Mayor Fears Politics in First Lady’s
Planned Library Visit
A planned visit to the Ridgewood (N.J.) Public Library by Laura Bush in late September is drawing criticism over Republican gubernatorial candidate Bret Schundler’s intention to accompany the first lady.
Library Director Nancy Greene said Bush’s appearance would encourage reading and the use of the library. But Mayor Jane Reilly expressed concern over the prospect of the library being exploited by a political candidate. “I think it’s a very slippery slope whenever you involve publicly owned property in a partisan political campaign,” Reilly told the September 7 Bergen County Record.
Reilly urged that the name of the library not be identified if Schundler’s visit is filmed. She noted that the library allows use of the auditorium to organizations that pay a fee but added, “We have to be very strict with our policy to make sure no one would misinterpret the rental of the auditorium as a library or any other Ridgewood official endorsement of a candidate.”
Ridgewood has a nonpartisan form of government, and Reilly said Schundler violated its longstanding tradition of a nonpolitical Fourth of July parade when he walked the length of the parade with an entourage earlier this year. “He did everything we told him not to do,” Reilly said. “His comment to me was it’s easier to seek forgiveness than get permission.”
Posted September 10, 2001.
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