ChesterfieldNewJersey.com is a website and forum for residents of Chesterfield Township in Burlington County, New Jersey, including the village of Crosswicks, the hamlet of Sykesville, and the new Old York Village. The purpose of this site is to discuss public issues of common interest and local concern and promote greater civic engagement (i.e., more "bottom-up" oversight) and better local government--not necessarily smaller or bigger, but definitely less wasteful; less insular and secretive; more open and transparent; more efficient; more accountable to taxpayers; more environmentally proactive; and more democratic. A recent book about blogging put it this way: "[T]he cause of democracy is served by having more information out there...democracy is advanced by having more voices included in the conversation." Another book puts it another way: "[T]he forces of democratization battle the forces of secrecy in a fight for increased transparency, and social media is giving the upper hand to transparency."
Critical discourse and debate are welcome, and cynicism is tolerated--after all, this is Unsustainable New Jersey, with the highest property taxes in the nation, the second-highest sales tax, the third-highest annual tax burden (per capita), the second-highest state for monthly housing costs, the second-worst business climate, the third-biggest deficit (as a percentage of revenue), the fourth-most lottery-dependent state (only three states derive a greater percentage of revenue from lottery ticket sales), one of the top 10 states in risk of fiscal peril, the state with the second-highest outbound migration rate (more people are leaving New Jersey than any other state except North Dakota), the state with the lowest return on federal tax-dollars (New Jersey receives 55 cents for every dollar sent to Washington, compared to New Mexico, which receives two dollars), the number-one polluted state (based on the EPA Superfund priority list), the state with the most municipalities per square mile (566 in total, compared to 480 in California), and, arguably, the least democratic state in the nation (no other state cedes more unilateral authority to its governor, the only statewide-elected official, and no other state has so many dual-officeholders in its legislature, including our own Assemblyman Ron Dancer, a.k.a. Plumsted Township Mayor Ron Dancer, and Senator Rob Singer, a.k.a. Lakewood Mayor Rob Singer of the 30th Legislative District).*
Chesterfield Township reflects some of the systemic problems with government in the Garden State:
But...if you're not yet a cynic, that's okay, too. You're welcome to post as well.♦ a township committee of three elected officials, the least representative form of local government allowed by state law (by contrast, 25 out of 30 municipalities in Burlington County are represented by five or more officials, and of the remaining municipalities, Chesterfield has the largest population by far, nearly 7,000);
♦ flagrant conflicts of interest, self-dealing and ticket-punching by members of the township committee and planning board;
♦the annual awarding of lucrative "no-bid" professional contracts by the township committee and planning board;in 2010, the township committee and planning board awarded "competitive" contracts to the same seven vendors who previously received no-bid contracts;
♦ a taxing scheme in which residents in the northern half of the township effectively subsidize the fire-taxes of residents in the southern half;
♦ voters defeated a $13.9 million school bond referendum in 2003 before approving it in 2007...for $37.3 million.
info@chesterfieldnewjersey.com
*Some of these rankings are out of date.
