In reply to a column I wrote some time back at the Star-Ledger about Hudson County's Willie Flood and the way she extended her patronage position to her son, I received the following comment:I Have a private business and work in the registers office in Hudson County. It's sad to say, but generally speaking, Ms Flood's problems are just the tip of the iceberg in county government. To oversimplify it can be described as a too many chefs not enough Indians problem. The chiefs all look out for themselves, the gravy train is just too good. In just looking at the registers, and I've been there for 30 years, one notices a pattern. First they get elected, (by the way this election is actually an appointment by the Hudson County political machine in an off year election, its symptomatic of the broken democracy in this county) then they introduce them selves, and they make appointments, and then disappear for most of the time. The reason why they disappear is that there's not much to do. The people that do the work do it well and do it with out the political hacks and appointees. Also these people are making far less than the hacks and appointees. The registers job is a symptom of the great overriding political problem in New Jersey in which only makes the tax burden greater than it already is.
Instead of raising tolls, and raising taxes, then telling us that "we all must share in this burden" Our governor should look to break the political machines throughout the state. In other words fix the problems, don't through money at them.
Click on through. |
| This is nothing new, of course. We all know that the system is sick - sick unto death. There are many reasons for New Jersey's high property taxes, but none is quite as nefarious as the legalized robbery of political corruption in all its forms. As obvious as patronage and pay-to-play are, it also needs to be said that duplication of services is also a form of political corruption in that it diverts necessary resources away from actually conducting the public's business and towards enriching select individuals.
It hit me for about the fifty-millionth time as I was discussing it with my state/local politics class last night - the levels of hidden government and needless duplication of services costs New Jerseyans an arm and a leg (at least up to the elbow/knee). The obvious duplication occurs in place like Hudson County where a dozen municipalities struggle independently instead of pooling resources. It's an old argument - consolidation cuts cost, but also cuts political power. Therefore, it's a losing issue from the start.
The problem lies in defining what that "political power" actually is. Does anyone actually think that Guttenberg can drag the county/state/country to a grinding halt? No more than any other township of ten thousand people. In fact, if Guttenberg were to consolidate with, say, West New York, a town of almost fifty thousand would be created.
The political power of Guttenberg (or East Newark, West New York, or any of the other burgs) doesn't lie in their ability to influence higher levels of government, but in the ability of those who hold offices to influence the personal lives of those around them. To the extent that "all politics is local" and New Jersey is run on parochial interests, Guttenberg is ill-served by being "the town next to West New York" when WNY is home to Congressman Albio Sires (and this is not to say that Mr. Sires actually neglects and/or favors people, it's just an example). As compared to the giants of the southern part of the county - Jersey City, Hoboken, and Bayonne - Guttenberg is lost in the shuffle with their paltry population of ten thousand.
But - and this is an important but - the Mayor of Guttenberg (happens to be David della Donna - and this isn't a personal swipe at him - it's really just an example) gets to preside over a rather small budget that can give away some plum positions. I mean, I don't care if you are told you have to sweep the whole town with a toothbrush, it's a plum position (the town is only four blocks wide and has a total area of 0.2 square miles). In a town of only 8,000 adults, how many plum jobs do you have to give away to make sure your own plum job as Mayor is secure?
Not many.
And who pays for it? Obviously the people of Guttenberg, who must fund the entire cost of their city government from their own pockets. But they don't fund it all - and so it costs all of us as well. Guttenberg, like a lot of cities in New Jersey, gets significant funding back from the state through grants and subsidies.
Given the recent history of corruption in Guttenberg (here I am talking about several specific examples) : Recent scandals have included a former mayor, Peter LaVilla, who pleaded guilty in 2003 to misappropriating campaign funds and using the money for a private brokerage account; a councilman who resigned after being accused of receiving illegal advances on his salary; and a chief financial officer, who pleaded guilty in 2002 to misappropriation of funds.[3] The current mayor, David Delle Donna, and his wife, a member of the town planning board, were indicted on federal extortion and mail fraud charges in September 2007.[4] I don't think I am going too far in suggesting that the people of Guttenberg have shown that they are incapable or unwilling to exercise the level of oversight necessary to maintain a completely independent city government.
And, as a resident of Jersey City, I'm aware that statement could be extrapolated to cover a whole lot of places. Like the place I live.
Federal monitors were appointed to review the operations of UMDNJ when it was shown that the governing body was incapable of operating as it was designed to do. I think it's time that our state stepped in and appointed monitors to oversee the operations of corruption-ridden and costly municipalities that effectively prey off of the rest of the state. Actually, the counties are already in position to do this (perhaps the County Executive would then have a real job - and report to the State Comptroller who is supposed to root out corruption.
I don't know if it would work. But I do know that corruption thrives in hot, dark places. And I know people are more willing to invest energy in conducting oversight on a $20 million budget than on a $200,000 budget. Something has to be done. I'm strictly against firebombing as a corruption-busting technique, but I'm really at odds to figure out what else will work.
What do you say? |
