vote. The governor should encourage that involvement, find opportunities for its expression in new forums and structures, so that it can nourish and sustain our institutions, improve them, and build trust in them.
Working with service programs at schools and colleges would have an immediate and constructive impact. Volunteer service prompts regard for common purpose—an essential unifying force in a multiracial, multiethnic state. National service programs are being starved of funds as respect for what I’d call “our common creed” has eroded. We can move to reverse the trend. Starting at the state level, now, which we can do, can prepare us for the next decade.
Cooperation and good governance
We need to think about what structures will improve our prospects for good governance. Encouraging greater public/private cooperation makes good sense as does greater regional and local cooperation. When the federal government largely abdicated its role in managing public health during Covid, states came together, in formal collaborations, to contain the spread of the disease, to manage the response and, subsequently, to set common policies for planning the re-opening their regional economies. So, why not broaden the scope—and duration–of cooperation?
States, such as NY, NJ, Pennsylvania and Connecticut, with networked transportation systems, energy grids and interstate authorities, especially, stand to benefit by working more closely together.
Adopting cooperative strategies to create jobs and deliver social services to support citizen needs on a regional basis ought to be explored. Finding housing for homeless individuals and families, for example, offers just such an opportunity. Instead of using legal means to stop states from crossing borders to find shelter for their homeless citizens, why not develop regional policies and plans to manage an increasingly difficult and tragic problem in a humane and safe manner?
In a time when we seem to have two distinct political and cultural realities, the challenge of ‘coming together’ will continue to be fraught. Cooperation is more likely to accomplish things on the local level where people have closer contact with their governments and with one another.
Sharing services to produce cost savings and potentially lower property taxes might be one way to generate closer connections and promote greater community-based problem-solving.
Consider, for example, the challenge presented by one municipality’s approval of a development project that will sit on the border of its neighboring municipality, without giving any consideration to the impact the project will have there. I’m thinking of a Big Box store that generates heavy traffic–with its related costs and impacts–with all revenue going to the municipality in which the store is located and no mitigation provided to the municipality that bears the unwanted impacts.
A bill that was under consideration years ago in New Jersey, gave “mediating capacity” to counties with the hope that they would provide forums for discussion between municipalities. County governments were opposed then but the governor could press to have this legislation revisited, and extended, perhaps, to include a role for counties to help facilitate sharing services among municipalities.
Going forward
The Trump administration’s decision to limit the federal government’s size and devolve responsibilities to the states can prompt new ways of thinking about how we do things. The nation’s experience with Covid exposed deep-seated problems and flaws in governance but, at the same time, we appreciated how essential government is. We learned that states benefit by working together and so can counties and municipalities, more likely with incentives from the state. That can only happen when the help that is needed is respected and given weight.
Democracy is fragile and American democracy is no exception. We need to nourish it and support it in order to strengthen it so that we have a competent, cohesive, well-functioning and trusted state. That doesn’t happen without attention and care and the direct involvement and confidence of citizens.
For our state to function well, for our citizens to thrive, we need a governor who is dedicated to achieving effective governance so that meeting pressing needs and investing in the future are immediate priorities in the days ahead. As odd as it may sound to a polarized populace, we are most likely to be successful in taking on this set of daunting tasks by drawing from the thinkers and problem-solvers from both sides of the aisle, from our colleges and universities and from planning and policy focused nonprofits, and, frankly, from the people of the state through a variety of mechanisms.
Developing the means for doing this is not for the faint-hearted.
Process matters. And the results produced are more likely to attract the support and the investment that are needed to carry the best ideas forward when those who are asked, or volunteer to participate, trust the process.
The governor has her work cut out for her. And so do we.