Property Tax "reform"

The Committee on Government Consolidation and Shared Services will be making its recommendations on Wednesday, along with the other committees charged with property tax reform in Our Fair State. The Star-Ledger this morning:

The idea of abolishing 600 school districts and replacing them with one for each county has faded in favor of creating "super" county superintendents to oversee local school officials and spending, members of a committee studying the issue said.
Another of the more radical ideas considered by the Committee on Government Consolidation and Shared Services -- the creation of a state board that would identify which towns and school districts should merge -- remained unsettled as legislators debated how to give voters the final say.
Sen. Bob Smith (D-Middlesex), the committee chairman, also said a proposal to shift fire district elections and budget votes from a Saturday in February to the November general election is being crushed under heavy lobbying by firefighters.
...
"Would you believe the most controversial idea is shifting the fire district elections?" Smith said. "On one hand there is more accountability on fire budgets, on the other hand the argument is let the firefighters do their thing. It's turning into a bit of a bear."
A proposal to shift school board elections and budget votes from April to November will be one of the recommendations.

So, let's see: instead of consolidating school districts to save money, we'll add another layer of bureaucracy on top of the 600+ that we already have! And, since the firefighters don't want to give up their fiefdom and risk accountability on their budgets, we'll let them keep their own separate elections, regardless of the expense- even while we combine the others.

I want to hear the committee's explanation on exactly how this will lower my property taxes. Maybe that will be what we hear on Wednesday?

Tell it to her Tuesday-under the covers

Janet asked about favorite remakes today (also known as covers.) Covers are best when they aren't a carbon copy, but still respect the original. There are a few:

• Cake, "I Will Survive." It rocks.
• Foo Fighters, "Baker Street." This was a great song by Gerry Rafferty, a mainstay of late 70s AM radio. Apparently a lot of folks covered it, but I thought the Foo's version was a particularly good version.
• Matthew Sweet, "Do Ya." I heard this song on the radio exactly once, then went out and bought the album. I hate to spend money at all, so you know how much I loved it. The cool thing is, the recording on Live at 6A is a sound check, not for an audience; they played the hell out of it because they love the song.
• Soft Cell, "Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go." Everyone and their twin sister covered this one, but I have a soft spot for the big ol' 80s one hit wonder version.
• Ataris, "The Boys of Summer." Can't explain why, this just works.
• Lyle Lovett, "Summer Wind." It's not better than Sinatra's version, but it's hard to put Lyle Lovett with one of my favorite songs and not be happy about it. Am happy.

So that's it. Enjoy the rainy Tuedsay.

What a loss.

"60 Minutes" reporter Ed Bradley dies

My mother used to watch 60 Minutes religously. Every Sunday after dinner she'd sit with her cigarettes and vodka & 7up and watch while she painted her nails. I used to sit with her and even tried the nail thing, but it was not to be, and I couldn't go for the cigarettes or vodka either. But sometimes even now, if we're done dinner early enough or if it's on late because of football, I still curl up on the couch, with a beer and cleaner air, and watch 60 Minutes.

The Ed Bradley reports were always a highlight. He will be missed.

(via Professor Kim)

Cleaning house

Took down the campaign blogs from the sidebar, along with blogs either I stopped reading a while ago or stopped updating months ago. If there's something that belongs in my sidebar that isn't there (like your blog), let me know and I'll add it.

I also took down my signs and bumper stickers yesterday and today. It's like seeing Christmas lights on January 7th- no more, please, we're all done for this year.

New Jersey Election Results 2006

Big, big searches in the last 24 hours looking for local election results for Our Fair State. So, here they are, by county:

Atlantic
Bergen (Not updated at post time)
Burlington
Cape May
Cumberland
Essex
Gloucester
Hudson
Hunterdon
Mercer
Middlesex
Monmouth
Morris
Ocean
Passaic
Somerset
Sussex
Union
Warren

I can't find info for Salem County or Camden County, sorry.

Tuesday, November 7, 2006

I voted. Did you?

Polls open Tuesday 11/7 from 6AM-8PM

New Jersey voters can vote from 6AM-8PM tomorrow. I heard though the grapevine that people are suprised to hear that the polls open at 6AM even though it's been a few years since it was changed from 7AM. So, go vote before work! (Apparently there isn't any waiting line to speak of at that hour, either.)

Here's this cool primer on the ballot questions in New Jersey from the League of Women Voters (Thanks Jay!)

There are identification reqirements to voting, see the list here. Bring ID with you or you may have to vote provisional.

I have had DOZENS of searches come to this blog with the question "am I registered to vote in New Jersey". You can check if/where you are registered by contacting your county Superintendent of Elections, list by county here.

I know I'm preaching to the converted here- you don't come to a New Jersey political blog unless you care about the political process- but I'll say it anyway: GO VOTE TOMORROW! The world has many peoples fighting and dying for the right to have a say in their government, and here in the Greatest Country On Earth people blow off voting because they forget, are too tired, or it's raining, or there's something good on TV. That's pathetic. It is your greatest right and obligation; exercise it tomorrow.

Small-town politics

(I took these pictures out of the windshield of a moving car (I was a passenger!) so I must apologize for the quality. )

The small Central Jersey town of Hightstown is having a mayoral election this year. The incumbent, Republican Bob Patten, clearly has drawn support from both sides of the political spectrum, to judge by the number of "Democrats for Patten" signs you will see as you drive down Main Street, as I did yesterday.

Some of the signs are put up by genuine Democrats supporting the mayor, I'm sure. But, somehow, I don't really believe the particular folks whose lawns are pictured above are "Democrats" when they put their signs right next to the Kean JUNIOR, Chris Smith, and Coolbaugh (the Republican candidate for county surrogate) signs, do you?

Busy weekend

Light blogging this weekend. Not like I blog much on weekends anyway, but what spare time I have will be spent on GOTV efforts for Carol Gay.

It's last push time. Go forth and push.

No accountability

Congress tells auditor in Iraq to close office

Seems that Stuart W. Bowen Jr. and his agency, the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, was doing so good a job at auditing the occupation officials (getting 'em convicted on bribery charges, exposing Halliburton as having done shoddy work, that sort of thing) that they've been eliminated.

Can't have any accountability out there, can we?

BTW, Stuart's a Republican and has served with Teflon W since Texas. But, with Dear Leader George, if you go out of line (and be honest,) you're thrown out.

Please, oh please, America, if you ever needed a reason to go vote, it's to get this rubber-stamper Congress changed. Throw the bums out.


(hat tip to Red State Blues at Blondesense, via Tami. )

The Fleecing of Hamilton and NJ- Cut the price

Hamilton has sought a discount on the Klockner Woods deal, and credit for the interest paid so far, from Superior Court Judge Linda Feinberg:

In a letter to Feinberg, township attorney Paul Adezio explains that a plan by a township consultant shows that at least 34 homes -- and as many as 40 with zoning variances -- could be built on the site. The $4.1 million price, Adezio says, was based on the ability of Fieldstone to build 41 homes on the land.
"Additionally, since the parties were mutually mistaken as to the number of buildable lots on the property when they entered into their agreement ... the Township will ask the Court to consider correcting the mutual mistake of the parties by amending the purchase price to reflect the applicable number of lots ...," the letter said.
Adezio does not specify how much the township feels the price should be reduced. Fieldstone attorney John H. Buonocore did not return calls for comment on the suit and Adezio said he had not heard from the developer on the possibility of dropping the price or crediting the interest payments.

Hamilton also requested "guidance" on how to proceed since one councilman, attorney David Kenny, still feels the purchase was illegal because funding was never approved and will block the approval now. Yeah, good luck with that.

Rocky Swingle (what a great name, Rocky Swingle), president of Save Hamilton Open Space: "We need to save this money so we can preserve other land with it. If we spend too much on this, there is less to spend on others." The land ought to be preserved, absolutely, but at a price that Hamilton's and Our Fair State's taxpayers can afford.

Better than I could've said it

A friend sent me this story about Bush and martial law. Seems Dear Leader signed a law a couple weeks back that lets him declare a public emergency and activate state National Guard units without having to get the governor's approval or anything; the troops can be used to "supress public disorder."

How did this slide by?

Anyway, while looking the story up, I found a wonderful post by Chris Durang at HuffPo who has a lovely rant about it and Sen. Patrick Leahy's response. Go ahead and read it, he's said it all better than I would've.

"Lord, get rid of the rubber-stamping Congress, would you?"

The "H" stands for hate

Evil wraith Ann Coulter is in trouble for voting in the wrong district. Seems she's been contacted to verify her address in writing four times and has not responded, so the case will be turned over to prosecuters. Don't worry, I'm sure she'll find some way to blame it on vile liberal influences.

At the bottom of the CNN article you can sign up for news alerts, including on Ann H. Coulter. Whaddya think the H stands for?

(hat tip to DBK)

More from the News-You-Didn't-Want-To-Hear Department

Cola may weaken women's bones

Or, as another headline put it, A cola a day keeps the bone mass away.

Dammit- even more reasons to eat (& drink) healthily!

Goin' on the record

My Assemblyman, Michael J. Panter, has a blog where he wrote a post last May about rights for same-sex couples. He was very clear that he would not support a constitutional ban on gay marriage. Does that mean he would vote for a bill legalizing same-sex marriage?

Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, Assemblyman Brian Stack and Assemblyman (Speaker Pro-Tem) Wilfredo Caraballo have stated that they would propose a bill to allow same-sex marriage. I just put a comment on Asm. Panter's blog requesting he tell us how he would vote. It's time to start hammering away at our legislators, telling them how we feel so they know when they go to vote on the bill (and the constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, which will be out there too.)

It's time to stand up for what you believe in- "separate-but-equal" simply won't cut it. If some people aren't allowed to use the word "marriage," it ain't equal.

News-You-Didn't-Want-To-Hear Department

As if we needed another reason to lose weight, besides all the health benefits: Weighing more hurts your gas mileage.

Americans are spending more money on fuel these days in part because adult men and women on average are at least 24 pounds heavier than their counterparts were in 1960, a study has found.
Collectively, today's automobiles are burning more gasoline to haul all that extra weight around -- about 1 billion gallons more annually, in fact, than they would if drivers weighed the same as they did in 1960. At recent gas prices of $2.20 a gallon, that adds up to $2.2 billion more spent at the pump each year because of America's weight problem.
...
"What we have here is a socioeconomic implication of obesity," said (Sheldon) Jacobson, an industrial engineer. "If people decide as a nation to get healthier and lose weight and be fitter, not only will we have a healthier country but we're actually going to reduce our dependence on foreign oil very covertly, simply because we're going to be using less."

So, losing weight is now not just good for your heart, decreasing your chances of certain cancers and reducing your risk of diabetes. It's also a way to reduce our dependence on foreign oil! (It also reduces our dependence on french fry oil...)

Google bombin'

I'm with Tami: I'm a joiner, too.

--AZ-Sen: Jon Kyl--AZ-01: Rick Renzi--AZ-05: J.D. Hayworth--CA-04: John Doolittle--CA-11: Richard Pombo--CA-50: Brian Bilbray--CO-04: Marilyn Musgrave--CO-05: Doug Lamborn--CO-07: Rick O'Donnell--CT-04: Christopher Shays--FL-13: Vernon Buchanan--FL-16: Joe Negron--FL-22: Clay Shaw--ID-01: Bill Sali--IL-06: Peter Roskam--IL-10: Mark Kirk--IL-14: Dennis Hastert--IN-02: Chris Chocola--IN-08: John Hostettler--IA-01: Mike Whalen--KS-02: Jim Ryun--KY-03: Anne Northup--KY-04: Geoff Davis--MD-Sen: Michael Steele--MN-01: Gil Gutknecht--MN-06: Michele Bachmann--MO-Sen: Jim Talent--MT-Sen: Conrad Burns--NV-03: Jon Porter--NH-02: Charlie Bass--NJ-07: Mike Ferguson--NM-01: Heather Wilson--NY-03: Peter King--NY-20: John Sweeney--NY-26: Tom Reynolds--NY-29: Randy Kuhl--NC-08: Robin Hayes--NC-11: Charles Taylor--OH-01: Steve Chabot--OH-02: Jean Schmidt--OH-15: Deborah Pryce--OH-18: Joy Padgett--PA-04: Melissa Hart--PA-07: Curt Weldon--PA-08: Mike Fitzpatrick--PA-10: Don Sherwood--RI-Sen: Lincoln Chafee--TN-Sen: Bob Corker--VA-Sen: George Allen--VA-10: Frank Wolf--WA-Sen: Mike McGavick--WA-08: Dave Reichert

Marriage Equality Decision Today

The State Supreme Court decision is expected today around 3PM. Check with BlueJersey.com for the latest news.

Keepin' fingers crossed...

Keith Olbermann does it again

Special Comment: Advertising Terrorism.

'Long about the 9 minute mark, I swear he looked mad enough to spit.

Everyone knows it's windy

Offshore wind power is a good idea, say residents of Our Fair State:

More New Jersey residents and Shore visitors favor development of offshore wind energy power plants than oppose them, and the margin grows wider if the turbine towers are to be installed farther offshore and out of sight, according to a newly released public opinion report.
Support for offshore windmills was strongest in Monmouth County, where 58 percent of people interviewed at beach locations said they could live with rotors and towers on the sea horizon, according to the poll commissioned by the state Commerce, Economic Growth and Tourism Commission.
"Overall, the study found that people favored wind power," said commission spokeswoman Karen Wolfe.
...
Skeptics and supporters are drawing different conclusions from the public opinion report, which was released Friday by the commerce commission and discussed Monday at a state energy master plan meeting. Based on interviews with beachgoers in the four Atlantic coastal counties during July and August, the report showed that on balance there's support for building offshore turbines, by margins that increase with the distance from shore.
"It's exactly what I said after I did my own survey two years ago," said Michael Mercurio of Island Wind, a private wind research and development firm. "Line of sight is about eight miles out in the ocean . . . About 80 percent of people are in favor as long as they don't see it."
"Because of haze and the curvature of the earth, they're not very visible three to five miles offshore," said Jeff Tittel of the New Jersey Sierra Club, which has supported wind power.

Having a bunch of coastline and medium-bad air quality, wind is something we should be using. Sounds like folks have come to realize that.

Before you shout, "But what about the birds?" read this, and this, and while you're at it, this. To sum up: bird mortality from wind turbines doesn't compare to the numbers that are killed by power lines, buildings, cars & trucks, or anything else. Migratory birds, the ones who would be offshore here Jersey, quickly learn to fly around wind farms. I hope having a cleaner environment will impact birds positively, as well.