The Open Slots: Nine days from now on November 6, we the voters of Bridgewater get to cast our ballots for one of three candidates for the mayoral spot and for four guys vying for two council seats. As you examine your ballot, you’ll also see candidates competing for State Senate, New Jersey Assembly, County Clerk, Board of Chosen Freeholders, and for Sheriff.
The Questions: There are also four questions seeking your approval or rejection. The first deals with dedicating 1% of the state sales tax for property tax reform; the second asks for $450,000,000 for stem cell research; the third wants $200,000,000 for purchasing land and property for the public interest; while the last question proposes a constitutional amendment which would change the language denying the right to vote for certain persons.
The Missing Question: What you won’t see on this ballot though is what would certainly have been a critical fifth referendum question: “Do you approve the elimination of the Somerset County Park Commission and the realignment of all its responsibilities directly under the Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders?”
The Background & Analysis: On August 21, the Somerset County Freeholders reversed their prior position and voted 3 to 2 to postpone until December any decision on whether or not to dissolve the Somerset County Park Commission. This move disfranchised you, the voter, because it took away any possibility that you would make this decision as you pull the lever in the ballot box on November 6.
Just as important, it prevented a potential backlash of voter turnout which might have affected the outcome of the election for some of the candidates’ open slots. No incumbent party wants this, because controversial public issues on a ballot tend to swell voter turnout and can often injure incumbents. We saw this in the last national election when the Administration lost control of the Congress.
Understand this: I am an independent voter and have no skin in this game. However, I like to see the public as involved in all aspects of direct decision-making as it is possible and reasonable to do so.
It was a good move for the Freeholders’ own interests to have pushed aside the Somerset County Park Commission ballot question. But it was demeaning to you – it seems to eliminate any lingering doubt about the faith that elected officials might have had in your judgment to do the right thing.
There were many passionate pleas made by a lot of prominent people on the evening of August 21 to pressure the freeholders into making the decision not to place the fate of the Somerset County Park Commission into the hands of you, the voters, on November 6.
The freeholders blinked. Jack Ciattarelli and Denise Coyle were the only two elected officials who voted against the majority that night. In an op-ed piece that appeared subsequently in the Courier News, Ciattarelli has since further justified his well-thought-out rationale for dissolving the Park Commission
It’s exasperating, isn’t it, thinking that you will vote a week from next Tuesday – some of you will stay away from the polls in disgust – and won’t have the option of deciding on one of the highest-profile issues affecting Bridgewater and Somerset County?
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