Newark Mayor Cory Booker Tells Westfield Dems 'You've Got the Guy' in Mayoral Candidate Dave Haas

Newark Mayor Cory Booker told a full house of enthusiastic Democrats, "You've got the guy!" Sunday evening when he paid a visit to the Westfield home of Chair of the Westfield Democratic committee Janice Siegel and her husband, Lloyd Marks, who hosted the campaign fundraiser for mayoral candidate Dave Haas.

More than 170 Westfielders, ranging from teens to octogenarians, filled the Wyandotte Trail home to show their support for Haas, who has served on the Westfield Town Council since 2005, and will challenge incumbent Andy Skibitsky this November. 

Haas addressed the crowd by stating that he was overwhelmed by the generous outpouring of support and thanked everyone for attending. He then said that while Westfield is a wonderful town, fresh ideas are needed to keep it vital and vibrant. Having spoken with several small business owners who are feeling the strain of dollars lost to online shopping, Haas said, "We need to think about what that challenge means to maintaining our downtown."

The councilman added that while the Town has managed through the recession, it has done so by "squeezing our public safety officers and by squeezing the school crossing guards and by squeezing services." He again said it would take "fresh ideas" to restore these areas. 

Haas, after repeatedly urging Skibitsky to join the coalition Mayors Against Illegal Guns to no avail, also spoke of the need to address the issue of gun violence. 

"We like to think of this as a safe haven but really the events of Newtown, Connecticut showed us that even in this ideal of Westfield we really need to be concerned about gun violence and work to solve that problem," he said.  

Booker, who signed on with MAIG, and is a good friend of its co-founder, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, praised Haas for possessing the foresight to understand the need for innovative change at the town level.

A Stanford University graduate, Booker traded good-natured barbs with Haas, who holds a degree from long-time rival University of California at Berkeley, before getting serious about what he views as Haas' strengths. 

"What I love about this man, despite his inferior pedigree, what I love about this man is that he is, before anything, he is an American. Before party, he is Jersey Strong. Before party, he is from Westfield. He raised his kids here. He knows this community. He loves this community. He takes his professional skills and training and applies them to what is going to work and that is what we need. We need Westfield to join the entrepreneurial mayors of America who are getting obsessed with it," Booker said.

Haas also spoke about the need for looking at new ways to save money while increasing sustainability. Booker echoed his sentiments and said many of the ideas the candidate has are ones that are being implemented in Newark and are working well. 

"We can save the Town money if we just recycle more because the state pays us for every ton we recycle," said Haas. 

Next, he said the Town should absolutely have a plan in place for bike paths for children and adults. He added that another idea he has been pushing for years is to return Westfield's conservation center to a composting facility. 

"There's no reason why we are paying to truck our debris to Summit so that we can pay the County a fee to compost it," he said. 

Most of Haas' ideas were met with cheers from attendees. Carolyn Klinger-Kueter stated, "I haven't seen this much excitement since Tom Jardim won for the second time." 

Ann Ormsby, who co-manages Haas' campaign with her husband, Larry Cary, said she was thrilled with the event's turnout.

"I've known Dave for about 10 years and he's so smart and so compassionate. He's a really great listener," she said, adding that if Haas is elected mayor she expects the Town to be "more inclusive" in terms of appointments made to committees transcending party lines.

Haas' daughter, Claire, 20, said throughout her life she has witnessed how passionate her father is about town politics and how he fights for what he believes in.

"These have been good things for me to grow up around," said the New York University student.

Members of Westfield High School's Young Democratic Club were also in attendance. Riyad Carey and Mark Eisenhauer said they both met Haas while working on 'Get Out the Vote' and found him to be "a very personable" and "nice guy."

But for Board of Education member Mitch Slater, November's election hinges on one issue: guns. Slater called Skibitsky's unwillingness to join MAIG "a failure of leadership." He added that he feels two terms, which Skibitsky has served, is plenty.

"Enough already. Give other people a chance. I won't run for more than two terms myself," he said. 

Fellow Board member Brendan Galligan said he has known the Haas' family since he was in kindergarten with Dave's son. "Dave a great guy," he said. 

Amid the feeling of excitement, Booker said the real challenge of this election "is us" and urged voters to "get up off the couch" and do something.

"I know this election is important because we in this country have always said the power of the people is greater than the people in power," he said. "I know this election is important because Martin Luther King said change did not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, it must be carried in on the backs of people that fight for it. I know this election is important because the great Frederick Douglass says in life you don't get everything you pay for but you must pay for everything you get.

"And so now with that clarion call, this town is not something you can inherit and hope it is going to stay great and stay strong. No. If you love Westfield, if you love New Jersey, if you love this country, you've got to work for it. And so this election takes on profound importance. It's Westfield chance to make their statement, to let their voice be heard in a chorus of conviction."