Today I made my quadrennial visit to the MVC office on Union Avenue in Somerville to renew my New Jersey Driver's License. I was well prepared. I took my current license, my birth certificate, and my ATM card with my embossed name and signature on the back. Those are just a few of the many items you can choose from to verify your identity under the 6 Point ID Verification Program.
But that is not what this post is about. Indeed, I was in and out of that office in about 15 minutes. And that includes the minute I spent standing at the reception desk while the greeter finished her magazine.
The purpose of this post is to let you know how easy it is to run for elected office in New Jersey. Much easier than renewing your driver's license.
There are requirements, of course, to stand for an elected post such as the Board of Education seat I was reelected to this month. You must be a High School graduate. you must be registered to vote, and you must live in the district where you are running. But you don't have to prove any of that.
All you must do is declare it. A simple signature attesting to your qualifications, and that's it. Be the first one to sign your own petition, get nine other registered voters to put their names down, and you're on your way.
I've never had to show any ID or prove residency, or anything else - and now I am one of nine individuals with oversight of a $108 million budget, 1000 employees, and most importantly, the education of 7500 children.
And I never needed to show so much as a library card, or a ticket from the dry cleaner!
Governor Christie is finally turning his attention to New Jersey's wasteful and odious auto inspection system. In a move that could save taxpayers $12 million, transportation officials are proposing an elimination of bi-annual mechanical inspections. Federally mandated emissions inspections would still be required, but with failure rates for the mechanical portion of the inspection at just 6%, it makes sense to send that part of the test to the scrap heap.
I first wrote about junking inspections after I heard Flemington resident Phil Greiner make the suggestion at the Somerset County Business Partnership Affordability Forum six moths ago. I also suggested a major change to New Jersey driver's license renewals. A $24 four year license is probably the best bargain in New Jersey - perhaps too good. How about a ten year license somewhere in the $75 range? This would work out to be $1.50 more per year, but would be well worth it to the New Jersey driver who will only need to renew five or six times during his entire driving life. Think of how much less crowded the MVC will be when drivers only have to come in once a decade! Think of how much the state will save on staffing those offices.
Hillsborough Township is off to a pretty good start this budget season, exacting wage freezes and give-backs from union and non-union employees. Undoubtedly, further creative solutions will still be needed before the municipal budget can be balanced. The question is, how can you continue to pay the bills when the cash has run out?
I recently acquired a unique piece of Hillsborough history that I thought might provide some answers - a one hundred thirty-year-old transaction ledger from the JC Lane General Store in Neshanic. The 635 page book covers the period from December 1879 to March 1881 and offers a fascinating glimpse at everyday life in 19th century rural America.
I wasn't surprised to find that one of Lane's most frequent customers was Hillsborough Township. As I carefully turned the pages I found numerous entries for Hillsborough - items ranging from coffee and cranberries to tobacco and kerosene. The town made payments on the account periodically, usually in cash.
It wasn't very far into the ledger - page 59 - that I found the first example of Hillsborough's creative financing. On February 7, 1880, the municipality made a $9 payment toward their account, not with cash, but with 18 bushels of potatoes. Likewise on June 25 of that same year, the town received a credit of $6.61 for bringing in a quantity of butter, and 19 1/2 dozen eggs.
In so doing, Hillsborough was no different from dozens of other Lane customers who often paid their accounts with goods from their farms.
In 2010, Hillsborough is once again following the example of the private sector. Some ideas never go stale.
Move over Otto and Arnold, there's a new guy in town ready to wield the freeze gun.
It's Hillsborough Township Mayor Frank DelCore!
He already got the public works employees, department heads, and non-union employees to freeze their salaries for 2010.
Now he has performed his cryogenic magic on the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Local 3697, Council 73 (AFSCME), freezing off 2.5 hours of each work week, saving Hillsborough Taxpayers an additional $77,000.
No word yet on whether he plans to turn anyone into a Frosty Freezie.
The following press release appeared on the Hillsborough Township web site.
3rd Annual Accomplished Musician Concert - April 11, 2010
Release Date: April 01, 2010
The Hillsborough Cultural & Arts Commission in partnership with the Hillsborough Board of Education are proud to announce that the 3rd Annual Accomplished Musician Concert will be held at the Hillsborough High School Auditorium at 3p.m. on Sunday, April 11, 2010.
The concert will include performances by the student winners of the Accomplished Musician Award, the Hillsborough High School Saxophone Quartet, and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra String Quartet.
This event is open to everyone; tickets are available at the door for $5 Adult, $3 Students/Seniors.
“The mission of the Cultural Arts Commission is to stimulate art, and the appreciation of art, within our community. I am very pleased this year to be able to present not only our Accomplished Musicians, but also the Hillsborough High School Saxophone Quartet, and a very special appearance by the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra String Quartet. Anyone interested in great music should plan on attending this event on April 11," stated Greg Gillette, Chairman of the Hillsborough Cultural Arts Commission.
"It's wonderful to see the incredible talent and dedication of our music students, and to be able to honor their hard work by showcasing them in this concert," stated Peggy Cioce, Hillsborough’s District Supervisor of Fine & Performing Arts.
The winners of the 3rd Annual Accomplished Musician Award, who will perform at the concert, are as follows:
Joyce Lu, Catherine Ji, Lauren Tran, Justin Havel Auten Road Intermediate School
Justin Tran Hillsborough Middle School Simon Wang, William Mellott, Max Lee, Jonathan Gibbons Hillsborough High School
The winners, chosen from the many talented students who auditioned this winter, will also receive a trophy and a cash prize.
The following letter appeared in the Hillsborough Beacon on March 25.
Dear Friends,
I am writing to you today to announce my candidacy for reelection to the Hillsborough Township Board of Education, and to ask for your vote on April 20.
I came to you three years ago with a pledge to improve Hillsborough schools in the areas of education, administration, and finance, and to serve as your voice on the Board. Even as we have achieved many successes in these areas – rising test scores, a new superintendent and central office administrators, and stabilization of taxes – there are many new challenges ahead.
The recent loss of $6 million in current and expected state aid is a potentially devastating blow to our community – students, teachers, administrators, and taxpayers alike. As chairman of the Board Finance Committee these past three years, there is no one that understands the issues involved better than I. The fiscal policies I have promoted since 2007 – refinancing of existing debt, not taking on more debt, and using our 2008-2009 state aid windfall for non-recurring capital projects and tax relief – will help us weather this storm while other districts founder.
Through all of the triumphs and challenges, past, present, and future, I can assure you there is no one on the Board more committed to the ongoing success of our school district. I was humbled that you chose me three years ago as your representative, and pledge to renew my commitment going forward. You are in my thoughts with every question I raise and every vote I cast. I ask you now to remember me when you cast your vote on April 20.
Here's the scoop. I've been dealing with a $109 million math problem for months now, and it just got a lot worse - $5.16 million worse.
If you want an idea of how crazy it's been, you need look no further than the Hillsborough Blog itself.
All through the last two school budget seasons - roughly November through March for the finance committee, I was perfectly able to keep up my blog posts here with no problem.
This year is a completely different story, as you can see by adding up the meager number of posts I have made since November of 2009.
November 2009 - 5 December 2009 - 15 January 2009 - 10 February 2009 - 10 March 2009 - 6
Total 46
Now that's the kind of math I had almost forgotten existed!
Poor Saint Valentine. He drew the shortest month (February), and the wimpiest theme (romantic love?). Not only that, but there are at least TWO early Christian martyrs named Valentine being honored on February 14 - and a slew of others on different days. The guy(s) gets no respect - we don't even use the word "saint" any more when we hand over the candy and flowers.
And then there's Patrick. There's only one of him, and he gets his holiday during one of the longest months. And he's associated with revelry and snakes. How cool is that!
But the most curious thing about Ireland's patron saint is that even after 1500 years he retains the full majesty of his title. No one is walking around on March 17 wishing each other "Happy Patrick's Day".
Hey, must be the luck of the Irish!
####
Next up: Can someone tell me why Jersey is the only state that has lost it's "New"? If you're a Jersey Girl from the Jersey Shore, please enlighten me. And if you're from York or Hampshire, or even Mexico, you can chime in too!
A newly proposed bill would require state, county and municipal employees to live in New Jersey. New employees would have four months to comply, while current employees would have to move to the state within two and a half years.
This is a bad bill for a couple of reasons. First, in a free market, people should be allowed to live where they choose. If you want them to live here, make "here" a desirable place to live. Second, it seems obvious that most of New Jersey's public employees are probably New Jersey natives who were forced to move away because they simply could no longer afford to live here. Now we are proposing to punish them again by forcing them to move back?
The real problem is not public employees who live on the other side of the river. After all, while they are working here they are actively participating in our economy - eating, shopping, gassing up the car, paying the bridge and highway tolls, etc. If legislators want to do something about negative impacts to our economy, they should look at state retirees, who take their pensions and move to Florida, or North Carolina. These folks no longer contribute to our economy at all. And this loss is in no way reciprocal as I don't think you will find many, if any, public employees from Florida, or any other state, who retire to New Jersey.
Maybe a brand new pension system should tie at least a small portion of the payout to residency - perhaps in the form of a property tax rebate to state retirees who retire here. Move away, and you lose that little piece. What do you think?
Did you ever leave a concert and hear someone say, "you know, it didn't sound at all like the record"? Maybe you've had the same thought yourself - or the flip side, "Hey, that was just like the CD". These notions are nothing new. Heck, one of the reasons the Beatles quit touring in 1966 was they could no longer reproduce their increasingly complex recordings on stage.
We owe the idea that live performances and recordings should resemble each other to New Jersey's two most important musical and recording pioneers, Thomas Edison, and Anna Case. And here's the kicker - they set out to prove that an Edison record was as good as a live performance, but partly because of the contrivances this "proof" entailed, they wound up forever changing audiences' expectations of what live music should sound like.
Trade journal Talking Machine World, December 1914
It was in 1914 that Metropolitan Opera soprano and Edison recording artist Anna Case, a native of South Branch, walked into a music shop while on a concert tour in Iowa, and began to sing along with one of her own records. When she briefly paused, shop patrons were astounded that the still spinning record sounded just like the live Anna - they couldn't tell the two apart!
Full page Edison ad from 1918 featuring Anna Case.
Edison had spent years perfecting his Diamond Disc Phonograph. The ten-inch diameter 1/4 inch thick record spinning at 80 rpm was the most technologically advanced music reproduction system of the time. But even Edison did not initially hit on the idea that his invention could be marketed as a music "re-creator", instead of merely another "talking machine".
Full page Edison ad from 1917 featuring Anna Case.
After conferring with Miss Case, Edison set up a music shop near his factory complex in Orange, where people were invited to come and hear his recording artists sing along with their records. These recitals with phonograph accompaniment were soon dubbed "tone tests", and Edison Diamond Discs were now hailed by the famed inventor as "re-creations".
Of course, Anna Case, Edison's favorite singer, was front and center at many tone tests and in an extensive ad campaign that lasted for the better part of the next decade. Ads that regularly featured the soprano standing next to a phonograph asked readers to come into a store and hear for themselves - and then bring the re-created Anna Case home with them. In-store and window displays featured a life-sized cut-out of Anna next to the machine.
Program for the March 10, 1920, Anna Case Tone Test concert
The most famous tone-test took place on March 10, 1920, at Carnegie Hall. Over 2500 people watched and listened as Anna Case sang with the phonograph. Then the lights suddenly went out, but the singing continued. When the lights came back on, all were astounded to see that Anna had left the stage and the Edison Diamond Disc phonograph was carrying on without her!
Two-page ad, June 1920
The problem with this incredible story of invention and marketing is that it was mostly a lie. Yes, Edison's invention was probably the best of its time. And yes, it could reproduce voices very well - just not THAT well.
The program from March 10, 1920
Anna Case finally came clean 50 years after the Carnegie Hall show, admitting that she, and the other singers that took part in the tone tests, actually trained their voices to sound like the machine! Not only that, but even at a large venue like Carnegie Hall, the voice of an operatic soprano would certainly overwhelm the modest sound coming from the phonograph - so while the record played full volume, Anna had to turn hers down a bit.
Illustrator James Montgomery Flagg, who witnessed the Carnegie Hall tone test,
sketches Anna Case after the show.
And that's how Central New Jersey's musical pioneers set out to prove a recording was as good as a live performance by making the live performance only as good as the recording. A successful marketing experiment that has confounded musicians and listeners for almost a century!
Through the magic of YouTube, we can listen to a disc which Anna Case sang along with at the March 10. 1920 Carnegie Hall concert. Enjoy!
There are no minimum age requirements at the Beazer Homes development off Mountainview Road in Hillsborough. Indeed, most of the "residents" are newborns. There is no maximum age either, which is a good thing since one inhabitant is well over 100!
Through the wavy glass from the 19th to the 21st century.
If you haven't guessed, I'm not talking about humans, but rather the houses themselves.
Before renovation
As a condition of approval for this new subdivision, the Hillsborough Planning Board required Beazer Homes to preserve the historic Gabriel House located on the property. They did more than preserve it. Working in conjunction with the Hillsborough Historic Preservation Commission, the builder beautifully restored the home.
The 19th century Gabriel House located at 22 Rouser Way.
All of the original charm of the house remains and is perfectly complemented by the new, modern, kitchen and master bedroom.
Up close at the Gabriel House.
One interesting aspect of the project is that, unlike many restorations of this type, the Gabriel House does not sit apart from the neighboring houses. Set just a bit further from the street than surrounding homes, it is fully incorporated into the development - right between 20 and 24 Rouser Way.
Historic Preservation Commission Chairman George Redington (left) and Commission Member Tim Johnson (right) join Jodie McCool of Beazer Homes and Hillsborough Committeeman Anthony Ferrera for a tour of the nearly completed Gabriel House last month.
So how will this historic home get along with its newly minted neighbors? We'll find out when the house comes up for sale later this year.
Is there any doubt that Somerset County residents enjoy the best park system in the state? I am reminded of that fact every time I discover a new program at one of our facilities.
Today I accompanied the young women of Girl Scout Troop 255 as they learned about maple sugaring during a special presentation at the Environmental Education Center located in Lord Stirling Park, Basking Ridge.
Below are some photos from our day out in the snow at the Sugar Shack. Enjoy.
Somerset County Parks naturalist Monica Juhasz greets her guests after the half-mile hike from the Environmental Education Center to the Sugar Shack.
Ms. Juhasz led us out to the grove of Sugar Maples and provided an interesting overview of maple syrup from pre-colonial times to the present day.
Sugar Maples only grow in New England, New York, New Jersey, and parts of Canada. Sap only runs when nighttime temps are below 32, and daytime temps are above 32. Trees must be at least 10 inches in diameter before they can be tapped.
Everyone got a taste of sap straight from the tree!
Back at the Shack, Ms. Juhasz demonstrates the boiling process. It takes 40 gallons of watery sap to produce one gallon of sweet maple syrup.
I told myself I wasn't going to be one of those dads. You know the type. The guys who will stop at nothing to make sure their kid wins the big game, or has the coolest project at the science fair.
But most of that went out the window when my son lost one of the regulation axles needed for the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby.
Scouts contemplate the trophies before the first race at the 2010 Pack 89 Pinewood Derby, hoping to take one home for themselves.
While searching the internet for official axles, I stumbled upon a high-tech pinewood derby replacement part and customization industry that would have been unimaginable 40 years ago when I was a kid. They have everything you need to make your car go fast - from pre-polished axles to de-burred wheels to a magic substance called "tube-o-lube". This is the special dry graphite lubricant all the other dads had been talking about - the only type of axle lubricant allowed under Boy Scout rules.
Anticipation is high as the cars line up at the start.
By the time I hit the "Buy Now" button I had spent about $20 - on axles, lubricant, and the all-important lead weights. Pinewood Derby cars can be no heavier than 5 ounces - and ideally should hit that number right on the nose to maximize potential energy at the top of the track.
Click on this image to see a series of four photos taken just one second apart. These cars are really moving - at scale speeds over 200 m.p.h.
As is the case with most fathers of seven-year-old scouts, I ended up doing most of the work on the car. But the design was all his, and, ultimately, it was that cool design which got us to the finish line first.
It looks like we're in for a few more days of snow - and it's still only February! Considering that one of the worst storms to ever hit this region didn't occur until the middle of March, I'd say we can probably expect another storm or two before we're through. At least we have the television, radio, and internet to keep us informed. They had none of that during New Jersey's worst snowstorm.
Three Lehigh Valley steam engines wrecked in the snow
at Three Bridges, 14 March 1888.
The March 11-14 storm known as the Great Blizzard of 1888 dumped four feet of snow on central New Jersey in just four days. Drifts of the 40-foot variety were common throughout the region as sustained winds of 45 m.p.h. piled up the snow from Virginia to Maine.
Railroads bravely tried to keep running - with disastrous results.
15 March 1888 Courier News
On the morning of March 14, four Lehigh Valley Railroad steam engines coupled together with two wrecking cars containing 100 men set out from Easton, PA in an attempt to clear the tracks eastward through New Jersey. By that afternoon they had cleared nearly 100 snowdrifts and were feeling confident as they approached a tremendous snowdrift blocking the tracks at the curve between Three Bridges and Neshanic Station.
Three Lehigh Valley steam engines wrecked in the snow
at Three Bridges, 14 March 1888.
To smash through, the speed was increased. As the four locomotives hit the snow, the first one derailed, and the next two were quickly wrecked. The engineers in the front two engines were killed, along with the conductor of the gravel train. The fireman in the first engine was badly scalded by escaping steam.
This was one of three fatal railroad accidents related to the blizzard in New Jersey. Four coupled engines of the Morris and Essex Railroad ran into a drift near Hackettstown, killing the engineer of the first locomotive. Three engines of the Jersey Central Railroad heading east from Phillipsburg attempting to clear the tracks struck an immovable 16-foot snowdrift. The snow broke right through the front part of the first locomotive's cab, killing the fireman instantly.
In the days before computers, television, radio, and telephones, the railroads were not only vital to our nation's transportation, but also its communication. They were the carriers of the information in the pre-information age. No wonder so many gave their lives to keep those lines of communication open.
Have you picked up the March 2010 issue of New Jersey Monthly magazine? Inside you will find the "Best Places to Live" in New Jersey - with Hillsborough and Millstone at the top of the heap!
Monmouth University's Polling Institute ranked the 566 municipalities according to the key factors that best represent quality of life: population growth, home values, property taxes, land development, employment, crime rate, school performance, and proximity to services.
Congratulations to Millstone which was recognized as the best small town (population under 5,000) in the state! The borough, which ranked 11th overall, achieved this status by garnering a bunch of zeroes - zero population growth, zero unemployment, and zero crime. No other municipality in the top 100 could make this claim.
Congrats are also due Hillsborough, which ranked second in "big towns" (population over 25,000) and 31st overall. Our town's large population seemed to be the only negative factor in the survey, as no towns with a population over 30,000 were included in the top 30, and only two more populous towns figured in the top 100.
Hillsborough and Millstone continue to constitute a near-perfect pair of New Jersey towns.
What do former Boston Red Sox slugger Jim Rice and Hillsborough farmer Richard Norz have in common? Yes, they have both been outstanding in their fields. For Rice, that would be left field, and for Norz, the cow pasture on South Branch Road.
Now, with the announcement this week that Norz has been awarded the title of National Outstanding Young Farmer by the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce, they have something else in common. They have both been elected to their respective Halls of Fame.
Norz is just the sixth New Jersey farmer to receive this recognition since its inception in 1955. Rice, a 2009 inductee, is the 103rd member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
So what ELSE do they have in common? Both Jim Rice and Richard Norz squeaked through in their last year of eligibility. Rice was on the ballot for 15 years before finally getting enough votes, and would have been dropped in 2010. Norz, who is 40 years old, would have been officially too old to qualify as a "young farmer" next year!
Just goes to show, it's never too late to be recognized for being outstanding in your field!
Is Hillsborough becoming the Dodge City of the East?
Forty years after the famous, and infamous, Kansas town tore down its false-fronted 19th century buildings along the main street in an urban renewal project, our stores near the corner of Route 206 and Amwell Road are being treated to their own facelift.
In typical old western style, the strip mall is being given some new height with the addition of a phony second story.
Apparently the project is intended only to improve the aesthetics of the property, as no additional commercial space is being added.
It's interesting to note that Dodge City owes its success as a cattle drive boomtown to the creation of a bypass (!) off of the old Chisholm Trail.
With the Route 206 bypass ready to get underway, it will be interesting to see what effect it will have on Hillsborough's "Main Street".
The Somerset Patriots will be auditioning singers Saturday, March 6 [2010], at the Menlo Park Mall. They are looking for talented individuals to sing the National Anthem at home games this upcoming season. It would be fitting if at least one of the chosen soloists was a Hillsborough resident since one of the most renowned Anthem singers of the 20th century was Hillsborough's own Anna Case.
1918 magazine advertisement for Liberty Bonds.
Beginning on the eve of the First World War, the Metropolitan Opera soprano began including the Star-Spangled Banner in her concert performances. She often appeared on stage draped in an American flag, singing and asking the audience to buy Liberty Bonds.
October 1918 Liberty Bond Rally at the Treasury Building in New York
Besides her own concerts and other special musical events, the popular singer appeared numerous times at war bond rallies in and around New York.
1917 Edison Records ad.
The song was so well received that she recorded a popular version for the Edison record label.
Anna Case at the Sea Girt Army Camp, 1917
A quarter-century before Bob Hope took to the road, Anna was entertaining the troops at military camps across the country, sometimes delivering an Edison phonograph and an assortment of discs for the soldiers to enjoy, as she did during a visit to the Army camp in Sea Girt pictured here.
1924 newspaper clipping
Having gained a reputation as THE Anthem singer, Anna Case became the go-to soloist whenever the Star-Spangled Banner was needed - most notably at the 1924 Democratic National Convention at Madison Square Garden, where the only way to calm the boisterous partisan crowds was to call Miss Case to the stage. With arms outstretched, the first notes of the Anthem so "stirred the hearts of the multitude", that a near riot was transformed into a "reverent tribute" to the late President Woodrow Wilson.
24 July 1927 Pittsburgh Post Gazette
By 1927, it was almost unheard of for any singer OTHER than Anna Case to be called on to sing the anthem at a public event. That's why it was big news when a bumbling entertainment coordinator unwittingly booked both Miss Case and another soloist to sing the Anthem at the New York reception for Charles Lindbergh following his return to America after his solo flight across the Atlantic.
1943 newspaper clipping
Even her semi-retirement from the concert stage following her 1931 marriage to telegraph tycoon Charles Mackay couldn't temper Anna's patriotic spirit. She continued to deliver the Anthem wherever and whenever needed, right up through World War II - sometimes including her own composition "Our America", one of a number of patriotic tunes penned by the talented singer.
Singing at the Acadia Ballroom, 1943
There is perhaps one engagement Anna Case did not play. I haven't been able to find an account of her singing the Star-Spangled Banner at the start of a ball game.
A year ago this week, campaigner Chris Christie made his well-remembered pledge to "gut COAH". Now columnists and bloggers and pundits are calling on Governor Christie to follow through with his promise - even suggesting he simply stop paying the Council on Affordable Housing staffers, just let everyone go home.
I don't think that's what he is going to do, because I don't believe he has a problem with "affordable housing", or with the idea that our municipalities should be "inclusionary", not exclusionary.
Yet still, he looks at a town like Hillsborough with its wide variety of housing ranging from tiny one bedroom rental apartments to the latest "McMansions", and wonders why a town as inclusionary as ours should have to bear the burden of more phoney-baloney affordable units than anyone could possibly want or need.
Our national government needs money. Money for national security, infrastructure, social services, and about a million other things. A convenient way to get that cash is by taxing its people. Nothing new here - it's been going on for millennia.
The simplest way to collect those funds is to impose an old fashioned poll tax. This is not a tax for voting, but simply a flat per-person tax. Who qualifies as a taxable "person" can be worked out, but simply, every qualified individual pays the same fee. This sort of tax is based on the idea that all individuals benefit from the government equally, and all should contribute equally to it. Sounds fair to me!
Another way to collect funds is through a flat percentage tax based on income. This takes into account the fact that individuals making more money can afford to pay more. So, at a 20% tax rate, a person making $100,000 would pay $20,000 and a person making $50,000 will pay $10,000. I can live with that!
A third scheme, one which the United States has employed for decades, is to tax different levels of incomes at different percentages. This is based on the theory that not only can "rich" people afford to pay more, but that they can also afford to pay a higher percentage of their income. After all, 20% is a lot more dear to a person making $50,000 than it is to a person making $500,000 - so maybe the person making $500,000 needs to pay 40%. Okay.....
These first three plans all make sense on some level.
What doesn't make sense is President Obama's budget plan that would result in 50% of working Americans paying ZERO income tax.
In my view, every working person has to pay something - I don't care if it's one percent, or one half of one percent! Doesn't he see what a disincentive it will be - to the half that will still be paying - to be as productive as they have been, once they realize they are paying for services enjoyed by the half who pay nothing?
If this keeps up, we are likely to chase our most productive citizens, and their tax dollars, right to oblivion.
Starting today, let's wipe Punxsutawney right off the weather map. Two years ago I suggested Hillsborough should have its own groundhog, and I am making that suggestion again. If Staten Island can have one (Chuck), and Milltown can have one (Mel), then there is no reason our town can't have a pint-sized prognosticator to call our own.
All we need is a melodious moniker, and a Mayor with the fortitude to go nose-to-nose with the furry garden pest - not to mention the courage to wear the top hat!
Let's hear your ideas for Hillsborough groundhog names - and what you think a Groundhog Day ceremony in Hillsborough should look like.
Take a look at today's celebration in Pennsylvania to get some ideas.
