When pigs fly

Back in 1990, after Gov. Jim Florio pushed through his massive tax increase package, a new radio station hitched its wagon to the growing opposition, building a following that allowed it to become one of the more influential voices in New Jersey politics.

That station is at it again. The Ewing-based 101.5 (video from station’s site) held what it called the Flying Pigs Rally today, drawing about 700 pedple to the Statehouse to protest the governor’s debt reduction/toll hike plan.

Now, I’m all in favor of political rallies. But the role being played by 101.5 — given its history — bothers me. There is a question of motive here. I have no doubt that the radio hosts share a deep opposition to the toll plan. But I have to wonder if the station’s hsitory — in particular, its growth as part of the Florio backlash — had something to do with its participation this time around.

And then there is this:

featured a string of Republican legislators and candidates lining up to take turns blasting Corzine and Democrats for the state’s fiscal problems.

To emphasize:

No Democrats spoke at Friday’s rally. However, U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg and
state Sen. John Adler have said they don’t like the plan.

The Democrats, of course, deserve to be blasted, but it is disingenuous to blame only one party for the mess the state’s finances are in. Christie Whitman, after all, helped starve state government of resources by cutting the income tax and then left behind a timebomb by revaluing the state pension fund.

Gov. Jon Corzine is the first executive since Florio to take the state’s fiscal problems seriously, though his prescription is a bad one likely to have some unpalatable side effects.

In the end, what bothers me about this rally is the partisan use to which it was put.

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

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The governor, the MOM line and toll hikes

The governor has placed what appears to be the MOM line on his list of mass transit priorities.

But what this means is anybody’s guess. The Asbury Park Press reported on Saturday that the governor was backing an engineering study of the rail proposal — cost: $250 million, a figure that seems absurd.

The state is not confirming the report and South Brunswick Mayor Frank Gambatese said this week that Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri, who was quoted extensively in the APP story, called him to say the governor had not endorsed MOM.

“He told me ‘don’t think the governor supports this,’” Mayor Gambatese said.

Mr. Kolluri did not return our calls this week, though Department of Transportation spokesman Joe Dee offered this statement:

”The governor continues to be a strong advocate for public transportation,” said Joseph Dee, Department of Transportation spokesman. “Currently, the MOM project is in the environmental study phase. It would be premature to discuss any other expenditures.”

Again, not exactly a definitive answer. Maybe, the governor can offer something more definitive this weekend, when he will take his debt restructuring road show to Hightstown on Saturday and East Brunswick on Sunday.

Here’s the schedule and how to make reservations:

  • Saturday, Feb. 9, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Hightstown High School, 25 Leshin Lane, Hightstown; To RSVP or call (609) 777-2513
  • Sunday, Feb. 10, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at East Brunswick High School, 380 Cranbury Road, East Brunswick; To RSVP or call (609) 984-9846

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

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Consolidation talk is in the air

This story comes from Bergen County, but has tremendous relevance locally.

Bergen County Executive Dennis McNerney, in his state of the county address on Thursday, called on the state to “encourage — with financial incentives — the merger of towns with fewer than 10,000 residents.”

“The surest way to significantly lower homeowners’ property taxes is to merge small towns and reduce administrative overhead,” McNerney said in his State of the County address before a small crowd of county officials and state legislators at the EMS Training Center in Paramus.

He outlined a series of incentives — carrots, he called them — that could be used to convince taxpayers that they would be better off with fewer, but larger towns.

He proposed a state pilot program that might offer multiyear property tax freezes and the doubling of a homestead rebate for residents of a new town created by a merger of neighboring towns.

If the carrots are large enough, and the reduction of the average property tax bill dramatic enough, McNerney reasoned, residents who would normally resist mergers might actually demand them.

“During a five-year transition period, as the new town comes into existence, all municipal, county and school taxes should be frozen at current levels, with the state agreeing to supplement the towns and school for any justifiable financial increases as the merger proceeds,” he said.

By the time the state’s incentives expire, McNerney said, the newly created towns would see savings from the efficiencies they created.

“A business administrator making over $100,000 a year to manage a town of 5,000 residents could easily oversee a town with double the number of residents of a merged municipality,” McNerney said.

Bergen County has about 900,000 residents living in about 239 square miles. There are 70 municipalities in the county, half of which have fewer than 10,000 residents. By contrast, the 318-square-mile Middlesex County has about 745,000 residents and 25 towns, seven of which have fewer than 10,000 residents.

Consolidation obviously would benefit Bergen County most, as well as some of the Shore-are towns. Middlesex County also could benefit — Jamesburg, in particular, would see improved and expanded services if it became part of Monroe (this is not a knock on Jamesburg, just an acknowledgement of the difficult realities the borough faces). Helmetta and Spotswood could be merged, either with each other or with Monroe, East Brunswick or Old Bridge, and Dunnellen could be grafted back onto Piscataway.

I’m not offering a specific plan, but it is necessary that we begin to think about these kinds of mergers so that we can reduce the number of municipal governments in New Jersey, cutting some administrative costs and possibly expanding some services in the process.

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

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Here come da judges

An interesting piece in Slate on how the two Democrats, Barack Obama in particular, would pick judges — an important, if underreported aspect of this year’s election given the damage done to the Constitution by President George W. Bush with his own judicial picks.

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

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Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.