I know Hudson County gets a bad rep when it comes to politics, but you have to wonder it may just be earned.
A Star-Ledger story today explains why. Writing about the so-called “Hudson nine” (the nine legislators from Hudson County), the story says:
They don’t want the state telling towns how much they can raise taxes. They don’t want a state comptroller or county school superintendent second-guessing local officials. And they see nothing wrong with holding more than one taxpayer-funded job.
The greatest impediment to many of the property tax reform ideas backed by Gov. Jon Corzine may well be the nine Democratic legislators from Hudson County.
They were in the bull’s eye Corzine targeted in his State of the State address when he called on lawmakers to set aside parochialism and personal interest in favor of the “common good.”
But the Hudson nine — four of whom are also mayors and seven of whom hold tax-paid jobs in addition to elected office — insist the Democratic governor has asked for way too much, way too fast.
Limiting the growth of property tax levies; consolidating local governments; refiguring state aid for public schools; ending dual office-holding — all of that, they argue, means the demise of local control.
But local control is part of the problem. The 1,400-plus separate taxing entities lead to a ridiculous duplication of services and waste and create conditions in which local and county officials can create their own little fiefdoms (John Lynch, anyone?) helping drive property tax rates up.
Something needs to be done to rein this in and it must include many of the reforms to which the “Hudson nine” — along with groups like the League of Municipalities and state School Boards Association — are objecting.
But staunch opposition from Hudson — along with a critical GOP — could kill many of the reform proposals that are on the table. And it appears that much of this opposition stems from the style of politics that dominates in Hudson County.
The county superintendent plan (a bad idea, admittedly) and the ban on dual office-holding would have a direct impact in Hudson County where “four of (the nine legislators) are also mayors and seven of … hold tax-paid jobs in addi tion to elected office.”
Sen. Nicholas Sacco and Assemblyman Charles Epps oppose a bill to give county superintendents authority to veto school budgets, and another to move school budget elections to November, when more people are likely to vote.
Sacco is assistant superintendent of North Bergen schools (as well as the mayor). Epps is the state-paid superintendent of Jersey City schools. Neither returned phone calls seeking comments about the legislation.
Stack has worked against a bill to ban dual office-holding. It was written to allow current dual office- holders to keep both posts, but not if they sought election to another office.
Stack is expected to announce this week that he will run for Kenny’s Senate seat, according to three prominent Democrats, while Kenny is expected to retire. Under the bill, Stack would have to surrender his mayoral seat to serve in the Senate. Last week the bill was shelved until after the November legislative elections.
Lest anyone think I’m being hard on the folks in Hudson County, the dual office-holding ban is also meeting opposition from others — including Monroe Mayor Richard Pucci, who serves as mayor and as the executive director of the Middlesex County Improvement Authority.
As the Ledger points out, the Hudson legislators are not the only impediment to reform and their arguments against many of the proposed changes are the same arguments being made by the constituencies most likely to be affected.
It would be nice if we could fix the state’s tax woes without anyone having to sacrifice their perks, but that’s not possible. All of us are responsible for the mess and all of us are going to have to help with the cleanup.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
Hank Kalet 