Playing Endorsement Games

Last week on April 2, the campaign of mayoral candidate Paul Perez staged a press conference on the steps of Trenton City Hall to announce the endorsement of Mr. Perez’s candidacy by former Trenton Board of Education Toby Sanders. This endorsement by one of the City’s leading educational figures was considered a big one by the mayoral hopeful. The occasion was reported in a note in the Trenton Times by reporter Jenna Pizzi, a full article with accompanying short video clip by David Foster in the Trentonian, and a release on Mr. Perez’s website.

Mr. Sanders spoke glowingly of Mr. Perez and his career to date, his current candidacy, and his plans for the future of Trenton. He was chock full of praise for the man.

“This man is absolutely a hero — the most heroic of all the candidates… His candidacy of all the candidacies that are out there is the most thoughtful and the most visionary about the future,” as quoted on the campaign website.

Mr. Sanders wanted to make sure that people knew that he came to his decision after careful consideration of all the other candidates. According to the Trentonian, “Sanders said he met with every candidate before making his decision. ‘None of them have the specificity, a vision, the creativity, and the attention to detail that the Perez campaign has,’ he said. ‘Their platforms leave a lot to be desired.’

And, just to be sure that we understand that Mr. Sanders makes his endorsement on the basis of his experience and Moral Authority, he also said (as recorded on the video clip accompanying the Trentonian’s print story):

“I come to you as a citizen of Trenton, as an Activist in the city, as one of the Educators here, as one of the Leaders here, one of the Pastors here.”

What the man did NOT say – at least in any of the video or print reports I have read – is,

“I come to you as a relative of Paul Perez, as the husband of his niece, a niece who helped to write part of his Platform, the very same platform I praise so highly while I criticize those of all the other candidates!”

Kind of puts quite a different spin on Mr. Sanders’ endorsement, doesn’t it?

Another Jenna Pizzi article in the Trenton Times, a profile of Mr. Perez in today’s edition quotes one Leslie Sanders. Ms. Pizzi calls her “Perez’ niece” and goes on to say “The two have worked together to help craft Perez’s education policy, with Sanders, who is a school literacy leader in the city’s public schools.”

The article today, and all of the press over the last week, fail to note that Leslie Sanders is also the wife of former School Board President Toby Sanders.

I don’t believe that there is anything wrong with Mr. Sanders endorsing the candidate of his choice. I don’t believe there is anything wrong with Ms. Sanders offering to help on the policy formulation of the candidate of her choice. And I don’t believe that Paul Perez did anything wrong in accepting a personal endorsement.

What I do mind, and think is frankly pretty sleazy – even by Trenton standards – is that this endorsement was made and reported without any disclosure of any of these pre-existing bonds among the Sanders and Mr. Perez.

Without disclosing these bonds, I can only resent the self-righteousness of Mr. Sanders when he said last Wednesday, “I don’t stand here as a church, I stand here as a citizen. I have every right to offer my opinion about what’s best for Trenton. What’s best for Trenton is Paul Perez.”

Yes, Mr. Sanders, you have the absolute right to your opinion. But when you share that opinion with us, you also have an absolute obligation to let the public know of this background. You stood on the City Hall steps “as a citizen,” but also as Family. And, what’s more, Family with both former and current professional, employment and policy-making relationships with Trenton’s public schools and its Board of Education.

We should have been told that.

Had Mr. Perez and Mr. Sanders let us know of these connections – and had the media reported them – at the time of the endorsement, the public would be fully informed and able to make up their own mind as to whether Sanders’ backing was influenced at all by bonds of family or by his wife’s work on the Perez platform he is so very fond of.

But he did not. And therefore this endorsement, and Mr. Perez’s campaign strategy, must be viewed as suspect.

I expected more from both of these gentlemen, than to see them both play these kinds of games.

When Eric Jackson accepted the endorsement of a large group of local clergy, among whom were several who had previously endorsed Tony Mack, and one who actually took a job from the man after the election, I criticized his campaign for it. Now that Mr. Perez seems to be playing his own endorsement games, he should be called on it as well.

At this point, Mr. Perez needs to open up and fully disclose his connections with the Sanders, and whether there is any expectation that their bonds of family and their contributions of support and endorsement may follow through with any roles, formal or informal, in a future Perez Administration.

Similarly, it is probably appropriate at this point in the campaign for Mr. Perez, and all of his fellow candidates, to fully disclose any and all familial connections they may have who either currently work for the City and its various departments, or who we may expect (0r not) to see working for the City under their Administrations.

We are just coming off of four years that featured not only the excesses of Tony Mack, but those of his brothers Stanley Davis and Ralphiel Mack. All three got in to the game and grabbed what they could, while they could, until they were caught.

I for one do not want to see even a hint that we are going back to those bad old days.

Again, I want to stress that I do not believe that what Paul Perez and Toby Sanders did this week measures up at all with the outrageous criminal excesses of the Mack Family.

But it was and is entirely inexcusable for a man to offer public support to a candidate, and offer it so extravagantly! – “This man is absolutely a hero — the most heroic of all the candidates!” – without letting us know that his “hero” is an Uncle by marriage, and that at least some of those “most thoughtful” and “most visionary” ideas came from his own wife!