Mountain Man and City Girl

Every once in a while when you are reading the newspaper, you digest an article that gives you renewed hope that there is a chance for humanity to survive.  Maybe more folks are beginning to see the light.

This morning, I saw two newspaper pieces that kindled such thoughts.  The first was about two candidates challenging the others to “be nice”.  The other is a suggestion by the county that they’ll recycle wastewater.  Both are the type of thinking that you wish more would adopt.

The two candidates are running for township council in one of Cape May County’s 16 municipalities.  Both are Republicans, but running as independents.  They’ll face a three-way race against the Dems and GOP.  With elections still seven months away, the pair asked their opponents to follow some “fair play” rules.  Civility in civil service, so to speak.  A novel idea!

They asked for no lawn signs.  They asked that the names or photos of opponents not to be disclosed in any campaign mailings.  They also pledged to not accept contributions from anyone doing business with the county, including engineers, architects, attorneys, etc. 

The question is whether the opponents will agree to these terms.  Certainly, the two who laid out the gameplan will abide by it.  But it takes two to dance - actually three in this case.  While the outcome is still in doubt, you have to like the way this pair have challenged the rest to not dish the dirt.

The other piece of encouraging news is that the county will be irrigating the County Park and Zoo, the ACCC campus, and the nearby municipal playing fields complex with treated wastewater.  That is a concept used effectively in areas in California and Florida, amongst others, and it will become a natural part of our lives in the future.

Once these three local places have the infrastructure in place to handle treated wastewater pumped from the municipal utilities authority (MUA) treatment plant, the public will see the benefits.  This process not only saves on using precious water from our dwindling aquifers, but it allows irrigation water to percolate through the ground and eventually find its way back down to help replenish the aquifer.

This wastewater recycling has been advocated by local environmentalists, like myself, since the ’90s.  Hopefully, next on the agenda would be golf courses.  On a hot summer day, the typical 18-hole Cape May County golf course uses 400,000 to 600,000 gallons of potable water to irrigate the grass.  With a dozen courses, that’s a lot of water everyday.  At the same time, the MUA is pumping billions of gallons of treated wastewater into the ocean to get rid of it.

So let’s see.  A couple of experienced politicians want to act like gentlemen and the county is pursuing water reuse.  Do I see a faint light at the end of the tunnel?

- Mountain Man

New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine unveiled his 2008 state budget this week, and in the land of “What’s in it for me?”, the citizens and legislators are in an uproar.  Everyone complains about how expensive it is to live here in the Garden State, but nobody seems to want to change the status quo and tighten belts.

The problem is that the state of New Jersey is carrying a $32 billion debt.  That is equivalent to $3,700 for every man, woman and child in the state.  The interest on the debt is $2.7 billion per year.  Having to pay that interest every year keeps the state from upgrading bridges and highways, and expanding and maintaining programs.  The state debt was about $15 billion in 2000, but it has increased on average about $2.5 billion per year since then.

 The Gov’s proposed 2008 budget is $33 billion, which came about after his staff trimmed $2.7 billion from what the different departments of state bureaucracy had asked for.  Notable amongst his cuts were disbanding three state departments - agriculture, personnel, and commerce.  Two are good moves, but not the Agriculture Department.  Axing it would not save much money, plus its responsibilities would shift to the NJ Dept of Environmental Protection.  They already mess up everything they touch, so why give them the farmers?

The budget would also cut state police patrols from 77 municipalities that exclusively depend on the state police.  Hurray!  In Cape May County, that’s Upper Twp, Dennis Twp, and Woodbine.  Let them hire their own police department.  Why should all state taxpayers fund their policing?  Pay for it yourselves.

The budget proposal would also trim roughly in half the state aid to towns under 10,000 population.  In Cape May County, that’s the 12 municipalities other than Ocean City, Upper Twp, Dennis Twp, and Middle Twp.  Good.  Maybe this will force consolidation, or at least more scrutiny towards their own budgets.  All these towns want to be their own fiefdom with their own patronage jobs, so pay for it yourselves.

The Gov also wants to eliminate 3,000 state jobs.  Considering the state has 83,000 employees, maybe they should cut 5,000 or so.  Have you ever had to deal with the state hierarchy, or better yet gone to Trenton to transact business.  Whether by phone or in person, you’ll find that too many employees are on vacation, out sick, or took a personal day off.  It’s a joke.

The plan would also reduce aid to colleges and hospitals.  It would eliminate earned income rebates to those families making over $150,000 a year, and cut in half the rebate to those in the $100,000 to $150,000 bracket. Okay, no problem.

The last part of the Gov’s scheme, announced a month ago, was to boost highway tolls.  On the Garden State Parkway, they’ve been 35 cents just about forever.  So, make ‘em a buck apiece, I say.  But Corzine wants to double the toll every four years.  Yikes!  That would make a trip on the Atlantic City Expressway go from $2 now to $17 by 2022.  That’s a good way to cripple the casino industry.

The biggest overall complaint local government officials have with the Corzine budget is that it shifts more financial responsibility to their towns.  “We can’t afford it,” they cry.  I think that passing the buck to the municipalities is the right way to solve this problem.  Let the counties and towns economize.  Cape May County has an annual operating budget of $135 million.  You gotta be kidding me.  The county where we have a home in West Virginia spends $2.5 million a year.  The county needs to roll up its sleeves and get it under $100 million, for Pete’s sake!

The town I live in here in NJ has an annual budget of $21 million, not counting schools.  Of that, an incredible and unconscionable $8.5 million was for salaries.  C’mon, this is a little town of 17,000.  Do we really need 50 police officers and 40 police cars?  When the state reduces its aid, maybe the town will finally sit down and make some much needed budget cuts of it own.  Big cuts.

Residents of the state of New Jersey are being asked by the Governor to share the burden.  Pay for what you get, and get rid of what you don’t really need.  Sounds reasonable to me.

- Mountain Man

I am really tired of hearing the national media spout tales of personal indiscretions by high profile people.  I don’t care about a person’s demons and misdeeds, just how they perform in the job they are entrusted with.  Let me explain.

So much has been made about Bill Clinton’s sexual snafus.  I could care less.  Those things should only be an issue between him and Hillary.  It’s their relationship, their vows, their betrayal, their problem.  The same goes for Dwight Eisenhower, Jack Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Wilbur Mills, Gary Hart, and on and on.  It should be between Ike and Mamie, Jack and Jackie, Lyndon and Lady Bird, etc.  Did I really need to know about the Argentine Firecracker?  I think not.

Now I see the media frantically trying to tie John McCain to some much-younger female lobbyist. Give me a break.  I am only interested in whether these guys are good at their job.  Are they effective legislators?  Do they care about the people?  Do they suck up to special interests?  Do they have solutions?

The media focuses too much on personal stuff, which puts real issues on the back burner.  I am intensely interested in the 2008 presidential election.  I want to know the details, yes details, of how each candidate would restructure our economy, rebuild our worldwide relationships, end the budget deficit, promote alternative energy, etc.  Instead, McCain has to defend himself against the lobbyist garbage, Obama has to defend wearing a turban, and Hillary has to defend … well, you know.

I have visited the websites of each of these three candidates.  Pandering to the media and not wanting to alienate a single voter, each tells vaguely what they are going to do as president, but not HOW!  I wanna know.  Stop giving the media sound bites, and let’s talk nuts and bolts. 

I also want to know why Congress is getting involved in steroids in baseball?  Don’t we have enough serious problems in the world that need to be addressed?  Shouldn’t the steroid thing be handled by major league baseball.  They have a commissioner and their own bureaucracy.  Let them deal with it.  Why is Roger Clemens out lobbying Congressmen in Washington? 

Now I hear speculation that Congress might even stick its nose into the spygate affair concerning the coach of the NFL’s New England Patriots.  You’ve got to be kidding.  The media is making a big thing out of stuff that is inconsequential to my life.

In baseball and football, teams have tried to intercept their opponents intentions since the sports originated.  What pitch is the catcher calling for?  Is the quarterback going to throw a screen pass or run an end around?  Figuring the other team’s strategy has been an integral part of those sports, and until recently any means necessary was an acceptable part of the game.

So when did the introspective media originate?  When did reporters stop winking and hushing up?   In my mind, it was around the time of Watergate.  Woodward and Bernstein took investigative journalism to another level, bringing down Richard Nixon.  The same can be said for the national media driving Thomas Eagleton away for psychiatric therapy in his past, or William Loeb and his Manchester (NH) Union Leader probably costing Edmund Muskie a presidential election victory, only to later find out the charges were false.

Let’s focus on issues.  Let’s have candidates and politicians talk about solutions.  Let’s bring the process back to its grassroots.  Let’s have honest debate, citizen input!

As for all the dirt, the muckraking, the philandering.  Frankly Scarlet, I don’t give a damn!

- Mountain Man

Sometimes I get really upset at the loss of personal freedoms for adults in America.  It seems like some bonehead, do-gooder politician is always introducing restrictive legislation “for my own good”.  Back off, Jack!

Here in New Jersey, using cell phones in your vehicle will be illegal beginning March 1st.  Actually it already is illegal, but a cop can’t pull you over for that violation.  They have to stop you for another reason, then they can ticket you for cell phone use.  March 1st marks the day when they can now pull you over for talking on the phone.  It’s a primary offense.

That said, I guess they better outlaw radios, CD players, smoking, eating, and kids in cars.  Heck, they are all distractions to a driver.  And how about the person driving down the road with a poodle standing in their lap, head hanging out the driver’s window?  Or the woman rushing to work putting on her make-up?  Maybe the government should restrict vehicles to one person only - the driver - in a one-seat domed bubble.  Everything else is too dangerous for the driver to handle.

By the way, how come it’s not too dangerous to have to fish around in your pockets or a woman to rummage through her handbag to get coins for the tollbooth up ahead.  Don’t you have to concentrate to tell the difference between a quarter and a nickel?  Oh yea, that’s government revenue.  It’s okay.

How about convertibles?  Shouldn’t they be outlawed.  After all, if you roll over in a crash, it’s all over unless your car is equipped with a rollbar.  Quick, let’s legislate!

Trailers are a potential hazard, too.  Of course, so are asteroids crashing into our planet.  But if a trailer hauling a boat or lawn mower or whatever blows a tire, it’ll get ugly.  Let’s require double axle trailers only.  You never can be too safe, right senator?

Now for seatbelts.  I don’t need the government deciding what’s good for my personal safety.  I’ll decide.  I’m an adult, so if I’m willing to gamble going through the windshield in an accident, so be it.  You’re not my mother!

Helmets on motorcycles is another freedom lost, except for in a handful of states.  I’m not a motorcycle rider, but I feel strongly that since they’re over 21 years old, they should decide their own fate.  They know the consequences in an accident.

I believe it was Alice Cooper that had a song that went, “Leave us kids alone”.  I say, “Leave us adults alone.”

- Mountain Man

With the presidential primary season in full swing, Democrat and Republican politicians exchange charges and point fingers at their in-party competition.  With so much bickering, it’s no wonder elected government office holders can’t accomplish anything meaningful.  It’s just late January and I’m already sick of the November, 2008 election.

Wouldn’t it be nice if political candidates would talk about issues.  I’m not talking about sound bites and cute little three sentence pat answers.  I’m talking about laying out a comprehensive plan to solve each problem and issue.  But no, that might alienate a few voters.  We can’t have solutions clouding the election.

I have been on the websites of most of the presidential primary candidates.  They’re junk!  They start with pictures of the family and a declaration of what church they belong to.  Stop it!  Enough of playing the religious card.  It’s pandering for votes.  Groveling to the vocal religious minority.

Read a candidate’s entire website and you’ll still have no idea what their solution is to issues.  “I won’t raise taxes.  I’ll start new programs.  I’ll upgrade healthcare, kick start new jobs, raise wages, lower gasoline prices.”  Blah, blah, blah.  Still, there’s no position paper telling the public how they’ll accomplish it.  Give me a break!

Out in public on the election trail, you see the politicians visiting a senior center, hugging babies at a WalMart, or talking tough with workers in a poultry processing plant.  Get real!  You guys (and girl) are all millionaires.  You have nothing in common with these folks, real Americans.  You don’t struggle paying your bills, worry about being laid off from your job, or shop in WalMart.  All your senior friends own villas and yachts and belong to country clubs.

Unfortunately, until we have election reform and end private campaign contributions, we will only have millionaires in office.  Let’s face it, they make political decisions at black tie affairs, on the golf course, or in the back room.  The real American is not privy to those decisions.

What America needs is a president who’s been there.  Someone who worked through high school to afford clothes and college to pay their tuition.  Someone who has toiled through physical labor - like milking cows, waiting on tables, running a cash register, or hammering nails.  Someone who raised their own kids and changed their diapers, not someone who had a nanny to do that.

I want to see a regular person become president.  A down home, intelligent, honest person who puts the good of the country before the good of his political party.  Not a Democrat, not a Republic, but an Independent with a realistic chance to be a uniter.  A person not tempted by money, corrupted by power.  A person who understands the big picture, who wants to leave the world a better place for his grandchildren. A true philanthropist.

I’m available.

- Mountain Man

The American business system is based on free enterprise.  You get an idea, then implement whatever is necessary to make that a successful business.  Hard work and ingenuity have their rewards, right?

Here in New Jersey, that’s not the case when it comes to starting a restaurant that serves liquor.  You see, the Garden State has quotas on liquor licenses.  Each municipality, if they allow liquor and many don’t,  is permitted one restaurant liquor license per 3,500 residents.  In my town of 18,000 yearround residents, that’s five restaurants that can serve liquor.

The only exception is the towns that had more liquor licenses than that before the quota took effect, which I believe was in the late 1970’s.  In the island town of Wildwood, winter population 4,400, there are probably 30 liquor licenses.

Back to my municipality, Middle Township, which is one of the five towns on the mainland in our county (the other 11 are island towns).  Our town is the county seat, and center of shopping, medicine, and the legal profession.  Plenty of restaurant chains would love to locate here - the one’s like TGI Fridays, Applebees, Olive Garden, Ruby Tuesday, Chili’s, Red Lobster, etc.  Nice family restaurants that serve liquor.  They can’t, of course, because there’s no liquor licenses available.

To get a liquor license in New Jersey, there are only two ways - your town’s population increases enough to hit that next 3,500 person plateau or you buy an existing license from another establishment that has closed.

When a town’s population does go up, the town auctions the new license.  The last one in my town sold for $660,000.  Yikes!  You gotta sell alot of beer to make that back.  A neighboring town auctioned one last year for $1.1 million.

Buying an existing liquor license is either possible or not depending on the town.  I bought one of two licenses in West Wildwood in 2001 for $110,000.  That was considered a bargain, but the location wasn’t great.  I sold the bar and license in 2004.  The license went for $200,000.

In West Virginia, where our second home is located, the liquor license system is fair.  It costs $1,150 to get a full license, payable to the state, allowing you to sell beer, wine, and hard liquor.  Anyone with enough gumption can get a license.  It’s free enterprise at its best.  To the victors go the spoils.

The whole process in New Jersey is un-American.  Anyone who wants to start a restaurant or bar should be able to.  Then it’s survival of the fittest.  That’s the American way!

- Mountain Man

Most people get into politics for all the right reasons.  They want to make a difference, give back to their country (or town, county, state), stand up for the common man, put common sense back into government, affect positive change, lower taxes.  Blah, blah, blah.

But once they get into office, their psyche changes.  Sometimes gradually, sometimes overnight.  They fall into the trap of us (government officials and backers) vs them (interfering citizens).  They segregate and insulate themselves from the very electorate that thrust them into office.  

Politicos feel that they know what’s best for everyone, so their will must be done.  They have some “vision” that is unequivocally correct, and it must be implemented despite any objections.  The infidels just don’t know what’s good for them.

Of course, the “good old boy” network also comes into play.  That means not only business as usual, but business trumps the environment, fair play, and the will of the people.  Decisions must always consider first how it affects business.  After all, it’s affluent businessmen who make campaign contributions.

Our system needs to be cleaned up.  No, … disinfected!  First step, get rid of the two party system.  We need a 10 party system (or whatever).  We need all campaigns to be on equal footing, which means the government will subsidize elections and no private contributions will be allowed over $500 (or whatever).

We need accountability.  We need local and county government meetings to all be televised.  Why do most politicians so adamantly oppose televising their meetings?  The answer:  Because they don’t want too many opposing voices.  If Joe Public has to actually get off the couch and come to the meeting, he’ll opt to stay home and mind his own business.

Until real change takes place in our system, we’re no better than the tyrannical British we expelled over 200 years ago.

- Mountain Man