By Brian Donohue
Journal Staff Writer
The Jersey Journal
July 2, 1997

Sounding a recurrent theme of a rebounding city on the cusp of a new millennium, Mayor Bret Schundler and members of the City Council were sworn in yesterday, poised to lead Jersey City into the 21st century.

The ceremony also seemed an opportunity for some to put an end to past disagreements, with Governor Christine Whitman , in a brief appearance, praising Schundler's tenure. Relations between the two Republicans had been somewhat distant since Whitman's decision not to push school vouchers -- a pet issue of Schundler's -- through the State legislature.

"It is a daunting thing to think we have elected a team that will lead this city to 2001," said Newark Archbishop Theodore McCarrick during the ceremony before several hundred people at Jersey City State College.

Several new council members stammered or seemed to gasp slightly as they ended their oaths with the phrase, " for a term to end June 30, 2001."

Hastily planned just one week after the mayoral runoff and held in JCSC's auditorium, the no frills ceremony had the feel of an upscale graduation, as Deputy Mayor Maxwell Jones referred to the new city government as "the Class of 2001."

For many, it was a family affair.

Schundler was sworn in by his wife, Lynn Schundler, as his mother Gertrud, held a Bible. His daughter, Shaylin, led attendants in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Councilman Robert Cavanaugh was sworn in by his father, a retired Superior Court judge and, in one of the day's lightest moments, Councilman Mariano Vega rested the Bible on his son's head while his daughter held it steady.

In brief remarks before Schundler's swearing in, Whitman heaped praise on her fellow Republican for keeping taxes stable, reducing crime and restoring a sense of hope to Jersey City.

"Schundler's victory was not just a personal victory for one man," Whitman said. "It was a victory for principles, for leadership, for people of this city and this great state."

"From cleaning up the city streets and neighborhoods to cleaning up City Hall, the success being achieved here is resounding," said Whitman, who is seeking re-election in November. "Over the past four years, Jersey City has become a model for the nation."

With only one week since the end of his protracted campaign, Schundler said he a little time to prepare a formal inaugural address."

However, in what he called "shared thoughts," Schundler touched on a range of philosophical issues, as he called for a government rooted in morality.

He said government should foster personal responsibility, and used welfare and school vouchers as examples of areas in which government can succeed in doing so.

While for much of the past two years Schundler has placed issues such as school vouchers on the back burner, a bit of the old Schundler re-emerged as he sounded a call for a greater emphasis on personal freedom as a goal of public policy.

Schundler's speech blended strong conservative themes of personal freedom and a call for a return to government as a "God based responsibility."

"Our focus must not be on entitlements, it must be on empowerment," Schundler said. " It must be in making sure that every child does have the tools to walk on their own two feet and to give to someone else. If we are serious about empowerment, then we have to change the way we provide services," he said.

In a speech that spanned the ages, Schundler ran through a litany of events he cast as historical follies-from the rise of Marxism to the suicide of rock singer Kurt Cobain-which he said were fueled by the notion that right and wrong are relative terms.

Schundler recounted that he had recently seen a man in a T shirt that quoted Friedrich Nietzsche: "There is no truth; everything is permitted." " I thought to myself, what I should do is belt him in the back of the head," Schundler said.

Widening his thesis, Schundler linked such philosophy with "legal positivists" with whom he's butted heads, such as the American Civil Liberties Union and school voucher opponents.

Referring to a legal battle with the ACLU over religious holiday displays at City Hall, Schundler said, "What that is about saying that there is something greater than us."

Schundler said leaders must draw their inspiration form figures such as Martin Luther King, Jr., who recognized a fundamental truth based in religious faith and fought for it.

"We have to stand on moral convictions," Schundler said.