Underperforming council member moving up to state house
Verlina Reynolds-Jackson ascended into the New Jersey General Assembly on Thursday as representative for the 15th Legislative District in Mercer and Hunterdon counties.
Reynolds-Jackson promised to “use her skills and experience to fight for her constituents in the Assembly. She spent much of her time on Trenton City Council fighting Gov. Christie’s cuts to the state’s capital city.”
That’s not a recollection confirmed here as Reynolds-Jackson represented an East Ward overrun by drugs, crime, bad streets, despicable landlords, troubled tenants and a litany of other quality of life issues that existed outside her purview.
Unfortunately, Reynolds-Jackson underperformed in an East Ward where minor victories would have appeared as significant gains.
The city’s East Ward includes Chambersburg where many undocumented newcomers face serious issues unaddressed by Reynolds-Jackson
This sendoff may sound like an epitaph although Reynolds-Jackson may find herself as an Assembly member after not delivering as an East Ward councilwoman.
Living in Chambersburg offers a real, ground level view of our community’s issues, some that can be rectified quickly.
Chambersburg should not suffer a saturation of bars, laundromats, convenience stores and delis; our neighborhoods should not glow into morning as restaurants’ neon lighting offsets darkness; we do deserve the convenience and safety of police on foot patrol cultivating positive relationships; landlords should not enjoy leniency of renting properties without inspections and certificates of occupancy accreditation; bars should not indulge in prostitution.
These issues and others were not engaged by Reynolds-Jackson in her eight years as a community servant.
Ms. Reynolds-Jackson’s departure allows for a new start with a representative who will be challenged and supported to deliver an agenda and presence that produces positive change.
Any idea that Ms. ReynoldsJackson understood East Ward issues and delivered a presence, records as a political statement and misrepresentation of reality.
Sorry, Ms. Jackson. Your parting statement reads more like an obituary.
It’s all good.