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♪ David: Welcome to "Chat Box."

Autumn is upon us.

That can only mean election season in New Jersey.

While yes, the entire legislature is on the ballot this fall, the race a lot of people are talking about is the race for governor, even though it is two years away.

The man generating the buzz at the moment is Steve Fulop, a red jersey city, who joins us now.

How are you doing?

Mayor Fulop: good to be here.

How are you?

David: Good to see you, man.

Some of these questions are from viewers.

Let me get the headline out of the way.

Senator Menendez it seems is drawing the focus of federal investigators.

The latest allegation is that he or maybe his wife was accepting gold bars in exchange for the senator's influence.

How do you think his potential troubles affect the political landscape going forward?

Mayor Fulop: I mean, it does not help.

The whole narrative around New Jersey historically, and now you layer in gold bars, it certainly does not look great.

I would wait to see how it is resolved, if there is an indictment, what it reads as.

It is not helpful for the November election just having this out there.

David: Let's talk about this governor's race.

Trends are that people make up their minds late in elections.

Are you running the risk of having all the stuff you are doing now being wasted on voters who are not even really paying attention to the race yet?

Mayor Fulop: I don't think so.

If you are going to build a campaign that is viable under any circumstances, that means you've got to start early.

That means organizing grassroots and being substantive on policy.

Last month we did the transportation policy.

Next week we are doing our housing policy release, which I think is comprehensive, detailed.

It says what we are going to do once we are elected.

I think that is my job as a candidate.

David: I want to get to your transit policy in a bit.

Your friend had a big groundbreaking with the governor.

He is certain to run in what is looking to be a credit field.

There are two members of Congress who have been talked about as potential gubernatorial candidates.

How does any of that change the calculus for you if those people get in the race?

Mayor Fulop: it doesn't, zero.

We are organizing.

We have many endorsements, mayors already.

We are raising a lot of dollars.

We have a substantive platform and an amazing track record.

It does not matter if there are two people or six people in the race, our objective and goal is to win, and I think we are going to be successful.

I have a story to tell, and I think voters have residents are going to respond to it.

It does not change anything.

More people in the race, the better.

Ross baraka has been a good friend and mayo.

I encourage him to get in.

David: are you concerned about a South Jersey guy?

Mayor Fulop: I am not coming to get into the geography.

I am not concerned at all.

I think the voters are very smart.

I think sometimes politicians get into the rooms and don't think the voters understand the geography or splitting a vote, and that is not true.

Once the campaign starts the next phase and we are communicating directly with voters, I think voters are going to respond.

It does not matter if I'm column A four North Jersey or South Jersey, we have a message that is going to resonate with everybody.

David: a Smart voter is the best kind of voter.

You put out a transit policy recently that had all the train nerds excited.

Two specific questions on that.

Where are the dedicated funds for NJ transit coming?

Mayor Fulop: they are coming from the CBT.

David: I knew you were going to say that, but the corporate business tax is dead, Mayor, no?

Mayor Fulop: the governor is saying he is going to phase it out.

He implemented it and says he is going to phase it out, and I am saying we are going to phase it back in.

The reality is there is a billion dollar gap in New Jersey transit.

You have structural issues and the potential for a death spiral with regards to transit in New Jersey.

Anybody who is not being honest about how they are going to fund it and what a dedicated revenue source is coming from is not being true to the voters.

Out of the gate we are saying yes, the CBT is important.

It is only the largest corporations that pay it, and they have already accepted it as part of their giving business over five years.

David: It is coming back and it -- coming back if it does get phased out in a Fulop administration, yes?

Mayor Fulop: it would.

I am being truthful with the voters.

You need dedicated revenue, and the best way to do it is through these large corporations.

Have them pay their fair share.

All have done exceptionally well over the last five years.

With the CBT in place, there was no reason why we cannot continue it.

David: Do you think fare increases are necessary as part of the funding mechanism for NJ transit?

Mayor Fulop: I think the responsible thing is to try to impact the rider policed you can.

The short answer, I have tried not to have fare increases.

I could not commit to anything until I actually get into the job, but the starting point is saying let me figure out who can pay for this and what is an equitable way to do it, and the large corporations as a starting point I think is reasonable.

David: A recent study found white guys hold a disproportionate number of seats of power in New Jersey.

Would you commit to putting a person of color on a Steve Fulop ticket?

Mayor Fulop: I am going to commit to having a diverse ticket, which would mean a person of color, but more than that, I want to find a person that is qualified, substantive, and would do a great job.

From my standpoint, that is the number one check mark.

Of course I am going to be looking for diversity.

Yeah, I would suspect that, being I am a white guy, I would like to have a ticket that better reflects the diversity of New Jersey.

I think having a running mate from a different background and different learned experiences and legions.

Says I think -- and lived experiences, I think, is important.

David: I have an extra minute if you want to float names.

Mayor Fulop: No, I don't.

David: OK, do you support continue offshore wind development, and are you concerned about its potential impact on whales, etc.?

Mayor Fulop: I think the data shows that the impact on whales and marine life has been minimal or nonexistent.

I think that New Jersey moving to a more energy-efficient and sustainable future is important.

The short answer is yes, I thank conception -- think conceptually what Governor Murphy is doing is important.

Once I would get into the job, I would look at fresh -- with fresh eyes at what the cost is.

There is a substantial cost that is challenging.

And what it would do to ratepayers long-term, that is an important conversation that is not really out there.

And the visibility component, what you are doing to one of our great assets, which is the shore.

Those are three things I am going to dig into, but conceptually Phil Murphy is on the right side as far as trying to move the state in a different direction.

There are different ways you can get there, but I think the goal is the right one.

David: Are you concerned that Horsted is having financial difficulties?

Mayor Fulop: I think the entire structure of the deal is problematic.

That goes to but I am saying with regards to you need to get in there and look at it.

I think that because he is pursuing is the right one, setting an example for the country from New Jersey moving towards the stated will -- moving towards sustainable energy.

But there is a reality around cost and structure and viability , and all of those things will be considered.

That is what we want to do.

David: the devil is in the details.

Any conditions under which a Fulop administration would make space in New Jersey for an overflow of migrants from New York, for instance?

Mayor Fulop: Let me say this.

I would be hypocritical if I said that we would not be a welcoming place in trying to figure out to the best of our capabilities what we can do.

Jersey City's track record is very strong with regards to the immigrant community.

We have the only nationally accredited office of immigration in a municipal building in the country.

We have done a lot on from Afghanistan and Ukraine, which we have been hands-on.

It would be hypocritical if I said we were a city that protected immigrants when it was easy and during a crisis we walked away from it.

The short answer is I will try to do everything we can in order to make it work.

My family came here looking after the Holocaust for opportunities.

For the most part, I know people like to focus on the most negative component of any population, but the reality is that most of these people are here because they have been in very tough situations and are desperate.

That is kind of the keyword.

It is our responsibility to help people when we can.

David: What do you think of the potential Republican field for Governor?

Is there anyone in that party that stands out to you as a sharp mind, an astute politician, or a great oratory?

Mayor Fulop: In the Democratic Party, or -- David: No, the Republican party, your potential opponents.

Mayor Fulop: Yesterday Jack Ciattarelli was at Fairleigh Dickinson University for a kind of town hall.

I read the notes from what he said.

It was pretty unimpressive, to be honest.

It kind of changed my view on him a little bit, because I think it is a lot of ridiculous rhetoric that is not rooted in any degree of fact.

A love of the legislature for.

There is -- and a lot of the things he was in the legislature for.

There is a question around being a hypocrite.

I think he speaks to a different part of the Republican Party that is more amped up and motivated.

I think he is going to be a viable candidate if he can put it together financially.

That's it, but for me, I think I will be competitive against either of those, and I would look forward to a race against either of those two.

I can communicate what I have done and will do for New Jersey, and I think I can win that argument.

David: Is there potential, if the Democrats have a free-for-all primary for the governor, does it hurt whoever comes out of that?

Mayor Fulop: No, because I am in the minority in the sense that I do not think chitter rally in the last election did so great.

Virginia and New Jersey were the only elections in the country, and we usually do what Virginia does.

In that situation, you had Youngkin close a 30 point gap with McAuliffe and actually win.

This time, you had citarelli failed to do that.

It is not the floor he is building off of, it is the ceiling.

People are not interested in that Trump wing of the party as it relates to some of the policy platforms they are pushing.

As Jack Hanna really tries to -- as Jackson a really --I do not view him as that strong of a candidate.

David: Almost all the bosses of Hudson County want Jim McGreevey to be your successor.

Are you ready to jump on the Jim McGreevey bandwagon?

Mayor Fulop: I have a relationship with all of the potential candidates.

David: A very strange one with McGreevey, though.

Mayor Fulop: We have gotten together recently, and it is less strain than people think.

We have cleared the air.

But I am not at the point where I am going to be jumping into the mayor's race in the near term.

I am focused on being an effective mayor for the next two years and secondly, the governor's race, which is a year and a half.

Those two things are the priority.

You are not going to see me immediately jumping into a mayor's race.

If somebody says something that is not true, I will respond, but that is kind of where I am looking right now.

David: This week your city Council voted on a big exemption in the payment of taxes for a website development in the city called bayfront, but it is a very significant blow for affordable housing.

Mayor Fulop: It is a big accomplishment for our administration and the previous administration.

It is a huge investment, more than $100 million, eight thousand units, 35% affordable housing.

It is in an area that has not seen this type of development.

It is going to be timed well with the release of our housing policy for the governor's campaign next week.

That is more of a coincidence and luck, but -- David: It is just luck that that happened a week before you released a housing policy?

Mayor Fulop: I know when your business you have to be skeptical, but sometimes you get lucky and it is not planned.

David: Mayor Steve Fulop, thank you for coming on.

We will take the mayor's transit plan as a jumping off point for our chat with our next guests, calling Wilson of NorthJersey.com and Larry Higgs of NJ.com.

Transportation and transit reporters both.

We know them as Wilson and Higgs , copyrights pending, and they join us now.

Let's start with the Port Authority meeting.

You guys were at this week's commissioners meeting.

Any news, Larry?

Larry: There is a lot of big news.

Gateway development is a bit of news because they are going to be doing the construction management for the actual tunnel being built.

It is kind of a signal to the naysayers on that project that this thing is really going to happen.

They basically let a contract to look at widening the outer bridge crossing -- this is just a study, not actually widening it -- of course, the question is the bridge is two lanes in either direction with no shoulder, more than 100 years old, so if you widen it, where is the other lane going to go?

That is the alternative they are looking at to just building a new bridge.

David: Colleen, did anything come out of that meeting for you?

Colleen: Yeah, I wrote about their roadmap to get to a zero emission future.

They seem to be really accelerating those efforts, and I think most importantly trying to incentivize their tenants, the companies that they work with, to really expand their efforts.

The Port Authority can only do so much.

Their operations only represent 4% of their overall emissions, so it is really on their companies they work with to bolster their zero emissions efforts, particularly in the airline industry with the marine vessels fuel issues.

David: We just had mayor Steve Fulop on with us, talking about his transit policy plan.

He just reiterated that he would reinstate the corporate business tax as a funding source for NJ transit, even if it sunsets under the Murphy administration.

You both, I assume, have read parts of that plan.

Larry, any thoughts on it?

Larry: There is a competing idea that has been floated by some environmentalists to say let's just put in our own congestion pricing plan, which is also part of Mayor Fulop's platform for funding NJ transit and transportation.

The big question would be, which one is going to generate more money?

I would probably say the business tax.

David: Colleen, anything of the Fulop land jump out at you?

Colleen: The CBT idea is not novel, but the biggest challenge with that is going to be political.

How are you going to resurrect that effort that has been gone for two years?

That is a question that Fulop did not really have a great answer to when we talked to him about that.

You just -- he just said something along the lines of political will.

That is only one portion of transit's funding needs.

There is the clean energy fund.

Is there going to be a bigger effort to make that more permanent, more constitutionally dedicated?

Is that an issue we want to see talked about with the greater legislature?

David: We also brought up New Jersey transit fare hikes with Governor Murphy last week on this show.

Let's hear what he had to say about that, and we will come back.

This won't be forever and always, but remember why we did it six years you name Rome, the previous administration -- six years in a row come of the previous administration, all six of those measures went down, safety, reliability, on-time performance, customer satisfaction.

How could we continue to go to the well for the commuter with that level now that the performances in a different place?

It is at least, at some point, it should be a consideration.

David: That is as close as I have heard anyone in office come to saying fare increases are at least possible.

Colleen, inevitable?

Larry: certain -- Colleen: Certainly.

I think commuters know that is a big concern.

I think the bigger concern is about potential service cuts as a result of their budget, larger budget issues.

Fare hikes have to be part of the solution.

I do not see a future where that does not happen.

David: Larry, a lot of people might be saying, where are you going to cut service.

We need more service.

Larry: That is tough to answer because there is a demand for more bus service with private bus companies going out.

If ANC with Jersey City said they would be done by Halloween, and the problem is it serves kind of a transit desert.

It is not just a transit desert, but it is transit dependent people, newer people in the South Ward who work at Jersey garden small.

That is their only way to get to work if they don't have this bus.

They either look for another job, because as some folks have said, when of my colleagues, Steve, interviewed people waiting for the 24 bus.

When Uber is $12 to $24, which is a lot of money for making $16 an hour, so the res is on -- the press is on to extending the services.

Transportation has been genius by extending roots, but already existing routes thereto extended to the west side of Jersey City -- there to extend it to the west side of Jersey City?

You have veterans who may be have low income, moderate income, our may be totally dependent on public support, and they cannot afford to take a cab saved from the train station in East Orange get to the veterans hospital a mile away.

David: Three decades later at the Hudson Bergen light rail still has no Bergen spur.

That is the headline from your piece this week that asks, how come?

So, how come?

Colleen: Well, I think the big outlier there is money.

That is what the story talks at great length about, that that has always been the biggest hurdle for them, ever since from 1996, when it was decided that the Hudson County portion of the light rail would be the initial phase one, and so ever since, Bergen County has been fighting and fighting to try to get that extended 10 miles eventually landing in Inglewood, but just have not gotten there yet.

The FTA decided they are throwing out a 15-year-old environmental report telling New Jersey to start over -- New Jersey transit to start over.

It sounds like they will be able to use some of the updated information from that report in a new one, but nonetheless, this is a process that could take at least two years, and the FTA is not going to take it seriously if there is not money attached to it, and they have a real commitment to make the project come to life.

David: You also had a piece on schools reporting a bus driver shortage.

Larry, you were once a member of the Noble order of the school bus driver.

That is a tough job.

Larry: Put it like this, it is not a job I would go back to anytime soon.

The thing is, we have both written on it, and one of the problems is the same pool of drivers that schools and NJ transit are competing for, which are basically people who have a class B commercial drivers license with airbag endorsement and passenger endorsement, it is a hard license to get, a hard license to keep.

You have to go through a criminal background check every two years and be fingerprinted and go through a medical clearance every two years.

You have companies like Amazon, FedEx, UPS saying hey, we are going to dangle money in front of you and you do not have as much responsibility to take care of everybody's kids, make sure they get home in one piece.

All you have to do is move packages.

Come over and work for us.

So a lot of school district have had to offer more money and other sorts of signing bonuses to try to attract people to the job.

David: Colleen, is it a crisis, or have schools been able to fill in?

Colleen: I don't think it is a crisis yet, or if it is, we have not heard that from the state Department of Education, who really did not have a lot to say on the matter beyond they don't really track that sort of thing.

Anecdotally they have begun hearing that, they have herded over the years.

I have for further -- heard from several people over the years that are starting the school year with a roster that is short of bus drivers.

So they are making do.

I don't know how, perhaps combining longer routes.

But you do not want children to sit on the bus for a lengthy amount of time just to get to school.

That means early arrival times and that sort of thing.

Hopefully they are going to keep Incentivizing, keep trying to find new ways to bring people into that profession.

David: I just pick sure Higgs telling the kids, "you just sit down or I'm going to stop this bus!"

Larry Higgs, Colleen Wilson, thank you both for coming on with us.

That's "Chat Box" for this week.

Thanks also to Mayor Fulop for joining us.

You can follow me on Facebook or Twitter and get more exclusive content when you scan the QR code on your screen.

I'm David Cruz.

For all the crew here, thanks for watching.

Announcer: major funding for Chat Box is provided by the members have the New Jersey education Association, making public schools great for every child.

Promotional support is provided by Insider NJ.

A political intelligence network dedicated to New Jersey's political news.

Insider NJ is committed to giving serious political players an interactive forum for ideas, discussion, and insight.

Online at insiderNJ.com.