This being a presidential election year, there should be a higher voter turnout than in last year’s general election; or this year’s primaries and school board elections. The economic crisis in the nation, and the continuing debacle of New Jersey’s state budget, require citizen involvement in the voting process. In the 2007 elections, less than half the registered voters turned out. Oakland topped out at 40.7%, with Wyckoff at 36% and Franklin Lakes at 29%.
In a comparison of the elections this past spring, the primaries and the school board elections returned interesting results for each town. Oakland, which passed its local school budget but voted down the regional high school budget, had 15% of the voters turn out for the school board election when compared to the 8.27% who voted in the primary. Wyckoff, which passed both their local school budget and the regional budget had 20% turnout for the primary and 29.4% turnout for the school board. Franklin Lakes was on the other end of the spectrum with 18% turnout for the primary, and 10% turn out for the school board elections; Franklin lakes voted down both their local school budget and the regional high school budget.
This season each town will be electing two members to the governing municipal body. Republicans David N. Connolly and Kathleen M. Scarpelli will be facing off in Wyckoff against Democrats Brian D. Scanlan and Brian J. Hubert. Oakland will be choosing between Republicans Betsy Stagg and Frank Di Pentima; and Democrats David Skoblar Pat Tirri. Franklin Lakes choices are between Republicans Michael Friscia, Charles J.X. Kahwaty, Paulette D. Ramsey, and Michael Tulp; there is no Democratic ticket.
Higher up the food chain, Dennis Shulman , is running for congress on the Democratic ticket; Scott Garrett on the Republican ticket, and Ed Fanning on the Green ticket. The Senate seat is being contested between Democrat Frank Lautenberg , and Republican Dick Zimmer and Libertarian Jason Scheurer.
A proposal brought on by the state’s increasing debt burden will also be on the ballot. Most State authority bonds can be issued without voter approval because the payment of the bonds is backed only by a promise of the Legislature and the Governor that they will enact appropriations in the future to meet the bond payments. Sen. Leonard Lance, R-Flemington, a longtime critic of borrowing practices by both Democratic and Republican administrations, co-sponsored the ballot question that if approved would specifically prohibit the state from using independent agencies to issue bonds and repaying them without voter approval. (Proposal in pdf)
The economic crisis has evoked higher emotions than the two land wars presently being fought, and a continuing battle on international terrorism. The low approval ratings of Congress and the President are spreading. A recent Wall Street Journal/ NBC poll asked respondents who was to blame for the fiscal meltdown, and were given choices which included banks, speculators, the President, Congress, or Americans who simply got in over the financial heads. The majority response was not listed: 24% chose to blame everyone.
Being battered by decreasing stocks, job loss, trade deficits, increased government spending, offshore outsourcing, higher food costs, and higher energy costs, it would be hard to drop this laundry list of ills on just one doorstep. The difficult days facing the nation will hopefully bring a renewed interest and passion in demanding from politicians and business leaders the same efficiency they hail in the American worker. The Journal has implemented several new features that may help citizens pick up the slack and make a difference in the government and the country.
“The World” tab on the navigation bar offers a compilation of regional news headlines from The Star Ledger, The Bergen Record, and NJBiz; top stories from the Associated Press, The New York Times, and The London Times. The sub-category, “Tabs on Govt” offers an extensive list of pages, links, and contact information to help keep tabs on politicians and government. There is also a helpful page we have added to help readers keep up on the numerous recalls concerning food, toys, car, and medications. It is available from our Recall Alerts page available under “Resources”.
The first video below summarizes the “Divide We Fail” project of AARP, and the second video introduces readers to one of the links available on our “Tabs on Govt” page, MapLight.org.
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