Today, I attended a town hall meeting with Governor Chris Christie at the Elks' Lodge in Paramus. This was my first time attending one of these events, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Needless to say, it turned out to be an interesting experience.
The first thing that really stood out to me was the lack of security. One would think that after what happened in Tucson, AZ this past week, security at the town hall would be super tight. I went there fully expecting to be patted down and/or scanned by a metal detector. But that didn't happen. Those who were attending simply walked right in and were immediately escorted to an open seat. To be quite frank, I found this a bit disconcerting. Governor Christie has incited some strong feelings, both good and bad, among his constituents during his first year in office, and he has been a lightning rod for both criticism and controversy. Thus I couldn't help but wonder why security at the event was so lax. I'm sure it has something to do with the costs involved, but it still boggles my mind. I guess you'd have to say that Gov. Christie is a very brave man!
It was advertised that doors would open at 10am, but they actually opened up much earlier than that. The governor walked in at approximately 10:40 to a rousing ovation. It was standing room only, and the event did in fact reach its maximum capacity, forcing authorities to turn some people away. By my estimations, there were approximately 300 people in attendance. All of the local politicians were there of course, and the governor acknowledged several of them when he came into the room.
He started the meeting by reiterating his talking points from the State of the State address last Tuesday. Governor Christie explained in detail why we need to continue to cut spending, how the pension fund is $54 billion in the red, and that the state employee health benefits fund is even worse off. The governor informed us that the average cost of health benefits for state employees is $22,000 per year. Employees themselves only cover $900 of that cost, with the state picking up the tab for the remaining $21,100. This is why the fund for health benefits is now over $60 billion in the red, and the governor emphasized that state employees need to contribute more to their health plans, both in the way of premiums and co-pays.
Governor Christie then spent a good 5-10 minutes discussing teacher tenure. He picked two women in the audience and asked their names. When the first one identified herself as Mary, he asked her to imagine that she was a teacher and he was her principal. The governor then played the part by pretending to have her in his office for her end-of-year evaluation. He told her what a wonderful job she did, how much her kids love her class, how well they've done with their grades and test scores, and how well-respected she is by the parents and her colleagues. For this, he said, you'll receive a pat on the back and a 4% raise for next year.
Then he turned to the second woman, whose name was Trish. He proceeded to tell Trish what a terrible job she had done over the past year. Her kids didn't enjoy being in her class, they performed poorly in their grades and on the standardized tests, several parents complained about her, and she's often the last one to report to work in the morning and the first one to leave. For that, the governor said, we'll give you a 4% raise.
The point he was making is that this is what happens when teachers have tenure. Those who deserve to be rewarded more get the short end of the stick, while those who deserve to be penalized and/or disciplined for poor performance actually get rewarded. The governor then said that he was more concerned about the Marys of the state than the Trishes. Why? Because they might become discouraged and start doing less and less, since they are not rewarded any more than their colleagues who don't work nearly as hard. They may even leave the state or leave the teaching profession altogether. Through tenure reform, the governor is hoping to keep the stars of the teaching profession (and he acknowledged that there are many), while dumping those who simply don't deserve to be in charge of educating our children. I thought he did an excellent job in getting this point across.
When it came time to take questions, I was amazed by how many hands went up. If I guessed correctly and there were roughly 300 people in the room, then at least 100 of them raised their hands. The governor proceeded to call on people, often picking those who stood out for one reason or another. One gentleman had on a bright multi-colored sweater, while a woman who got picked was wearing a scarf with a unique design. The governor called on another lady because she was wearing orange and blue. Later, he would state that his being a huge fan of the New York Mets influenced this decision. That was the only time during the entire meeting that he actually got booed. He then blamed it on the Yankee fans and showed his sense of humor by calling his team a bunch of sad sacks. "Why would you boo us? You've got 27 championships. What do we have? I think we might even already be mathematically eliminated for the 2011 season!" he said to rousing laughter and applause.
In all, I would say that he took seven or eight questions. Most of them had to do with personal situations. It just so happened that of the very few who had the opportunity to address the governor, two of them were mothers of autistic children. Obviously, they expressed concerns over the possibility of cuts being made to special education, and the governor assured them that education for autistic children was one area that would not be cut. Another lady expressed discontent that she had a house built and was trying for months to get her certificate of occupancy. His staff took her contact information and promised to help her. Yet another had been trying to reach the state controller's office for four months. Governor Christie asked her is she was a betting woman. When she said no, he responded, "Well rest assured, you can safely bet that you'll get a response now!" His staff took her contact information as well.
By about ten minutes after noon, the governor expressed his regret that he would now have to leave and could no longer take questions. As you might guess, there was a collective sigh among the audience, and he responded by saying, "Hey, what are you all upset about? I actually have to go back to Trenton." He clearly meant that while he had to go and deal with the angry politicians and massive problems that were awaiting him, we would get to return to the comfort of our homes.
Overall, I was impressed by the governor's candor, the fact that he was able to articulate his positions clearly, and his ability to think on his feet. I thought there were a couple of obscure questions that might catch him off guard, but he took them in stride and offered up an intelligent response without the least bit of hesitation. What surprised me the most about him was his sense of humor. When you view the bombastic manner with which he confronts his attackers in all of those YouTube videos, one would hardly imagine that a softer side of him could possibly exist. But he drew laughs from the audience on several occasions, and shared a couple of personal stories as well that gave us a great deal of insight into who this man really is and where he comes from.
I would definitely attend another town hall meeting with the governor if the opportunity presented itself. I was disappointed that I did not get the chance to address him though. With the report of his task force on higher education being released this past week, the timing was perfect for me to share my experiences from my ten years as a university administrator. I felt I had something to offer, but in the end it was not to be. Maybe next time.
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