ONE MAN'S WOES

This is truly the crazy season! My Monday was marked by a visit to the torturers aka PT. But

  

That Monday had started badly; I had spent a great deal of time Sunday tearing my den apart for the PMUA bill which arrive s about two weeks before it is due.

I do keep a file for “to pays” such as tax and insurance bills and most other bills   (PSE&G, credit cards etc.) I try to pay within 48 hrs. of receipt. So, I was upset that I had mislaid that bill.

Well I really hadn’t for when I got through to PMUA I learned that the statements had been delayed and were going out this week. I must have missed any notice at the utilities site.

To compound the day’s woes I received a credit card statement and discovered that for the first time in 5+ years I had not paid the previous months statement. Once again a room tearing up search was unproductive and I concluded that through a rare (?) misadventure the USPS had not delivered it. More time wasted on a phone call and the computer answering services before I could talk to a pleasant human who could not do anything about interest and late charges. Then off to a supervisor.

My day was further complicated when PSEG decided that between 4:30 and 6:30 those of us on the Cushing corridor plus adjacent Scotch Plains should have a pre-winter trial of no electricity. Found out that the batteries in my emergency radio was dead and the # 33 button on my land line phone did not work.

Finally cooked dinner; cleaned up and did some needed chores.

When I turned on the 10PM news all I got was what seems to be the now weekly story this time about another crazy who was in the Garden State Plaza with a rifle.

Despite the fact that today is Election Day; this was not a maneuver by those conniving Democrats to woe votes from those Christie loving NRA diehards Republicans.

Yes today is Election Day. Since I am a registered Democrat but not a propagandist line voting Democrat I did vote for Christie. And since I believe that Mapp is the best person for Plainfield for the next four years he received my support.

I might add that I thought the Courier’s editorial was off base on the other races for the first time I did not vote for the full number of candidates for Freeholder and BOE since I knew nothing about too many of them except for Carter to feel comfortable supporting them. 

Likewise for Assembly; where we do know what we have and again little about the Republicans.

I do not expect you all to vote as I did but be sure to cast your vote. The greatest danger to our society is a population of non-participants.

By the way I do not like either of the propositions as presented.

A BLACK CLOUD

Aside from the Virginia/Clemson football game which reminded me of my college days when Virginia played such powerhouses as Washington & Lee, VMI, Hampton & Sydney-and lost; the most disturbing news on this political weekend was the report that our Mayor and the Director of Safety promoted 7 police Sergeants to Lieutenant.

Not only has there been no report to the Council or the public (be damned) but there are no funds budgeted for such a move.

Of course the lack of funds would not bother our Mayor; she will just appropriate the funds from some other line which was approved when the budget was accepted. That may be illegal, but that has never concerned our Mayor.

Two things are important; the Council in its unique Nov. 12 Agenda Session Combined Business meeting should not entertain any resolution approving funding these positions, and the Council should unanimously request a State forensic audit of this administration's finances.

One thing is certain;there are members of this Council who will never act to spend one cent that may be detrimental to the Mayor and party. 

That would include action  even at this late lame duck date to impeach the Mayor.

Another probability is that there will be costly legal action if the “promotions” are voided.

A LITTLE B IT OF BABYLON

Having had an external hard drive that held over 500 images from trips abroad refuse to respond to all attempts to open I have been transferring images from old CD discs that I found.

We returned to Berlin after the  reunification. and found a vibrant city much different from 1945. One of the high  lights was the reopened Pergamon Museum and its Babylonian exhibit. Below is a reconstruction and restoration from the bricks of the famed ISHTAR GATE.

As you can see this is a popular exhibit.

As I transfer and clean up many of the old slides I shall post some from time to time.

A VOTER'S RANT

Three more days before elections which are probably one of the most important State, County and Local elections in years. Add to that the BOE elections and two public questions.

Except for the blanketing TV campaign being run by Buono the political scene has been relatively quiet.

Despite the Democrats always castigating the money rich Republicans the ELEC figures include estimates that Democratic-leaning independent groups have outspent Republican-leaning groups by more than 2-to-1.

Noteworthy has been the impact of the PACs on this race. It has been reported that by far the the biggest spender at nearly $12 million is Garden State Forward, a so-called super PAC formed by the New Jersey Education Association.

Two other PACs, political action committees, have spent more than $7 million each. The Committee for Our Children’s Future has run advertisements lauding Gov. Chris Christie, mostly in the primary election season. The Fund for Jobs, Growth and Security uses its finances to support the Legislature’s Democratic majority and also has spent nearly $700,000 on the state’s ballot measures.



The laws permitting the PACs to run rampant must be changed. 
 These big dollars have too much impact on an election. All the above data is available on Google.  


The usual local mudslinging type campaign had been absent until Friday’s mail which produced a flyer from the Union County Democratic Committee chaired by Assembly Candidate Jerry Green which portrayed “just another Republican” John Campbell Jr- isn’t the name familiar?- as the puppet of Boehner, George W. Bush, and Lonegan.

Campbell’s flyer, also in the same mail, was paid for out of his campaign funds. It is one that shows original thought process. However, except for a Muhlenberg Hospital issue there is little positive to recommend him.

I am afraid that that race will be the same old same old.

Likewise the Freeholders’ election. Once again with the exception of Linda Carter I know almost nothing about the candidates, except that Kowalski has been one for years.

The Mayor’s race may be closer than anticipated but as I expressed yesterday under the present circumstances Mapp is the best candidate for Plainfield. The city must get its financial house in order.

The less said positive about the BOE elections the better. I have always been an advocate for a responsible appointed board instead of a popular elected one which can be subject to small group political pressure.

Wilma Campbell has served I believe three terms and as demonstrated at the LWV forum is a master of obfuscation. Neither she nor Moore corrected the impression that the system’s budget was not as read in a question about $100,000.00 when belittling the capabilities of the women on the opposition slate.

The 20013/14 school year budget is $143.95 million; of which some $121.2 million is in state aid and 21.7 million raised by local taxes. The BOE does not develop the budget, they approve as fiduciaries the work of the system’s professional.

All things equal after Wednesday night the only sure candidate that I am going to vote for is Richard Lear. Of the other five, one has been on the board too long and I will be reluctantly voting for two or none of the remaining four. It is a sad, disastrous state of affairs that these are the choices we have.

BLAN K AND WHY

PT schedule for this am, but since I have no desire to drive in tree lined streets with 40-50 mph gusts cancelled to Monday. Of course the weather and the weathermen are on different pages so at 11 it is great outside.

I plan for a brief commentary before  early afternoon and expect full blog on Saturday.