Thinking about Election time

My doorbell rang a little after noon on Sunday so, dressed in the traditional weekend costume of the Morris Township peasantry (pajama pants and t-shirt) I greeted a candidate for elected office. Now, I am a long standing Republican, and the son of another even longer standing Republican, so I know the rules by which the party thrives.

Short hair

White shirt

Red tie

Dark suit (bordering on undertaker)

Big Smile

Big money

Vote together

It is from these sacred precepts the party’s power flows. However, Andres Benvenuto, hopeful candidate, was undercover this Sunday, dressing “ casual”  possibly so as not to attract any passing Bolsheviks with bombs ready to toss. With all the attention I pay to national politics, and the heaping helping of shame I get from the antics of the party in Washington, it was nice to see someone seemingly normal engaged in local politics.

Unfortunately, I was soon forced to admit that I knew almost nothing of the issues and candidates in the upcoming local elections. Andres did not embarrass me on these points though, and politely avoided pointing out my property looks like crap right now. We ended the short meeting amicably and no, he could not put a sign up on my yard. 

Still, while listening to the rest of “Reliable sources,” it came to me that I really should know more about what was going on in my own Township.  So, I set about to discover what I could.

After studying the minutes of their meetings (Lots missing in 2011, that's not good), it turns out the Township Committee is like a board of directors of the Township. Presided over by the Mayor, they set the budget, pay salaries and bills, hire contractors and town employees, authorize stop signs and traffic signals and about a thousand other things.  In short, they do the business of the Township. Their budget is in the millions, but it is a big township.

Morris county is a bastion of Republican dominance in an otherwise “Blue” state.  Consequently all of the positions on the Township committee, including the Mayor, are held by Republicans. So far, so good. However, there are a few issues that made me wonder a bit about the current administration.

As it turns out, this administration laid off some 16 employees in 2010, which I find a black mark on their reputation. After all, who was in charge of the budget all this time? I really appreciate the Township employees, as time after time they have been unfailingly helpful and have gone out of their way to assist me. 

The latest was during the hurricane, when two men from the sewer authority got my minuscule holding tank pumped out when there was no power.  Being able to flush a toilet may well have improved or possibly even saved my marriage. During the hurricane I didn’t hear from the Township Mayor at all, if it hadn’t been for the Morristown Mayor I still wouldn’t know what happened. It makes me wonder just how much more in taxes those 16 experienced and dedicated employees would cost? 

P.S. The committee members got a retroactive 2% raise this year, so now they make a whopping $5,572, although if they are also on other committees they can make more. (Note: Any raise after layoffs, especially in less than a year is not a big selling point.  Old line Republicans, like my father, would call that “in extremely bad taste.”)

There is also the matter of the Honeywell property. Honeywell would like to change the zoning of their massive campus from “Commercial” to “Mixed” with the stated intention of putting in 313 condos and a 250 room hotel.   That might net Honeywell an increase in property value of near 400%. Wow, I wonder how many condos would fit in my front yard? 

For the township it means money in the form of “Ratables”, which is a sacred word around here. Ratables are either income from property taxes or the buildings and installations that produce those taxes.  In the Township our taxes are pretty low as it is. If you don’t think so, just walk 50 feet down my street and see that they pay twice as much, for half the house in Morristown.

It also means traffic, and as someone who worked at Crum and Forster for years and years, I know that might mean traffic on Old 24 will get worse during rush hours.  (Could it get worse?  Is that possible?)  Many times Crum employees (Crummies) could be seen either seriously contemplating or actually driving over the planted borders of the parking lot at 299 Madison ave on to Old Glen Road rather than wait another hour to get out of the parking lot on to Old 24. 

I became very adept at using all back roads when commuting from Morristown to 305 Madison Ave.  In some of the bad snow storms, I found it much quicker to cross-country-ski to work than to drive.  Madison avenue is slow, and has been for a long, long time. One of the numbers being thrown around is a traffic increase of 300%, which doesn’t seem possible without stacking cars.  Would that save gas?.

Still, Honeywell was going to bolt on us in favor of another state before the gears of the political machine began to turn, and magically they decided to stay.  My Republi-Sense is tingling, especially in the direction of Trenton. But, now that it takes 15 to 40 minutes just to get across Morristown to 287, more development concerns me.

The Democratic challengers, Jeff Grayzell and Mike Kandybowicz are concerned as well. Not only about Honeywell, but also about the mix of the Township committee. It’s not mixed, at all. Grayzell has the distinction of being the only Democrat to ever serve on the committee since 1973. Today however, it’s solidly Republican, I wonder what difference that makes on the local level? 

It certainly might if the GOP in Trenton have an influence here, or if some of the more worrisome attitudes of the latest crop of death before cooperation, born-again "Republicans” are at play in my home town.

It certainly seems that the Committee might be better balanced with at least some Democratic representation. After all, Morris is only 35% registered Republican and 25% registered Democratic, the rest are “Independents.” I have to think about that.  Every time I get another note from Rodney Frelinghuysen explaining everything the President does is wrong and he’s working as hard as he can not to let anything happen until a Republican is in charge, I worry about the GOP in NJ.  Did you know our Governor hasn’t had a single meeting with our two Democratic Senators since he took office?  That’s troubling, where’s the advantage in that?

However, understanding who’s on the Committee, and who should be is difficult.  To get some real decision making information about candidates for the Committee, I’d have to know something about what happens in the meetings and not just the public ones, the closed meetings.  That’s where the action is.  Working in that type of organization is a lot more about personality than party and alliance more than ideology.  So, I wonder if I’m now a smarter voter than when I started?