Message clouded by method of protest

New Jersey has an affordable housing crunch. Many may even go so far as to call it a crisis.

When members of the New Jersey chapter of the national advocacy group ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) decided to take on the state’s affordable housing problem, they chose an admirable fight.

However, their method of protest in the affluent Colonia section of Woodbridge on Friday — busing in children from cities such as Paterson and Newark to go door to door trick-or-treating for Halloween — did not do justice to their message.

According to ACORN officials, the children were supposed to greet homeowners who opened the door by saying "Trick-or-treat. How can I afford to live on your street?"

The event’s organizers said that ACORN likes to use direct action to draw attention to their cause. On this point they succeeded. Using the children definitely brought a more intense media spotlight than a door-to-door petition drive would have — which was probably the ultimate goal.

The draw of Colonia, where some homes sell for more than $1 million, is obvious. Not only are many homes far above the average cost of housing in the state, but, as a part of Woodbridge, the location was sure to attract the attention of the governor’s office given his former position as Woodbridge’s mayor.

However, Woodbridge as a whole and many surrounding communities do provide more affordable housing units than towns in many other areas of the state.

Targeting those areas which provide far fewer opportunities for low- and moderate-income housing would have made more sense — but probably would have generated less ink.

Although most homeowners were friendly and many of the children seemed to enjoy themselves, all it would have taken was for one exchange of words between a hothead homeowner and an overzealous protester to get out of hand and the children would have been caught in the middle of a truly ugly scene.