Resistence to reinvention

The first parts of our Reinventing Govrernment series (here and here in Thursday’s Post and here and here in the Press) prove my basic point about reform in New Jersey. Everyone is for it, unless they have to change.

Consider this quote from Jamesburg Mayor Tony LaMantia:

“The state’s been dealing with it for years, and where are we at now? The proof is in the way things are.”

But the mayor (and most of the local officials we spoke with) is opposed to many of the changes being proposed, believing that towns understand how to save money better than the state. There is no proof of that — or of the converse — but it goes to show that making the kind of changes necessary to fix the system will be a long, difficult haul.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie. View all posts by hankkalet