My Dylan list:
No surprises, I guess.
A little context on the tax question:
Take this information and do with it what you will.
A nice breeze blowing toward the ocean kept me cool this morning, but it also felt like pushing a blocking sled when I ran into it. Still, a nice first run of the vacation — five miles in 44:47.
Music: John Mellencamp, Freedom’s Road
The Corzine administration is looking increasingly like a rudderless boat lost at sea. The administration has spent the better part of its three years in control of the state offering controversial proposals and then backing away from them, allowing the state Legislature and the special interests that surround it to fill the vaccuum.
The latest reversal is his decision to restore some of the cuts he proposed in aid to smaller municipalities. While I’ve never viewed the aid cuts as a good idea — using aid as a hammer is unfair; if the governor wants large-scale consolidation he should push the state Legislature to mandate a broad study and then have the Legislature vote on the results — the governor’s willingness to abandon nearly everything he has proposed when faced with political opposition has left him weak and ineffectual.
It is no way to run a state and a waste of the executive’s office — the most powerful executive’s office in the country.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
E-mail me clicking here.
Jamesburg is considering whether to hold weekly farmer’s markets downtown — on West Railroad Avenue between Church and Harrison streets on Saturdays from July through October — similar to those held in West Windsor at the Princeton Junction Train Station or in Metuchen.
On first blush, this is a good idea. Farm markets become like mini-flea markets, drawing shoppers into town and creating the kind of foot traffic that small towns like Jamesburg need to remain viable.
Police Chief Martin Horvath has concerns, but I just don’t see them as being that big a deal. Chief Horvath, in a letter to Councilman Otto Kostbar, said
he is concerned about safety issues related to shutting down the road without proper police coverage; a staff of market volunteers who pose a liability to the borough because they would not be properly trained in traffic safety; the cost of overtime needed to pay for police; and the collection and cleanup of garbage along the road. He also said residents of four homes would not have access to their houses during the market, which is slated to run from 7 am. to 2 p.m.
”West Railroad Avenue may seem like a lightly traveled roadway, but to the contrary, it is quite a heavily traveled road, especially on a Saturday during the summer,” Chief Horvath stated in the letter. “This roadway acts as a secondary route through town for many motorists, pedestrians and emergency vehicles. Closing down this stretch of roadway will certainly (affect) traffic flow through the borough.”
The letter also said that closing a roadway without police presence is “not permissible” and that that the expense of providing officers at the market would cost the department around $14,400 in overtime, which is “not acceptable in these times of tight budgets.”
These should be easy to deal with. As Councilman John Longo said,
“Let’s find a way to get it done as opposed to finding a way to not get it done,” said Mr. Longo. “We’re trying to bring people into town. Money is leaving Jamesburg that’s in Jamesburg because people are leaving to go to Monroe and East Brunswick and other places to do their shopping.”
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
E-mail me clicking here.
Hank Kalet 