Jones Lang LaSalle


With Little Fanfare, Newark's Mayor Is Said to Submit Petitions to Run a Sixth Time
By DAMIEN CAVE

NEWARK, Feb. 21 — Edging closer to a rematch with the upstart contender he beat four years ago, Mayor Sharpe James submitted petitions on Tuesday to run for an unprecedented sixth term, according to a city employee who reviewed the documents.

The employee, who was granted anonymity because he feared reprisal, said that representatives of the mayor had asked without explanation that the city clerk's office hold off examining the validity of the petitions. As a result, it was not clear whether Mr. James had submitted the 1,159 signatures needed to put his name on the ballot.

Mayor James's office declined to comment. The mayor has until March 16 to complete the submission. The election is May 9.

Should Mr. James choose to run, he would face Cory Booker, a former city councilor who is running for mayor again after losing to Mr. James by about 3,500 votes in 2002.

Sakina Cole, a spokeswoman for Mr. Booker, said he was not concerned with the mayor's maneuvering.

"Whether he files or not, it doesn't matter either way," she said. "We're not running against Sharpe."

At this point, in fact, Mr. Booker, who filed his petitions on Feb. 10, is the only announced candidate for mayor. For months, the mayor has bobbed and weaved his way through questions about his plans without signaling his intention.

At recent public appearances, whether to announce Police Department promotions or new precincts, Mr. James has repeatedly said he is too busy running the state's largest city to think of the election. When supporters shouted "four more years, four more years" at the annual State of the City address earlier this month, Mr. James simply smiled.

And yet, the filing of petitions appears to be the latest hint that Mr. James is planning another fight. State fund-raising filings show that he has raised about $1.9 million for himself and other candidates listed on his slate, about half of what Mr. Booker's team has raised.

Many of the city's 280,000 residents recently received a free calendar from City Hall extolling Mr. James's achievements in bringing a Home Depot to a neighborhood once ravaged by riots. Meanwhile, when public discussion turns to Mr. Booker, the mayor seizes every opportunity to attack him as an outsider who does not deserve to take his place.

Mr. James's push-pull approach has confounded both his supporters and his detractors.
"Nobody can figure out anything he's doing these days," said Steven N. Adubato Sr., the president of the North Ward Educational and Cultural Center in Newark and a powerful political figure in the city who has not publicly chosen sides. "Not even the people who are close to him."

But Mr. James apparently intends to remain a factor in the race, whether he runs or not.
"For Sharpe James, it would be about keeping control, that's point A, and not giving control to Cory Booker, that's B," said Cliff Zukin, a public policy professor at Rutgers University. "The idea that Sharpe James would go quietly into retirement is not a reality."

Copyright 2006The New York Times Company