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The New Face of Monmouth’s Needy

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At the beginning of December The Coaster printed an article titled, “Food Pantries Helping More Working Poor.” I thought this was an interesting article for a bunch of reasons – one of them being that the face of Monmouth County’s “needy” population is becoming younger. The article states:

The face of the area’s hungry is becoming younger and younger.

Local food pantries report there has been a change in clients – from the elderly – to families where at least one and usually two members work.

“In the beginning it was the elderly, but that has changed,” said Richard Brugger, director of the Bradley Food Pantry, now in its 26th year.

Brugger said for many of today’s working poor it is a “lose-lose” situation.

The article goes on to talk about how the food pantry gets their goods and how they operate. I have a small issue with one of the comments where they say that younger families are working at McDonald’s and only making $7 per hour with 3 or more mouths to feed at home. Hmmm… if you can’t afford to have a family, then don’t have one. Makes sense, right? I can understand the first or second child being unplanned, but three or more? Come on – take some control of your lives.

It is a shame, though, that so many of New Jersey’s younger population can no longer afford to live in this state. Monmouth University’s Polling Institute released a poll a few weeks back that showed that more than half of New Jerseyans want to move out of the state. I was talking with a friend of mine over the holiday season and we agreed that in order to live a productive lifestyle in a safe area of New Jersey you either have to be single making a great deal of money (more than the median income, which is about $64,000 today) or you need to be married and have a two income household. This does not bode well for New Jersey’s young single population nor does it bode well for young couples who are looking to start a family.

Of course, you could live quite well making less money if you moved in to one of the not-so-safe areas of the state. However, you risk not only your life (though it is unlikely you’d be killed) but you risk your possessions. Many of the “tough” areas of the state are such that when young couples move in, they are looked at suspiciously by what is usually an ingrained population. Granted, that goes away after a while but many of New Jersey’s younger folks don’t want to deal with that type of negativity.

Anyway, take a read of the article as it’s pretty good. And for those of you in the Monmouth County area who are looking for a good place to donate some nonperishable food items – you may want to contact the food pantry that is talked about in the article.

Book Review: The Citizens’ Manual

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This really should be titled as a “Pamphlet Review,” but it’s no big deal. Also, please remember that this manual is written for New Jersey citizens! This manual is a product of the Center for Civic Responsibility and is authored by Harry S. Pozycki. I believe that this manual is an important read for anyone who intends on or is thinking about becoming engaged in local politics. Some of the points addressed in the manual are extremely relevant given many of the town meetings that I have attended.

One of Pozycki’s best points is about how local citizens can act for change in a community or a region. He details the need to be well-versed on the subject area that you seek a change in and he talks about how one must show respect to those in elected positions. In other words, don’t storm into a council meeting and demand that a business be condemned because you think they are too loud in the morning! Instead, speak with the business and try to handle the problem yourself. If that does not work, then speak with neighbors to get their views and – if support exists – prepare a petition that asks the town council to sanction the business unless certain guidelines are met. And at all times, be very respectful to everyone around you because remember – most of the people who are in positions of power are not paid to be there.

Pozycki also does a nice job of explaining how the planning board and school board has a great deal of power to make significant changes in local municipalities. Many times people overlook these two entities and make all of their judgment calls based directly on the town council. That’s not only not fair to the hard working men and women on the planning and school boards, but it does not do much to accomplish and real change in an area.

One of the best pieces of this manual is that it tells people about party committee seats. These are seats that are elected locally and election district-specific. The folks who serve as committee seat-holders are the ones who get to help decide a specific political party’s slate of candidates and who will fill the holes left by retirements or elected officials stepping down. This is a great way for a local person to become engaged in the political process, though you usually only find Republican and Democratic party committee seats…options that not too many of New Jersey folks may find appealing!

There are a variety of other topics covered in this manual. The manual is written in a way that cuts through the BS and gets right down to business. You can download this manual download as a PDF by clicking here. I highly suggest giving the manual a read if you are into this type of stuff!

This is BS! Where’s my snow?!

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This is BS, damn it! The entire northern part of New Jersey is covered in ice and snow and here I am living in Deal and working in Trenton with NO snow OR ice! It’s winter time, damn it! I want snow!

One of my clients called me today and said he was surprised I was able to get to work. This client lives in Morris Plains. When I told him that not only did it not snow, sleet, or ice over the weekend, but that it was somewhat temperate for this time of the year, he couldn’t believe it. He has a foot of snow and 3 inches of ice on top of it!

Is it global warming that is causing there to be a foot of snow about an hour north of where there is nothing at all? Who knows (likely yes!), but all I know is that it’s winter time, it’s the Christmas season…and I want some damn snow!

Another Local Government Issue

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Today’s Daily Record is carrying an article about the Chief Financial Officer in Mount Arlington stepping down from his position. The article is written such that the “story” is how the expected replacement does not have a Master’s Degree nor has she finished the required training classes to assume the position yet. Alright, maybe there is some type of story there, but I’m not really interested in that.

My interest, as many of you know, is with unnecessary government expenditures. The article in the Daily Record lists out the remuneration of the current CFO:

Dickinson was paid $15,000 a year to work about one day a week as the borough’s chief financial officer. He also earned an additional $10,000 this year for extra work overseeing the borough’s bond offerings and an additional $12,000 for acting as an internal auditor.

The salary the next chief financial officer will earn has yet to be determined, Ondish said.

Dickinson will retire from his internal auditor and bond service roles in addition to retiring as chief financial officer. It is expected that Rinaldi will be appointed only as chief financial officer, although she would also retain her current duties as assistant administrator.

Does anyone else see a problem with paying a guy $15,000 per year for “about one day a week” of work? I do. For a municipality as small as Mount Arlington there is no need to spend more than $5,000 per year on such a part-time employee. The $10,000 for overseeing the bond issue is about in the right range, but I have another issue with the $12,000 for acting as the internal auditor.

No, it’s not the expense (which seems about right for doing a municipal audit) – it’s that in a state where “double-dipping” is seen as a major issue and the word “corruption” is thrown around as a catchphrase, I wouldn’t want either of those negative stigmas to hit my good hometown. Of course, my concern might be borne of the fact that I live in Monmouth County a.k.a. Corruption Capital of the Jersey Shore!

In any event, I think it is high time for taxpayers to create independent, VOLUNTEER councils to review municipal expenditures. If such a council can operate on a volunteer basis and remain politics-free, then they would be major benefits to the entire municipality. That is, of course, a pipe dream!

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The Passions and Concerns of the Electorate

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The folks at MSNBC took a break from producing complete garbage for a change and posted an editorial by Chuck Todd that talked about today’s electorate. He specifically cited the failure of New Jersey’s stem cell research referendum to pass in this past Tuesday’s elections.

His point is an interesting one – what is it that could take a generally left-of-center electorate in New Jersey and have it defeat a generally left-of-center funding concept (this is not about the topic – stem cell research – which has bipartisan support in this state)? In other words, what is eating away at the electorate that they are against these types of programs? Another one of Todd’s examples is the failure of a private school voucher system in Utah – where it should have been a shoe-in.

This all comes down to an electorate that is dissatisfied and distrustful of government leaders. Who would trust the government to run any of these programs effectively? I sure as hell wouldn’t! I would trust a private company to be more efficient about certain programs, though, since they have a bottom line to worry about. Politicians are generally part of a bloated bureaucracy that doesn’t need to be concerned about fiscal responsibility. Everyone is guilty here – Republicans and Democrats. In New Jersey, though, the Democrats are really bad at fiscal responsibility as is evidenced by our ridiculous state budget and its many shortfalls. The stance that these shortfalls were all Republican produced is garbage. There have been more than enough Democrats controlling this state for a prolonged period of time that they could have cut the fat if they wanted to.

And this is an essential part of the problem in Trenton and why the New Jersey electorate is mad. The Democrats are just doing a bad job in this state with half-promises and go-nowhere policies…and the Republicans are not a viable option right now! What is the electorate to do in such a situation where you don’t trust your Democratic government and you aren’t excited about the Republican candidates? Simple. You vote “no” as many times as possible.

This is what the New Jersey electorate did on Tuesday and I, for one, am excited about what the electorate will do come Election Day 2008!