Winter 2004 Edition     

Bob Gordon: Fair Lawn's Assemblyman   Photo:  Bob Gordon and Ed Trawinski.  These two former Mayors, who ran against each other for the State Assembly in 2003, bumped into each other shortly before Election Day, at a Borough Council meeting.         From Fair Lawn to the White House and Back Fair Lawn’s future Assemblyman, born in 1950, was in the first Kindergarten class at Edison School. He graduated from Fair Lawn High School in the tumultuous year of 1968 and went to Williams College. Gordon considered himself a ‘Rockefeller Republican’ back then and was active in the fledgling environmental movement.   In the early 1970's, when few young men had nice things to say about the Vietnam War or Richard Nixon, Gordon worked as an intern in the Nixon White House.   Gordon said he caught a bad case of ‘Potomac Fever’ there – a highly contagious condition among young idealists in Washington who want to enter politics to make the world a better place. But, the stint as a White House intern in the Republican Administration turned him into a Democrat.  Gordon said, “Working for Nixon, I met a lot of people who later became household names during the Watergate episode.”  Gordon was dismayed that "public relations was the overriding consideration of the Nixon White House.  I also began to understand the philosophical differences between the two parties  In addition to Jack and Bob Kennedy, Senators Ed Muskie, Scoop Jackson and other leaders of the environmental movement were my heroes.” In Washington, Gordon would later work for Congressman Robert Roe, who would become a powerful committee chairman, the Brookings Institution (a Democrat-leaning public policy think tank), and the Congressional Budget Office, a Capitol Hill agency where his job was to estimate the cost of pending legislation. He believes that "one of the reasons New Jersey has gotten itself into a fiscal mess is because the legislature doesn’t adequately analyze the long-term cost of programs.”  Gordon decided he didn’t want to be a staff person the rest of his life; he wanted to run for public office. To do that, he figured he needed to “go back home, get involved in local politics and develop a career in the private sector.” To put that plan into action, he left Washington, earned an MBA from Wharton and a public policy degree from Berkeley, moved back to Fair Lawn and joined the staff of a major management consulting firm in New York City. He bought his parent’s home on Plaza Road North and then ran for Fair Lawn’s Council in 1981.  During that 1981 campaign, he walked to thousands of Fair Lawn homes, 20 hours every week for months.  He lost that election by 23 votes, but ran again in 1985 and won. He was re-elected in 1987 and 1991, and served ten years on the Council, including three years as Mayor. He 'took a sabbatical from politics' in 1995 to focus on his business career, but returned in 2003 when Assemblyman Matt Ahearn (elected as a Democrat) joined the Green Party and 'created an opportunity for a Fair Lawn Democrat.'   The 2003 Assembly Campaign   Candidates Votes in Entire Legislative District Bob Gordon  21,799 Joan Voss 20,521 Lou Tedesco 17,377 Ed Trawinski  16,964 Matt Ahearn 4,347 Gordon won almost every single district in Fair Lawn. He won most heavily along Chandler Drive (the tenants association there endorsed Gordon; the landlord donated money to the Republicans). Gordon lost in Columbia Heights (which historically has been one of Fair Lawn 's most Republican districts). Gordon told Fair Lawn News that the foundation of the Republican's campaign strategy (in Bergen County and around the state) was built on tying the Democratic candidates to Governor McGreevey.  "It didn't work.  I couldn’t figure out what the Republicans were thinking with that strategy.  Although, our polling showed a majority of voters didn’t like Governor McGreevey, the voters thought the Democrats were better able to solve the problems of the state. I knew the anti-McGreevey message wouldn’t work, but the Republicans built their campaign on that message.” Gordon said there was virtually no coverage of the Assembly race in the press, although the Senate race got some attention. He said, people complain about all the ads, but to a great extent, it’s a response to the lack of press coverage. He said "There’s more news coverage on TV than there once was, but it’s mostly Michael Jackson kind of stories.”   He said “The press does a worse job of covering serious news. Public policy issues are not given the serious attention they deserve.” According to Gordon  “People have low opinions of politicians, all across the nation.  The press is partly to blame. They focus on scandals and salacious stories that attract viewers. We should have more coverage of foreign policy and less of Congressman Gary Condit’s personal life. Unfortunately, in politics today, negative ads have filled the void created by the lack of press coverage and have become a way of drawing distinctions between candidates. I would much prefer to talk about my credentials and what I want to do, but all the polls show that people do not remember the positive ads.”   Three Things He Wants To Focus On As Assemblyman Property Tax Reform and School Finances:  Across the state, Gordon says, "property taxes are becoming a terrible burden, especially for seniors. Part of the problem is the great duplication and inefficiency at the local level. We have 566 municipalities and over 608 school districts—more local governments per square mile than any other state. We also spend more on school bureaucracy than any other state. Clearly, we need to do a better job of sharing scarce tax dollars.”  Improving Transportation. "One of the highest state priorities, Gordon says, is improving mass transit and roadways.  This is a critical quality of life issue." Helping Downtowns:  See Fair Lawn News interview with Bob Gordon from three years ago. The $14.50 Per Hour Job When you win a race for a two year term, the next campaign begins the day after Election Day. Gordon expects to spend most of his time dealing with his legislative priorities and assuring that his staff is responsive to constituent needs. He figures he’ll be working 60 to 70 hours per week for his $49,000 salary. That comes out to about $14.50 per hour.