Jerell Blakeley who is currently running for one of three at-large City Council seats in Trenton regularly drives from his home in Trenton to Pittsburgh, PA where he is enrolled in a doctoral program at the University of Pittsburgh. It was on that drive that he decided to run for the Council
“So, I’m driving in the middle of the night, lonely on the road and listening to music thinking about this, asking myself, ‘Is this the right time and am I prepared’?” he told The VOICE. His answer? Yes.
“Trenton was in a desperate need,” he says.
Blakeley continues, “I haven’t been happy with some of the issues that have occurred in Trenton…I had this epiphany that now was the time for me to light a candle rather than curse the darkness and I believe that it’s incumbent upon all Trentonians to put themselves out there for leadership roles.”
On May 8, Trenton residents will have the opportunity to vote. As of December 2017, a total of 16 candidates had filed paperwork to run for the seven available municipal seats, according to paperwork filed with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.
Despite the odds, Blakeley says he believes he is best suited for the position.
“I’ve been involved in the political process since I was 14 years old, and so I’ve always loved politics,” Blakeley says.
When he was 14 years old, he volunteered for the Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer’s 2002 reelection campaign. He then moved on to intern for Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D). Blakely currently serves as the campaign organizer for Healthy Schools Now at the New Jersey Work Environment Council, an advocacy group that works to ensure that all NJ children and employees learn and work in healthy, safe and modern public schools. He is also an adjunct professor and counselor at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. Blakeley’s longtime friend and campaign manager, Eric Johnson, says of the candidate, “He sees the city from the inside out, not from the outside in. He’s not looking in the window, trying to fix the problems from outside.” As one of the top issues that Blakeley is addressing in his campaign is education which has resonated with Mercer students.
Rozanae Veal, a Mercer Education major and mother, says, “I would like to see more safe spaces for kids. I would like to see more inexpensive programs for the youth where they can create freely.“
On his campaign website Blakeley says, he will “support the creation of the Trenton Opportunity Commission that will provide a forum for Trenton nonprofits, educators, educational institutions, unions, religious institutions, and committed residents to help develop innovative educational, vocational, and professional opportunities for young Trentonians.”
Veal has additional concerns saying, “We can’t minimize others’ addictions, the craving of wanting to know what it’s like to get a piece of the streets, but what we can do is get our children excited again about education and more resources. Personally, I believe that the children of Trenton are the hope of puzzling things back together, we just have to provide the tools as a city.”
Based on his website, Blakeley seems to share her priorities saying, “Providing opportunities for recreation and extracurricular out of school enrichment are important for Trenton.”
When asked by Th e VOICE to explain what Trenton residents could expect a year from May 8 if he were to be elected to city council Blakeley says, “City council is going to be an engine for ideas. I’m going to make sure that Trenton is on the forefront of progressive legislative changes in terms of changing the way we do business. We have the Mayor of Birmingham [Alabama] doing a fantastic job, and we have cities like Oakland, [California] and Newark, [New Jersey], and other cities that are really in the vanguard of municipal changes.” He adds that he feels “Trenton desperately needs to be a part of that kind of revolution of innovative civic” and local policy.
Update: Jarell Blakely won this seat on May 8, 2018.
