The 2011 WW Municipal Budget should have been ready to implement January 1st, 2011.  As usual, the Township’s finances are almost an afterthought. If we wait a few more months,  half the budget will already be spent without any taxpayer or Council input.

Interesting meeting last night (Monday, 28 Feb 11);  it should and could have lasted about 45 minutes but it was important to get the posturing out of the way.  I agree with Charlie that Council provides the parameters – and let the Administration provide its recommendations.  I believe Council was unanimous in articulating its rightful leadership.

If the mayor has been doing this budget drill for 19 years,  he should almost be conversant in where to find those savings and document them in the windmills and chalkboards of his mind. 

Council’s discussion was correct, in my opinion, to request the various budget scenarios. This should be an on-going, daily exercise.  While a 5% reduction scenario is your current charge, let’s commence the dialogue in finding a 10% cut in the 2013 budget and be surprised if revenues exceed expectations!

You (WW Council)  undoubtedly recall my 28 July 10 email in which I encouraged prompt action in getting the budget underway.  That message was copied to the mayor, too. The Administration should have had a budget penciled in by 1 January 2011.   It is one thing to say ‘we work on the budget daily’ tempered by the reality of scrambling ’when is it due’ and ‘what emergency expenditures cropped up?’

As stated,  municipal administrators and assistant school superintendents drive budgets to meet caps or reductions, i.e. assumptions.  Empire-building occurs during the ‘fat times’ precisely to address these ‘lean times.’  Who wants to be a ‘bad guy’ and make tough decisions when you have so many friends among the employees you might otherwise furlough?

I ask the mayor and administration to document: “The Township of West Windsor is committed to providing the necessary resources to ensure that the residents of our community continue to receive the essential services that they need and deserve.”  Any taxpayer knows this paradigm MUST change.  

Any tax increase says the Township (and school) can do more with YOUR money than you can… so give it up!   How are other area townships managing to forego tax increases?

H-e-l-l-o?  Revenues are down? Taxpayers are suffering by PAYING MORE… for less!  How about the WW gov’t and school become a part of the solution by SPENDING less and if necessary,  delivering LESS? 

How many times have we heard the Administration’s  ’this is the best we can do!’ reverberate throughout last night’s discussion?

The aggressive capital improvement program looks like a Christmas tree list;  it is rooted in wants… instead of needs.  There is nothing wrong with vetting these needs. 

Suggestions: 

(1).  Council should request (and the same with the WWP School District) a 20-year history of its budgets.  This will yield a better history than the last year’s proposed vs. actual.  Perhaps this exists.  If it does,  it is very useful.  And I would like to see this information.  How is that (unpaid)  WWP Community Service partnership working for us?  The schools use in-house volunteers extensively.  Our future (and current)  citizens have no idea how our schools or township operate!

(2).  Actual (and historical) spending is invaluable for mapping the current budget. To think the Twp zero-bases its budget annually is, in my opinion, a misstatement and inaccurate.  If this were the case,  West Windsor would not have had ever-increasing budgets for the past 20 years.

(3).  Oil prices – completely unpredictable due to political and speculative uncertainties. I see Township vehicles driving all over the township – and no vehicles should be going home with employees. We cannot afford that perk.   Employees jobs start WITHIN the Township.  Township truck engine idling still exists – probably from habit.

(4). Thank you for requesting a ‘budget assumption’ calling for a reduction.  When you see the figures, you can then consider the resolution.  Let the ‘professionals’ determine from where it is derived.  The 20-year history will show you where budgets have been cut – and steadily padded.

(5).  State aid?  Forget about it.  State Aid is fiscal heroin.

(6).  Mercer County parasite:  Clawback as much as possible – intra-township snowplowing and leaf/brush pickup is more efficiently and cost-effectively performed by our DPW.  The County’s cost structure is a black hole.

The library needs a jumpstart and consideration of NOT being a part of the county system.  We have the key players operating Princeton’s library who reside here in West Windsor.

(7).  Encourage selling the County golf courses and get them back on the tax rolls. It is not such an unrealistic expectation.  The County payroll seems to be rife with nepotism but that is another topic.  I believe the County has a zero-increase budget this year.

(8).  Other Mercer County communities’ budgets are flat.  How are they doing it?  Perhaps  WW needs to suspend the obsession with bicycle paths.  We  have had over 25 years for sidewalk construction which always are placed to the back of the line.  Council has always managed to use that dedicated money for a higher calling – say no-bid professional service contracts.

(9). It is obvious one finds the  greatest opportunity for spending cuts come from the largest budget items.  When an executive summary says, “increase of only $385,000″,  it suggests we have lost the value of a dollar.

A.  Public safety – must bring in more revenue (see Plainsboro)  Overtime adds to the determination of pensions.   Where is the income from shoplifting and the Nassau Park substation in Walmart?  Cellphone-while-driving infractions? Handicapped parking violations? Why am I the only one seeing this, when I know I am not?  Either enforce the laws – or remove them from the books!

B.  Public works - The capital budget is full of dreams. There are less expensive options and should be evaluated by people who know construction operations.

(10).  Media blitz for suggestions/ solicitations from the public and our employees.  If meaningful, sustainable cuts are made,  why shouldn’t there be a CASH REWARD?  Think about this:  would YOU pay a 5% cash reward… if you could effect a 95% reduction in your expenditure?  Call it the “5-95 Initiative.” 

(11).  Eliminate no-bid professional services contracts and concurrently reduce the township professional staff engaged in distributing the contracts to others.

Everyone is having to do more with less.  The mantra last night was… “we cannot cut…”  which means we (the mayor) need(s) to find an administrator capable of effecting objective cuts,  all politics and personalities aside.  I never met a budget which couldn’t be cut. Budget reductions and employee benefit costs are a daily war within the private sector.

“Lead, follow, or get out of the way.”

If the recurring theme that the mayor-council form of government is so very, very wrong,  perhaps we should add the change of government to the Fall 2011 referendum?

If I have misunderstood any of the warrants articulated above,  I invite your correction. Be a samurai and tear things apart.  Instead,  offer your own solutions.

“There is no dignity quite so impressive, and no independence quite so important, as living within your means.” ” — Calvin Coolidge

BY CHRIS STURGIS

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

WEST WINDSOR –The board of education will consider a policy governing a drive to raise $250,000 to light the fields at High Schools North and South. ((Why not go with the School District’s original estimates of $185,000 for EACH field to be paid by the taxpayers?))

Manny Efstathios and Patrick Boyle, fathers of athletes, are proposing to raise money for lights from golf events, house tours and the sale or lease of banners ((Banners? We sold 90  4′ x 8′ painted marine-grade plywood signs @$400 each for the WW Little League or $36,000 each year)) around the fields as advertising space.

Board President Hemant Marathe said the district currently has no policies to allow such an arrangement, but has ordered a legal opinion ((at whose expense? Let’s see – can we accept $250,000 for sports –  when we accept tens of thousands of dollars for scholarships and in-kind donations from business and individuals annually?))  on it for consideration by the board’s facilities and administration committee, which is chaired by Ellen Walsh.

“The board has no philosophical opposition to having the lights,” Marathe said, following a discussion at Tuesday’s meeting.  ((You had no problem rejecting the field lights in January, 2004 for the very reasons you are considering them today!))

The board gave the men informal approval to develop their fundraising plan, meet with neighbors of the two schools and talk to the town about permits, but did not approve the lights.

“Get all the ducks lined up and come back in a few months,” Marathe told the men. ((Why not get everything lined up and come back in a few decades? It took me two years of talking with donors who were personal contacts or WW Little League donors!!))

Board member Alapakkam Manikandan expressed the greatest reservations.  ((Of course!  Can you spell C-R-I-C-K-E-T ??))

“If I’m going to buy a new television, I’m going to want to know what I am missing by not having it,” he said. “What are we missing by not having these lights?”  ((Ignorance knows no bounds.))

Efstathios said lighted fields could be used more hours of the day, ending the “administrative nightmare” of scheduling games and practices.  ((Who does this?  The school used to do this… or the District Athletic Director, two Assistant Athletic Directors, coaches, or District Field Coordinator at the Board Office?))

The fathers had support from district administrators, including Athletic Director Marty Flynn, who said lighted fields would allow expanded use of the $2.3 million artificial turf fields that were approved in the 2006 referendum.  ((Hey, Marty? Did you and the Board explain to the public about the underground electrical conduit and electric power cabinet adjacent to the visitor’s bleachers at HS-North?  Or why you never supported the efforts of sports dads back in 2003 when you didn’t have time to even show up to the Board meetings?))

 High School North Principal Mike Zapicchi endorsed the lights idea along with High School South Principal Mike Rudnick, who had opposed it in the past.  ((It is always easier in WW to say ‘no’ than get out of the way and let others succeed.))

“These gentlemen have a very good game plan,” Rudnick said at the meeting.

Boyle and Efstathios made it clear they are team players. “We’re not trying to go out there and do this on our own like cowboys,” Efstathios said.  (( Who are you calling cowboys, Gringo??))

“We’re trying to get as much support as possible.”

A previous drive to light the fields have failed, including one about five years ago by Pete Weale, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in May. ((Probably why I lost the election…))

Marathe said Weale merely approached the board saying he had commitments to raise $100,000.   ((Yup: 4 shares @ $25,000 each from 2 banks, a local developer, and the local Subway franchisee who made 2 appearances. The Board president said the $25,000 was not a significant contribution.  Total negotiated cost was $100K:  $80,000 for the lights and $20,000 to install them, including 10-year maintenance.  Geevers sat on the School Board and did nothing. Petitions with over 300 HS-North students’ names were ignored… and an appearance at WW Council requesting support for the WW students who attended HS-North in Plainsboro was ignored. Of course Charlie Morgan sat on the dais and Shing-Fu was mayor.))

Boyle and Efstathios, however, were part of a group of sports boosters who raised money to put lights in Community Park, Marathe said.

“They have a track record,” he said.   ((Doing the team sponsorship for 6 to 8 years as VP-Operations and Team Sponsorship for 75 team sponsors and 90 outfield sponsors was not a good enough track record?)) 

Board members said neighbors may oppose the lights for fear of noise and light pollution disturbing them in their homes. ((Pure speculation and unsubstantiated rumor at HS-South.  South’s vehement opposition came from the former South Football Booster Club President after the South loss to North with his son as a senior. Source of this? A club member.  And there was the gaggle of South parents who insisted repaving the tennis courts was a higher priority despite there being NO COST to taxpayers. Mentioned also was the position that if North had lights, we had to fund lights for South, too.))

Board member Robert Johnson, however, said he loves to hear cheering and band music coming from the football field when he’s in his backyard.

“I think it adds value to my house,” he said.   ((Ya think? Better check with former WWP School Board member Steve Smith who experienced lights during his high school experience but couldn’t bring himself to support the endeavor or his former Board colleague, Plainsboro’s Henry Wieck, who was the sole visionary and sponsor of our efforts.  Of course we went to the neighborhood homeowners’ association adjacent to HS-North and ensured that Mayor Cantu and Plainsboro Township Committee were kept in the informational loop.)) 

PUBLIC SAFETY IS NOT NEGOTIABLE. 

IN THE MILITARY, THIS IS CALLED DERELICTION OF DUTY.

YOU FAILED TO ACT AND YOUR IGNORANCE COST SOMEONE HER LIFE.

SINCE YOU HAVE NO CONSCIENCE, YOUR FAILURE TO ACT DOESN’T BOTHER YOU. 

SOMEHOW THERE WAS TIME TO CRAFT A SALARY INCREASE ORDINANCE AND WORK ON THAT HOUSE OF CARDS THE WW TRANSIT VILLAGE AND PAY THE LAWYERS OVER $1 MM LAST YEAR. 

But no money or time to fund corrections to a curve traveled by thousands of students, employees, vendors, contractors and the general public daily.  Even Princeton University feigned its ignorance despite my meeting with a DOT representative on the site.

The DOT rep proclaimed the curve “extraordinarily dangerous.”

Within one week of the Annitto accident, I worked out a solution with a local contractor who had a daughter the same age as the deceased. Princeton University was obsessed with designing SAFE playgrounds in Trenton but couldn’t permit the energies of its vaunted engineering department and creative PU students to design a win-win solution.

(Oh, it would take YEARS to do anything close to the D&R Canal because of ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS… unless you are a Princeton hospital needing Route 1 bridge repairs.

ALSO DURING THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL PRESIDENT’S WATCH, THEY FAILED TO EXTEND THE GUIDERAIL FOLLOWING COUNTLESS ACCIDENTS ON THE PENNS NECK SIDE OF THE AMTRAK BRIDGE/ STATE ROUTE 64 / WASHINGTON ROAD.

The sustained failure to act COST ANOTHER YOUNG LADY HER LIFE who was a couple days short of participating in her Senior Trip.

This topic was discussed extensively on an anonymous local blog – but I sure recognize the positions written by WW’s current Council President. There is little speculation on the author.

http://www.wwptoday.com/Default.aspx?tabid=65&g=posts&t=14748

Have Charlie Morgan and the Mayor show you the results of the engineering study presented to WW Council TWO MONTHS prior to the fatal accident. 

This is how WW operates: it studies, it identifies, it talks… and then does…NOTHING.

West Windsor has denied responsibility in the crash.  Charles Morgan, president of the township council, reiterated that position.

http://www.nj.com/news/times/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-17/124460673149920.xml&coll=5

“The accident was horrible but by the same token, there’s a certain responsibility on the part of the driver to drive appropriately for the conditions,” he said. “The person was driving too fast for the conditions. Government can’t protect everyone from their own failure to be careful.“  

(You mean like stopping Toll Brothers and the Transit Village debacle?)

Morgan said the township agreed to pay $10,000 to remove itself from the litigation. The road improvements, he said, have been on the township’s list of priorities for years and were not part of the settlement.  (SINCE JULY, 2005 AND THE PIN HEADS STILL DON’T HAVE IT REPAIRED. Wait. They DID install a couple of signs. But none of the WW politicians LIVE on the Princeton-end of Alexander Road. There are no dangerous curves in suburban cul-de-sacs except in the windmills of their minds.)

Shame on West Windsor political figureheads.

There is no BUT.

Here is an anniversary posting from November, 2000

http://www.wwptoday.com/cgibin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?az=show_thread&om=107&forum=townships&viewmode=all

The modus operandi of West Windsor government is to talk the talk - but consistently fail to walk. WW can’t seem to get even sidewalks done right.

Nothing happens in this town that isn’t studied to the point of paralysis.  We end up with reams of plans which only enrich consultants. The is an over-abundance of  professional services contracts because “professionals” shouldn’t have to bid their services.  Bidding for work is for the ‘little people.’

I believe the taxpayers of WW deserve a full accounting of the $330,000 for Hillier and the $70K approved for the professionals BEFORE spending one more dime.  West Windsor taxpayers deserve a complete accounting for the 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. days and overtime for Township staff working on the Transit Village.

The mayor’s refusal to direct the zoning and planning boards to videotape, create cd’s for the township and applicants’ records, and rebroadcast of the respective meetings - speaks volumes about the administration’s interest in educating the public.  The political paralysis is contrary to the tenets of mayor-council.  Since the change in WW’s form of government 15 years ago, it has never lived up to its billing – despite the abundance of unbridled billing.

The township is literally falling apart due to the lack of routine maintenance and common sense - from restoration of the Old Hawk Schoolhouse to the Old Princeton Junction Firehouse to multiple township and private properties and facilities throughout the township.

SO WHERE IS THAT TAX REDUCTION? 

NOT AN IDEA FOR TAX REDUCTION FOUND ONLY AT ELECTION TIME BUT AS A COUNCIL MEMBER OVER 10 YEARS?

WHEN IN THE LAST TEN YEARS HAVE WW TAXES GONE DOWN BASED ON OUR EXALTED 40 YEAR TAX PROFESSIONAL?

 From professional political charlatan Charlie:

 …Our taxes keep going up — more than 22 percent the last three years, another 5.4 percent this year and now another 8.8 percent projected increase next year — 29 percent in three years through 2010.

The increases are accelerating.

We cannot afford this — business as usual must stop — something must be done!

I am the only candidate who has an explicit idea for lowering taxes — not a one-time gimmick but a real plan for lowering taxes year after year after year.  I am the only candidate who has a clear record of voting against 1,000 homes and urbanization at the train station.  I am the only candidate with a team that is looking forward with new ideas rather than looking backward at claimed accomplishments. 

(Charlie means HE WILL SHUT DOWN PRINCETON JUNCTION ESTATES… OOPS!)

The stark contrast between me and my opponents is exemplified by the train station parking issue.  The incumbent and his team want to put parking on the old compost/dump site.

The other candidate wants to put parking at Ellsworth’s Center, the old firehouse and the old Chicken Holiday location.  The Parking Authority says “no” to both of those ideas and “no” from the Parking Authority means it won’t happen.

Sorry, Charlie. Your excuses aren’t worth a can of tuna.

THE WW PARKING AUTHORITY CONTROLS THE OLD PJ FIREHOUSE LOT… ELLSWORTH CENTER 2… AND DREHER’S RITE AID CORNER… 70 WASHINGTON ROAD… AND THE UNIVERSITY SQUARE LOT AT ROUTE 1 NORTH @ ALEXANDER ROAD?

PETE’S PROPOSALS WERE ONLY OFFERED AS AN IMMEDIATE AND INTERIM SOLUTION.

WHERE IS THAT FREE GARAGE FROM LAST NOVEMBER?

“If the mayor had worked with me instead of against me, you would see a parking structure being built at the train station today.  The failure to move forward on parking must end now.

I cannot do worse than the record tax increases we are experiencing.

I will do a lot better than any other candidate once my plan is implemented.

Your vote for me, Anupam Gupta and Nitin Shah will put you on the road to sustained tax relief, immediate parking garages and no urbanization of the train station. I guarantee it.

Since I am a tax professional with nearly 40 years of experience, you can take my guarantee to the bank.”

Charlie Morgan, council president

Conditions for WW redevelopment

Tuesday, July 29, 2008 11:00 AM EDT

Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh of West Windsor

Over the past year, Township Council has been looking at redevelopment and working with my administration to move the planning process forward.  The five principles I defined in November of 2006 to guide this process are as important now as they were then.

They are:

1). Transparency (an open and inclusive decision-making process);

2). Equity (all residents will benefit financially and socially from redevelopment):

3). Sustainability;

4). Capacity-based planning (redevelopment must fit the scale that the infrastructure including schools and traffic capacity can accommodate);

5). Constitutional obligation (compliance with affordable housing requirements).

   Based on these principles, the following conditions must be met for redevelopment to move forward:

• All residents in West Windsor must benefit from this project.  It must be tax positive with no financial burden to taxpayers.
• All neighborhoods near the redevelopment area must be preserved given their individual characteristics.
• State and county agencies must support this plan before its execution.
• The project must be phased to mitigate impact to the community.
• Traffic circulation, resident parking, and a main street must be the top priorities.

I look forward to discussing these principles as we move forward and welcome comments and suggestions from members of our community.

Shing-Fu Hsueh, Mayor

Clarksville Road

West Windsor

Open mouth wider, insert other foot…

I’ll bet the press got this all wrong.

Again.

Still. I have never seen anyone with more pseudo mea culpa’s of his own making.  Even $20,000 in campaign expenditures cannot buy a scarecrow a brain.

How can an “experienced” businessman, former titan of a $14 billion enterprise, manage to alienate Township employees, his colleagues, and be a sustained embarrassment to all West Windsor residents (fanatic internet based cult followers excepted)?  Does anyone remember the candidate debates when Charlie Morgan referred to all Township employees as incompetents?  Folks…..Read below for the back-pedaling by Mr. Morgan.

From the WWP News:

Morgan, however, said that losing Marion was a “big deal” and that the petition he filed had nothing to do with Marion, or any township staff members, but rather Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh and Councilwoman Linda Geevers, who he alleges directed Marion and Louth to do the analysis.  “Chris Marion got put in the middle,” he said.  “How do you tell your boss no?  The staff in town hall are in a very, very awkward position.  It’s not about them.”

In addition, Morgan said: “I’ve worked with several administrators.  Nobody is better at it.  Nobody comes to the table with more diplomacy more energy and more intellectual skills than Chris.  It’s a profound loss.”

Geevers praised Marion.  “Chris was instrumental in implementing the six-year capital improvement plan, promoting more efficient business practices, and working towards long-term financial planning,” Geevers said.  “This all contributed towards stabilizing our financial system.  The township is in good financial state due to his hard work.”

The barometer of any enterprise is its financial yardstick.  There is still too much financial 3-card monte on-going within WW: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb3JsHX-xgo

Take any of the projects underway or planned and start looking at the numbers.

Scary.

In the same vein, Jenny (last name omitted),  requested that the Borough’s budget draft be published online for  residents to peruse prior to the (date of budget adoption) meeting.

“If it’s public information, why not put it online?” she asked.

The above comments came from real, live, actual residents – not some staged political rhetoric which swirls around election time and evaporates shortly after the ballots are counted!

Why didn’t I think of that?

Wait.  I did.

I’ve been saying it for years.

But with those pesky little no-bid professional services contracts spun off to friends, why get control of West Windsor Township’s website back within West Windsor where our school kids can design, redesign, update, and essentially perform daily operations (and gain some knowledge in the process)?  

If we did the SAME thing with the West Windsor-Plainsboro schools, the Township could explain in detail its cost over-runs for the Senior Center

Did you find an explanation for those Senior Center cost overruns in this pedestrian budget?

This budget might meet the letter of the law but it is severely lacking in the spirit of the law because it lacks a good 10-year history and hot links to explanations of what each capital or extraordinary charge entails. 

Read this…and feel better.

http://www.westwindsornj.org/2009-Budget-Introduced.pdf

Of course I am a titan of fiscal vision, in my own mind.

Who needs a AAA bond rating?

The new growth business in West Windsor?  

LITIGATION!

So, where are the protocols, Charlie?

When you get passed over, whether in the military (a subject and experience unknown to a career academic) or business, you do the honorable thing. You resign!

This is what is wrong with politics and politicians – they never quit when their policies and political after-shave are rejected.

Here is a template for West Windsor politicians of business and political honor, as documented in the 27 May 09 WSJ:  

“Linda Cook, one of the most senior women in the global oil industry, is stepping down as an executive director of Royal Dutch Shell, PLC after losing the contest to become the Anglo-Dutch oil major’s new chief executive.

Shell said she will resign Monday after working at the company for 29 years.

A spokesman said the decision was ‘by mutual agreement.’  He said she ‘will be available to advise the company on strategy and…ensure an orderly succession in gas and power’.”

Pete. 

Pete? 

The world (West Windsor is a separate universe) is full of talkers but we’re running a real deficit on do-ers.

Who is best positioned to IMPLEMENT all of Mr. Nae’s suggestions? 

Why, it would be none other than the $14 billion dollar, tough negotiating corporate titan himself:  the decade-to-start-making-a-difference maven of accounting excess, the Honorable Mr. Charlie, Esquire, who has more degrees than a broken thermometer.

From the West Windsor Google Group.

From: Hemi Nae <hemin…@gmail.com>

Date: Thu, 21 May 2009 13:33:56 -0700 (PDT)

Local: Thurs, May 21 2009 4:33 pm

Subject: Re: WW proposed 2009 budget

The budget needs a thorough analysis, not just the redevelopment items. While NJ has put a 4% tax increase cap, WW Township is legally  raising its tax burden by 5.4%. There is no indication in the budget  that there was an effort to significantly reduce government spending. 

Two residents spoke about it at the Council’s meeting on Monday.

www.nj.com/news/times/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-17/12428787102645…

I am sure that there are many residents with financial/accounting  expertise who could point out what’s wrong with this budget and where  cuts could be made.

I also disagree with the debate about the AAA status – you don’t need  to carry a large surplus and the surplus is only a small parameter in  determining the AAA designation.

I also disagree with Mr. Herbert who is quoted in the report saying  that we have too many non-profit organizations. Is there a legal constraint on the number of organizations? I would imagine that if  these organizations are efficient and effective, they could certainly
lessen the burden on community projects.

Hemi

Here is an old salesman’s proverb: “When something is ‘free’, it is perceived to have no value.”

What does ‘free’ mean? It used to be a transfer of ownership or possession…without consideration.

The water is free, in some restaurants, whether you purchase a meal or not.

Emphasize the ‘not.’

In a recent discussion with my friend, Benjamin Franklin, he reminded me: “What the large print giveth, the small print taketh away.”  I told him we are getting a free Transit Village at no cost to taxpayers!

Remember the Acme at Windsor Shopping Center?  It used to be a thriving place.

(It offered FREE parking for commuters if you didn’t ask.)

Well, one day I notice on my grocery receipt that I got a FREE loaf of Italian bread on my next visit!

YEAHHHHHHHHHH!  So’s… on the next trip, I grabbed a loaf of Italian bread back by the deli, snaked my way to checkout counter and proudly handed the cashier my bread and receipt for my FREE bread!   The cashier said: “What is your code?”  So, I, having received a former Top Secret government clearance during my military days said, “I don’t know.  It has expired!”

“No, no!” she said.  You need a code from taking the SURVEY.  Survey?  What survey?  Well, it seems I needed to take a SURVEY to get my FREE bread.

Can you guess I left the bread with the cashier?

So the NEXT time, I went in, I said to the manager: “Bill: I am giving you my CAR for free!” He paused… thinking there was something amiss.  Really.  I am giving you my car for FREE!…for $64,000.

It is sorta like lying… just a little bit. It isn’t a BIG lie.

(During the mayoral campaign I figured I could offer taxpayers a 30% property tax cut – JUST like Corzine.  He got elected, didn’t he?  He never had to deliver, did he?  In fact, the first thing he did was raise the SALES tax!)

All this free stuff from the government about which West Windsor has been crowing?  There IS a quid pro quo.  Just ask your grandchildren.

That government bailout of the auto industry?

Next thing you know, the government will be reaching into the state governments with free handouts and the county government with free handouts and the local government with free handouts (much more than the $44 million boasted) and then, ultimately, right down to the individual receiving free government handouts – like free housing, free health care, free education, and free food.

Can you imagine such a thing?

Zillions of free dollars!  Ain’t this American political system just grand?  (Again, ask your grandchildren if you think this stuff is ‘free.’)

From the WSJ of 20 May 2009:

The Treasury Department is poised to inject more than $7 billion into GMAC, the first installment of a new government aid package that could reach $14 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. The injection is designed to firm up the company’s balance sheet and allow it to grant loans for car purchases at General Motors and Chrysler.

The increasing infusion of taxpayer money into GMAC could turn the federal government into a large — and potentially majority — shareholder in the company, which is now owned by GM and a group led by private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management.

According to the WSJ, Goldin and his InterCap enterprise must be smarter than the entire marketplace.

18 May 09: 

 ”commercial real-estate loans could generate losses of $100 billion by the end of next year at more than 900 small and midsize U.S. banks if the economy’s woes deepen, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal.

Such loans, which fund the construction of shopping malls, office buildings, apartment complexes and hotels, could account for nearly half the losses at the banks analyzed by the Journal, consuming capital that is an essential cushion against bad loans.

Total losses at those banks could surpass $200 billion over that period, according to the Journal’s analysis, which utilized the same worst-case scenario the federal government used in its recent stress tests of 19 large banks. Under that scenario, more than 600 small and midsize banks could see their capital shrink to levels that usually are considered worrisome by federal regulators. The potential losses could exceed revenue over that period at nearly all the banks analyzed by the Journal.”

So when is the date certain for InterCap’s commencing construction of Princeton Junction’s  badly-needed Transit Village – parking garage, more retail, more commercial and more residential?

 No point in heading to Manhattan if the jobs are HERE. 

 With more development in West Windsor, taxes will plummet and more State aid will flow into the Township, according to Transit Village Smart Growth mythologists.

What is all the flap coming from some camps within West Windsor about a ‘free’ parking garage and all the brouhaha of censorship when a public official – in office for 10 years – is called out on his campaign promises and leaves a cloud about his departure from a financial giant?

Said references are made about a PUBLIC person, duly elected, for which questions remain unanswered.

An even larger question concerns why a public official – the founding titan of a $14 BILLION fund would not have used his extraordinary expertise to put the township’s financial house in order. 

(1). Why would this township have debt?

(2). Why would budgets be 6 months late in being adopted?

(3). What real-world business permits this sort of shell game? 

(4). Why, inquiring minds want to know, would a titan of the financial industry leave such a job – and

(5). What circumstances led to the departure?

So many questions; so few answers.

What doe American Express know that West Windsor doesn’t?

Wall Street and Main Street businesses live with a daily scorecard. 

Why are businesses cutting costs while the public sector is still whining? 

The cuts are coming; they HAVE to! 

New York State just lost one of its billionaires because the politico’s thought it would raise taxes on the rich.  Knock, knock?  The rich can move…and will.  Now, Gov Patterson and Governor Corzine, listen up:  When residents leave our fair state, you will get 100% of… NOTHING!  Capiche?

According to the 18 May 09 WSJ:  “American Express says it is eliminating about 4,000 jobs as part of a plan to slash $800 million in costs for the remainder of the year.  The layoffs represent about 6% of the credit-card lender’s current global work force.  The company says reductions will hit across business units, markets and staff groups.

American Express also plans to scale back investment spending and make further cuts to operating costs, including professional services and travel.

The $800 million cost-cutting plan represents a reduction from previously planned spending levels for the year.  It is on top of the $1.8 billion in savings tied to a cost-cutting plan announced last year.”