reform – Page 3 – Hank Kalet

Prescriptions for a cleaner New Jersey(Good-government edition)

I didn’t get a chance to read Charles Stiles’ column on Trenton’s (imperceptible) efforts at ethics reform last week because I was on vacation, but it is worth commenting on. Stiles makes it clear that the Democratic leadership has “promised us The Great Campaign Finance and Ethics Reform Crusade for 2008,” but that “as we close in on the year’s halfway mark, the accomplishments have been modest, at best.”

And he may be being generous.

Stiles says that, if the party in power was serious about reform, there are no shortage of proposals on the table, including requiring the state Election Law Enforcement Commission to monitor money contributed to personal defense funds, requiring ethics training for elected officials (Monroe does this now), allowing issue ads but requiring that candidates disclose their involvement and benefit, banning the wheeling of campaign contributions, ending dual-office holding and banning convicted ex-legislators from representing clients before local agencies.

Dispatches: Removing redundancies(i.e., the merger moment)

This week’s Dispatches focuses on the need to reduce the number of municipalities in the state, pegged to a proposal from Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts that he says will streamline the new process.

And, as we speak, the Morris County towns of Chester Borough and Chester Township are floating the idea of becoming one municipality.

Bill Cogger and Dennis Verbaro, the mayors of the two municipalities, are meeting today with state officials to explore what it would take to formally become one community, given Gov. Jon Corzine’s effort to drive down the cost of state government by encouraging the mergers of small towns such as the Chesters.

“Merging is a desire both communities wish to explore,” said Cogger, who is mayor of Chester Township. “We’re hoping the (state) government will pass legislation to make the process easier and will make good on its offer to not penalize taxpayers.”

The issues faced in the Chesters appear similar to those that would face other communities — the two Princetons, for instance, or the two Hopewells. Or Monroe and Jamesburg. The difference with Monroe and Jamesburg, of course, is that they do not share a name, though their history is intertwined. Before the late 1800s, Jamesburg was part of Monroe, serving as the town’s business center. And Monroe and Jamesburg kids have always attended high school together — first at Jamesburg High School and then at Monroe Township High School.

All of these towns could achieve some savings — a point that those who refuse to acknowledge. Some, like former Chester Township Mayor Ken Caro, points the finger at larger cities to essentially throw the dogs of the scent.

“(Town mergers) is a myth perpetrated by the state to get the monkey off their back,” Caro said.

“Trenton is afraid to address the real problem — that spending in big cities is what’s out of control. (Former Newark Mayor) Sharpe James stole more in a year than we could save in a hundred in Chester.”

This, of course, perpetuates another myth — that corruption accounts for the lion’s share of excess spending in the state. Corruption is a problem, both in terms of wasted money and confidence in government, but it is foolish to assume that ending corruption will fix our fiscal problems all by itself.

There are 13 elected officials representing Monroe and Jamesburg, two clerks, two administrators, two police chiefs, etc. Merging the two towns would cut all of this in half. Merging also would expand other opportunities — residents would get the benefit of an economy of scale that doesn’t exist now.

Other towns — the Princetons, for instance — would see less direct economic benefit because they share most of the major spending items, but they likely would still see some savings.

Should all of these towns be merged? No. But we should be looking at potential mergers and asking serious questions that, in the end, could result in a reduction in the number of towns and school districts, a reconfiguration of the state’s counties, etc.

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

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Pay me now, or pay me later

The thing that has struck me all along about the debate over the governor’s toll hike plan was the inevitability that the state’s needs — its broken infrastructure, shaky finances, etc. — would require some sacrifice on the part of taxpayers. Whether there would be a need to slash government programs, including popular or necessary ones, or raise taxes or other revenue, we were going to pay.

That’s why this announcement today by state Sen. Ray Lesniak should not come as a shock to anyone, though it will.

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

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I hope the governor is not surprised

Poll numbers released today by Quinnipiac University show in statistical black and white that the governor’s toll hike plan is unpopular and that its unpopularity has voters in an ornery mood. The governor’s disapproval raiting is strikingly high — 52 percent, the highest of his term in office. (That said, he remains far more popular than President George W. Bush. But then most people are these days, with the possible exception of Roger Clemens.)

I can understand the numbers, though I do think they are a bit unfair. But that is politics. The governor is making a good-faith effort to fix a problem that has been growing for a dozen years, a problem that presents no easy or painless solutions. So he catches grief.

I agree that his toll plan is the wrong approach, but I also think he is being far more realistic than most of the elected officials in this state — and more realistic than most voters.

I keep having this same conversation with people. They complain about the plan, but offer the same cliched response — eliminate waste and corruption. I say, “great,” but how much of the budget do you think that accounts for?” No answer. Once you back out the debt, pension and other fixed payments, you’re left with maybe $15 billion in spending to tackle, maybe not even that much. If waste and corruption account for 10 percent — an absurdly generous assumption — you still manage to trim just $1.5 billion, about 40 percent of what would be needed to plug what has been a recurring hole. And it still leaves you dealing with future budgets.

I’ve said it before. We need to be realistic and we need to be comprehensive. Everything has to be on the table — streamlining government at all levels, cutting spending, redirecting money to where it is most necessary (antipoverty programs, for instance), reducing the local portion of the school tax bill by increasing school aid, cutting corruption, controlling debt. The list is endless, so we better get started.

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

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Toll plan redux redux

Interesting piece by Linda Stamato, who teaches at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. She asks some basic questions about the governor’s toll-hike and debt plan that need to be answered before anyone should offer any support.

She writes:

I don’t buy the governor’s “either/or” framework for fiscal salvation. We don’t either need to increase the income tax by 20 percent or the sales tax by 30, or the gas tax by 12 cents or live with the governor’s plan. A combination of approaches makes more sense to me. And, certainly we ought to be putting more on the table for inclusion than has been placed there so far. We need a combination of taxes, a freeze on spending and reductions in costs, to accompany reasonable increases in tolls. An income tax increase should not be summarily dismissed by any means, certainly if equity is a consideration, and, it must be. An increase in the gas tax also makes sense if the intention is to replenish the Transportation Trust Fund, address ransportation-related needs, including public transit, and, not least, encourage fuel efficiencies and reduce carbon emissions. (To be sure, Governor Corzine’s own ambitious goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions ought to figure in this picture as well.)

My own issues with the plan are as follows:

It is not broad-based. The plan asks a narrow class of people to pay the costs of fixing a mess created by the state Legislature and previous governors and that provided a host of benefits to people across the state.
It hits workers pretty hard, increasing the cost of people who must use the toll roads to get back and forth to work and those who drive for a living.
It is likely to force cars off the toll roads and onto local roads — for those of us in Central Jersey, that means an increase in cars and trucks on Routes 1 and 130.
It cuts debt, but does nothing to address the myriad problems that created the problem in the first place. Yes, the governor wants to force the state to go to voters when it wants to borrow money; that would be a positive step. But it leaves in place the 1,400 or so taxing entities — municipalities, school districts, fire districts, county governments, etc. — that craft their own budgets and have their own staffs. That’s a lot of overlapping jobs that could be eliminated if some of these entities were to be merged.
And the likely use of the toll money for pork projects, as Charles Stile points out in today’s column.

My sense is that a broader-based approach is necessary and must include steps to reduce spending and alter the tax structure — in addition to consolidation, we need to reconsider nearly everything we ask the government to do, what should be a state responsibility, a local responsibility and how much of the cost of government in New Jersey we expect the state to cover.

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

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