A Tough Month for Governors in NY and NJ

It’s been a tough month for governors in the New York/New Jersey area.

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you have noticed that one governor resigned after meeting with a high-priced hooker from New Jersey, and the other governor stayed put after meeting with about 200 mayors.Ours was the one to stay put and give them in person the bad news about state aid: There’s gonna be less of it. Ours was the one to stay put and give

I don’t know what was worse---having to resign in disgrace, or facing down a team of mad municipal mayors.

My hometown of Flemington stands to lose more than $250,000 in state aid, unless we figure out how to merge with the town that surround us. Raritan Township, the big gelatinous cell of a bedroom community, is the one that surrounds the Main Street nucleus that is Flemington.

Well let’s just look at that “merger”.

In 1910, Flemington separated itself from Raritan Township, and became it’s own community. I've read that the issue back then was much the same as it is today: property taxes that were too high. The residents of Flemington did not want to have to pay for the development in Raritan Township.

Ironically, we have still have the same issues today, as Flemington prepares for their centennial celebration. The fastest growing Township in Hunterdon County has placed nearly all its dense residential infrastructure around Flemington, choking the smaller town with traffic, stores and condo communities.

The governor has proposed to cut all aid for towns that have under a population of 5000. Flemington has a population of about 4200, and we are not about to jump over 5000 really soon. Raritan Township logs in at about 22,000 or so, according to the latest population estimates. So, according to the governor’s plan, their aid would not necessarily be cut.

What motivation would Raritan Township have to merge with Flemington? So, it goes.

I am sure that the issue will be hotly debated in the state legislature, and be fought sharply by the fine folks of the New Jersey State League of Municipalities.

Free-wheelin' Freeholders

I am personally and politically offended when Republicans lecture anybody, including the Democratic Party, on the issue of fiscal responsibility.

On the national, state, and local levels they continue to make fiscally unsound choices, going against [again and again] their so-called ‘core’ philosophy of ‘conservatism’.

That, as Spanky from the Little Rascals would say, is a lot of hooey.

On the national level, Bush and the Republicans in Congress squandered a surplus created in the Clinton years, and have spent billions on an endless war in Iraq.

On the state level, when Whitman and the Republicans were in charge, they grew state debt astronomically, while borrowing $2.6 billion without public approval to pay for the state pension fund.

And on the local level in my home county, the Hunterdon County Freeholders just spent more than two million dollars building a clubhouse for the County golf course. Outrageous.

Now I like golf as much as the next guy---especially if the next guy does not play golf. However, I think Hunterdon residents should be outraged that the County is getting in to the Country Club business.

What's next? Restaurants. Night Clubs, Bowling Alleys. The list of possible businesses is endless.

These are the same so-called free market Republicans who disdain when the government gets in to any kind of ‘business’ ----that is much better administered by private businesses.

“It’s a good deal for the County" they say. ‘It will increase business at the golf course,' they offer.

Perhaps it will.

However, if a clubhouse is such great deal, why can’t they find ‘private investors’ to provide the construction capital? Isn’t that the way the ‘free market’ in capitalism is supposed to work? If a business man or a business woman sees value in the construction and maintenance of a golf club house, are we not better off allowing that private investment to flourish, rather than taking property tax dollars that are better spent on actual public services? Those dollars could be used for employee salaries, road construction, bridge repair or dare I say it ---- to help offset rising taxes.

I thank Freeholders George Melick and Eric Peterson for opposing the clubhouse construction. But the other Republicans ----Ron Sworen, Matt Holt and George Muller: shame on you.

Soon your party will think you’re voting like ----dare I say it ----damn liberals!

Unless the golf course is going to draw the likes of Tiger Woods, but only if we have a great Clubhouse ----I think the Freeholders should can it.

One to a customer, please!

Trenton Democrats have finally put an end to a practice that has plagued NJ for years: Dual office holding. And sometimes, triple and qradruple office holding. Both parties have been guilty of this practice. Tom O'Neill wrote about this back in June of 2006 for New Jersey Policy Perspective.

Here is a blurb from an article from the Star-Ledger about the issue:

"After a year of political wrangling and false starts, legislation to make it illegal for public officials to land more than one elected post after next February easily cleared the Assembly yesterday. Assembly members argued for about an hour before passing the measure 69-3 with eight abstentions. The bill (A4326) is scheduled for a final vote in the Senate later this month."

In our own County of Hunterdon, Repubs will squawk that this bill does not "do enough". It is a compromise for sure, but it does address the issue just the same. Now that dual office holding will be illegal in NJ, those who do hold more than one office will be pressured come election time to make a choice. Indeed, their feet will be held to the political fire by their opponents in both the primary and the general election.

Of course, many in the Repubs Party have held dual offices themselves:

George Melick was on the Tewksbury Twp Committee very early when he was freeholder.

Marcia Karrow was a Raritan Township Committee woman, and freeholder at the same time. And then she was freeholder and Assemblywoman at the same time.

Melick and Karrow gave up their offices, and now hold just one elective office.

Ron Sworen is the mayor of Frenchtown and a freeholder --- and he is running again for Mayor. Dual office holding should most definately be an issue in his race in November.

Now it will be phased in as the law. It is a good start to handle an old problem.

Next: Those seeking office should have to pinpoint where they take money from developers on their ELEC filings, regardless of the amount.

Sunday Night World Wide Republican Wrestling

"In this corner, the former three time Raritan Township Committee woman, former Hunterdon County Freeholder, and current junior Assemblywoman representing Hunterdon and Warren Counties, please welcome, Marcia 'I Hate The Highlands Act' Karrow!"

"And in this corner, the former Mayor of Raritan Township, current Raritan Township Committee woman, please welcome Chris 'I am the only Republican Committee member ever to have voted for a Democrat for Mayor in Raritan' Harcar."

Sunday night fights:

That's what happened at the Kuhl Corporation last week in a 'scuffle' between Assemblywoman Marica Karrow and her former running mate and fellow Raritan Township Committeewoman, Chris Harcar.

Harcar went to the Kuhl headquarters [the family business of Hunterdon County Republican Chairman Henry Kuhl] to join in the phone banking for the primary. According to newspaper sources, Karrow ripped a phone script out of Harcar's hands, and expressed her desire to have Harcar leave the premises. The police were called in to break up the fight. More tax dollars well spent by Republicans, I guess.

Anyway, Karrow claims that Harcar was "intoxicated". Harcar claims that Karrow used "her body" to push her down, breaking her arm in the process.

Either way, each now has a lawyer and the incident was reported to the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office. Prosecutor Pat Barnes told the press he was looking in to the matter. So, what will happen now? It's anyone's guess.

"Will Karrow win in Court? Will Harcar file charges? Will Henry Kuhl ever pay off his $50 bet to me for the 2005 Gov race?"

Tune in next week, same Repub-time, same Repub-station!

There’s gonna be a new sheriff in town: Can’t the Republicans get along part II

The surprising winner of the hotly contested Republican primary in Hunterdon County for sheriff was Deborah Trout, a 16 year veteran of the Hunterdon County sheriff’s office, and one of four former officers who sued soon-to-be-former Sheriff Bill Doyle for harassment. How did she win? Who’s support did she have?

Well, let’s see:

Buzz Howell had the endorsement of current sheriff Doyle.

Tony Critelli, another former sheriff’s officer who sued for harassment, had the party line next to winners Lance-Karrow-Doherty.

George Muller, the freeholder who gave up his safe freeholder seat to build up his pension years in the state system, had the first line on the ballot,-- not a bad place to be. He lost by a handful of votes.

What spot did Trout have? Next to last, below everyone else but Howell. That’s where County Clerk Melfi placed her on the ballot. Even Trout was surprised at that. She told the Hunterdon County Democrat newspaper that she did not know that the County Clerk was going set up the ballot reflecting who filed their petitions first. Had she known that, she said, she would have filed earlier.

Dolye said some pretty nasty things about both Critelli and Trout, in his endorsement of Howell.

So, who’s support did she have? The support of the people. Shows you what good campaigning will do.

However, she will face a tough campaign in the fall against Bruce Cocuzza, the current Police Director in Lambertville and former NYC Police Captain. His background will be very formidable to run against for Trout.

"First things first, but not necessarily in that order." Doctor Who

I love walking around on Main Street in Flemington. You run into the most knowledgeable Republican people there:

“Leonard doesn't speak up enough for the Republican Party”, said a local Republican in Hunterdon County of Minority Leader Leonard Lance, ---a local Republican who shall remain nameless. “That’s why he will be challenged for his leadership position in the Senate by Tom Kean, Jr.”

Let’s just say that my Republican source was a former leader of the Hunterdon Republican County Committee, who knows how to come clean when it comes to washing dirty laundry of politics.

So, Jr., fresh off his defeat last year in the US Senate race, and facing a very active opponent in Gina Genovese, former Mayor of Long Hill Township in Morris County is already planning to challenge Senator Leonard Lance to be the Minority Leader in the Senate. My advice to Mr. Kean: Put first things first.

Now, I do admit that the 21st Legislative District, which covers parts of Union, Morris, Somerset and Essex Counties, is a fairly Republican district by and by. And Jr. does have the edge there. But, Gina is no slouch, either.

She is a Democrat, elected in a predominately Republican town. She was one of the first [if not the first] openly gay Mayors in New Jersey. She is very progressive, in a part of New Jersey that is rapidly becoming more and more progressive itself.

She has run a tennis instruction camp for more than a quarter of a century in Morris County, and has lots of name recognition. And she will have much support from the Morris County Democrats [fresh off their great win in the Morris Township special election], the gay and lesbian community in NJ, and volunteers from New Jersey for Democracy. And of course, the New Jersey State Democratic Committee is likely to make her race a priority ---- seeing that her opponent is Kean, Jr.
So, Tom, before you plan to take on Senator Lance, you’ve got to get by Gina first. And, that, ain't gonna be easy.

Flemington: MyTown in Central Jersey

While most of New Jersey struggles with the dichotomy of being either South Jersey or North Jersey, MyTown of Flemington sits in the center of Central New Jersey, at the heart of heavenly Hunterdon County. We sit pretty much in the center---we’re one hour north of Philadelphia and one hour west of NYC. People here work and travel to both cities everyday. Well, not the same people---that would be silly. But many people do choose to live here because of its proximity to NYC and Philly. One spouse/domestic partner/civil-unionist can work in one city, while the other works in the other. Proudly, we are the center of Central New Jersey. The center of what Ben Franklin called "A keg tapped at both ends".

Fellow comedian Dom Irrera tells a joke about nicknames: “In the old neighborhood, everyone had a nickname. There was Big Petey. There was Little Petey. There was even Medium Petey."

Sometimes, but not always, I feel like we live in the equivalent of ‘Medium Petey’. Not quite northern NJ and not quite southern, either. To my buds in Bergen County, we’re part of South Jersey, and all Philly fans. To my peeps in Gloucester County, we’re strict northerners and all Yankee fans. And at the center of it all is Flemington, MyTown in Central Jersey.

And I can say ‘MyTown’ because while I am not a native NJer [born and raised in NYC, thank you very much---Brooklyn, to be exact, thanks again] I spent twelve years on the Flemington Borough Council dealing with the problems and challenges that any Central Jersey town faces these days. Property taxes. Sprawl. Property taxes. Traffic. Downtown business leaving, coming back, leaving again. And property taxes, of course. So, I can now claim my piece of NJ as MyTown.

Flemington [aside from being MyTown] is really Anytown, USA. We have our Main Street [really called “Main Street”, ---and we even have a North Main and a South Main, too]. We have our history ---the Lindbergh Baby Trial took place here in 1935. And, no, it was not the Lindbergh Baby who was on trial [like we’ve never heard that joke before]—(and yup, I made that joke myself once, when I was living here for about five minutes) ----it was the first “Trial of the Century” and the trial-ee was Bruno Hauptman. We even have a re-enactment of the Trial each year in the actual courthouse where the original trial took place. Some older folks around here (including the current Mayor) still believe that Hauptman was guilty and got what he deserved. Really.

While MyTown has not grown much in years and years and years [pop. according to City-Data.com is “Males: 2,038 (48.5%)Females: 2,162 (51.5%)”, [Check that out, fellas!---that’s 1.06 girls for every boy!]
We’re still just about 4200, on the nose------MyTown is surrounded on all four sides by the ever-growing, ever-changing, ever-pulsating, housing development-building, school-constructing, mall-installing, ‘open space’ buying, super-growing Raritan Township [21,834 residents, increased a staggering 138.9 percent since 1980!] -----RTville, the town without a center.

RTville used to call MyTown ‘the whole in the doughnut’. I prefer [since MyTown is the town-center of RTville] to call MyTown the ‘nucleus of the cell’. After all, this is where everything in Hunterdon happens---all roads in Hunterdon County [well, two roads, actually---31 and 2-oh-2] lead to MyTown. My term has not caught on yet with the local residents, but it is more catchy than ‘the whole in the doughnut’, and it has panache. And EveryTown in NJ needs some panache to distinguish itself from NYC, Philly and [sometimes] the rest of Jersey.

So, I kind’ve grown to like MyTown very much. It’s home and it is getting more panache-ey everyday.