They Called Her “Millie”

In reading The Bernardsville News, I stumbled upon the story of an award presented to a friend, Charles Lind of Basking Ridge. Mr. Lind was honored with the Millicent Fenwick Memorial Civic Award for his work with senior housing and the VNA of Somerset Hills.

Millicent Fenwick could not have been a better model for people such as Charles, who volunteer their time in the public square, or who serve as elected officials. Seeing her name in print jogged my memory back to the time when my family and I moved to Bridgewater in mid-1970, shortly after Mrs. Fenwick was first elected to the U.S. Congress at the age of 64.

Tom Kean, who wrote the foreword to her 2003 biography, Millicent Fenwick: Her Way, observed that, “You couldn't invent Millicent Fenwick. She was unique. The best writers of fiction might have struggled to make her believable, but they would have failed.” Gary Trudeau, author of the comic strip Doonesbury recognized her inimitability and cast her in the role of his famous pipe-smoking character, Lacey Davenport.

For me, though, Kean’s best and most accurate description of Fenwick is that, “Above all things, she hated hypocrisy and those who abused the public trust.”

A wealthy New Jersey patrician, Mrs. Fenwick was, nonetheless, a tireless worker and a pioneer in advancements on a broad spectrum of civil rights. I think that we still have a few people of Fenwick’s caliber around today, but it’s getting harder for them to make an impact and to maintain their integrity in the way that she was able to. Mrs. Fenwick served four terms in Congress and, in 1982, narrowly lost a bid for the U.S. Senate to Frank Lautenberg.

Giving Credit

There’s a lot of criticism about public employees lately; some of which, I think, is due to the scandalous financial condition of the State of New Jersey and its Rube Goldberg efforts to fix it. Because of that, many public employees who go through their day just trying to get the job done often don’t get much credit for what they do.

Some of those jobs are not so easy or pleasant. Take, for example, the crew that has to pick up deer from the edge of your property after being struck by a vehicle. It’s annoying to you, and it’s not the best duty for the Bridgewater Public Works employees dispatched to remove the remains.

That’s why, yesterday, upon returning from Thanksgiving with our family, I was grateful to see the quick response by employees of Bridgewater’s Public Works Department. One of my neighbors had called the Township as I was driving home. He was assured that someone would be there at 3:00 pm to pick up and dispose of the deer. A two-man crew arrived promptly and, bingo, problem gone!

Despite all of the issues, some things really do work in public service; and this, albeit a modest one, is a good example of that.

Note: Somerset County assumes responsibility for this job if the animal is on its own roadways, while Bridgewater Township will step up if the animal is on your property.

Paying the Piper

Would you purchase a car if the salesperson tried to close the deal by offering you the following incentive?: “I’ll sell it to you for $35,000 with low monthly payments, but if interest rates go up, we reserve the right to increase your payments regardless of your ability to pay.” Sounds unattractive and economically unsound, doesn’t it? Why would you do that to yourself?

Nonetheless, this is precisely the type of agreement that millions of homeowners throughout America and, by inference, some right here in Bridgewater entered into when they purchased homes, mortgaging them with what became known as “sub-prime” loans.

This began in the bygone heydays of abnormally low interests rates engineered by Alan Greenspan, the prior chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. He reduced rates to soften the economic downturn caused by the last stock market bubble, which he labeled as characterized by “irrational exuberance.”

Problem is, Mr. Greenspan got his timing wrong. He forgot to turn off the spigot which was pouring out a gusher of artificially low interest rates. Home builders, banks, and financiers aren’t stupid: They rushed in to fill the gap and stimulated a construction boom in the housing market. This resulted in the sale of homes to many naïve or unsuspecting consumers who temporarily benefited from low mortgage payments. Through the magic of sub-prime financing, these loans would rise to unaffordable levels when interest rates began their slow but inexorable climb back to normal. A real estate bubble was in the making.

The financial pages of newspapers and web sites are now full of fancy explanatory acronyms such as SIV, CDO, and other highfalutin terms to let you think that people knew what they were doing at the time and, “not-to-worry-thank-you, we are simply helping people pursue the American dream.”

Well, these structured investment vehicles and collateralized debt obligations are derivative securities far removed from the original mortgage loans and the homes which were intended to be their collateral. They were traded over and over again in a financial game of musical chairs. The game is over now, and many people are left sitting on the floor.

The problem is so bad that not even the big investment firms can readily move these securities, because no one knows precisely what their value is. The bottom has dropped out of the market. That’s why, as you are reading this, companies on Wall Street that specialize in valuing these types of financial instruments are frenetically working overtime, analyzing and setting prices on bundles of these SIV’s and CDO’s, whose plummeting worth is causing billions of dollars in write-offs to the suckers left holding them.

And what is the Federal Reserve’s response to this? Ben Bernanke, the newly-appointed chairman is lowering interest rates. Again!

Giving Thanks for a U.S. Blessing -- Freedom

His name is Abdul-Rahman al-Lahem; he is a 36-year old human rights lawyer in Saudi Arabia. If you think that the last phrase in the previous sentence is an oxymoron, you are right. According to today’s edition of the Washington Post, Lahem’s license to practice law in the Saudi kingdom was revoked because of “belligerent behavior, talking to the media for the purpose of perturbing the judiciary, and hurting the country’s image.”

Mr. al-Lahem is defending a 20-year-old woman from Qatif, Saudi Arabia, who, according to the Post, was “sentenced on a morals charge after she was gang-raped by seven men,” following her kidnapping and that of a male friend while both were sitting alone in a car. Both were sentenced to six months and 200 lashes!

Sharia law, as interpreted and enforced by the judiciary of that country, “prohibits unrelated men and women from mingling.” The kidnapping and raping apparently is viewed as an unrelated issue and has no bearing on the punishment of the woman and man.

Tomorrow morning, as you walk out of your home in Bridgewater to hit the stores, or to tend to some other priorities, you might want to remember how ubiquitous American freedom is and how dearly it has been purchased for us by generations of American patriots.

For a full account of this story see the Washington Post at, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/21/AR2007112102232.html

The Angel Wish Tree

If you’d like to perform a good act for a deserving person, the Bridgewater Commons Mall would like to help. It has designated two places within its building where Salvation Army Angel Trees are adorned with Angel Wish cards.

On the lower level, by the newly-relocated Guest Services Kiosk, a six-foot Angel Tree sits unobtrusively, tucked in a corner by the two water fountains close to the new rest rooms near the entrance. The second Angel Tree is located near the Macy’s Wing on the main level.

Each tree features a card with the name of a person and that person’s wish. If you’d like to give yourself an extra dose of holiday goodwill while helping a needy individual, select a card from one of those trees, check what the person would like, and purchase the item if it fits your budget. Should you have kids, encourage them to help you to select the Angel Wish card that you all think is best.

All you need to do to complete your good deed is to drop off the unwrapped gift at the Guest Services Kiosk on the lower level with your selected Angel Wish card. It’s that easy. The Bridgewater Commons Mall is facilitating a really good thing. It would be encouraging to many deserving folks if, through your benevolence, those Angel Wish cards flew off the trees.

Black Friday

During the past ten days, there’s been a tempest in a teapot brewing about the fact that New Jersey state workers lost the day after Thanksgiving as a holiday. Although it’s never been an officially negotiated day-off, it was regularly granted to state workers by gubernatorial proclamation, since around 1962.

I can understand the disappointment with Governor Corzine in that he did not continue that tradition; but let’s get realistic – it’s simply not a big deal. Things change, and this is one of them. State employees have known for a year that this was coming down the pike, so last minute protestations by some of them are falling largely on deaf ears. Corzine has not said that state employees can’t take the day off; he’s just saying that it will be charged to them. Thirteen paid holidays is not a chintzy benefit.

I don’t believe that those who are making the most noise represent the thinking of all state employees. Other state workers who have paused to consider how their job security, medical benefits, and defined pension plan compares quite favorably with those in private industry must be blushing over their colleagues’ weak claims of entitlement.

Note: For a more thorough discussion of this issue see the following AP story which appeared in the Courier News on November 18, 2007, http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071118/NEWS03/711180454/1007

Santa’s Premature Arrival

The Bridgewater Commons Mall had no sooner completed the refurbishment of its three-story atrium section, than the annual Christmas tree began to rise. From the center of the atrium floor, the enormous tree reaches all the way up to the walkway of the third level.

This year, Thanksgiving comes early. But guess what comes even earlier: Santa. That’s right, Santa! And not just an image of Santa, but a real, in-the-flesh Santa stationed on the first floor of the atrium apparently ready to go. Only one problem, though: He doesn’t seem to have much to do over there. He was observed in the last two days ambling about, chatting with a couple of workers who clearly were not his elves.

I couldn’t tell whether he was supervising holiday preparations, or if someone simply called him on the job too quickly. It seems to me that he must have many other obligations in his workshop up at the North Pole than to be distracted so early in the season by well-meaning but unthinking Bridgewater Commons management.

It would be much better, don’t you think, to save Santa for when it’s getting a little bit closer to Christmas? Heck, at this point, the Bridgewater Commons Mall could easily be suspected of overreaching. Even the little kiddies who spot Santa at the mall so soon must be wondering what he’s up to. He just seems terribly lonely and out-of-place right now.

Bridgewater Newspaper Trivia

Did you know that the Courier News of Bridgewater played a major role in the rollout and progress of USA Today? I’m going by memory on some of this, so I stand corrected if there are a few holes. USA today – the nation’s largest newspaper – was founded 25 years ago, largely through the efforts of Allen Neuharth, a self-labeled S.O.B. according to his 1989 autobiography, Confessions of an S.O.B.!

What I now recollect from Neuharth’s book is the classification of his corporate opponents as “good S.O.B.s” and “bad S.O.B.s.” The former, he wrote, worked to obstruct his progress in establishing USA Today but were not particularly mean, while the latter pursued the same purpose, but were malicious, not to be trusted, and had to be watched closely.

If I remember accurately, Bridgewater’s Courier News facility was a prime founding contributor in the publication of USA Today, the nation’s first newspaper to offer color on a wide scale, while keeping stories short and not referring readers to an interior newspaper page for story continuation. Both newspapers are part of the Gannett media organization.

Additionally, the Courier News became an executive feeder source for future USA Today top executives. In the early days, for example, there was Tom Curley, Courier News publisher in 1983-1985; and Ken Paulson, who was managing editor of the C-N in 1980-1984. Both rose to prominent positions at USA Today. Later, a few other people also followed their path from Bridgewater, N. J., to USA Today’s headquarters in the Washington, D.C. suburbs.

That newspaper now has a circulation of about 2.3 million. With printing locations throughout the U.S. and abroad, it also boasts one of the print media’s most popular web sites.

Congratulations Bridgewater!

One of the nicest surprises about Tuesday’s election in Bridgewater was the 43% voter turnout. To all of you faithful constituents out there, partisan and non-partisan alike who graced the polls with your presence, give yourselves a well-deserved pat on the back. You definitely deserve it.

There are few things better than an election where the incumbents are challenged and compelled to run hard. It sharpens everybody’s wits and clarifies the issues, giving voters a much better basis upon which to decide. Although it’s a real personal bummer for those of you candidates who didn’t make it, don’t waste any time second-guessing having entered the race, or what you might have done differently that would have made a difference.

Our system, despite all of its practical shortcomings, is based upon gutsy, aspiring office holders willing to question current political policy and practice, while risking the possibility of bruising their egos in a contest which they might lose.

The downside of our democracy is that it is often grimy, exasperating, non-responsive, inefficient and costly. Worse yet, some of it is populated with corrupt people – just pick up today’s newspaper to verify that.

Nevertheless, so far as I can see, there doesn’t appear to be any other structure of governance anywhere else than that of our U.S. democracy that’s better able to get the job done. In the end – even though at times it seems interminably long – the system seems to self-correct and to respond to the collective will of us all. The miracle is that the darn thing works at all.

We’ll Survive this Also!

There’s not much more that can be said or done on the last evening before Election Day. Probably most of you have made up your mind on the candidates and the questions. If you haven’t kept on top of it and aren’t sure what to do, remember this: The most important single thing that you can do is to go out and vote.

You’d be surprised if you knew how many elections have been determined by a tiny margin, simply because people just didn’t show up at the polls. Here’s a real life example that I’ll never forget: An incumbent candidate for the Bridgewater-Raritan School Board, a friend of mine and a good person, once lost his re-election bid by a single vote. He appealed via a re-count, but the numbers held.

The irony of that true-to-life story is that, at the last minute, I had asked two people to go out and to vote for him. Not thinking their vote important, they stayed away from the polls. Those two votes would have kept him in office for another three years!

Telemarketing Electioneering

We were sitting in the family room anticipating the beginning of the best football matchup of the season, the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts, both undefeated at game time, when the unwelcome, computerized electioneering calls started up again.

For the past seven days, my caller ID has been recording an incessant stream of these inane messages from out-of-area and unidentified political telemarketing firms, wasting more $ that could be put to better use. Does anyone seriously believe that this practice will have any impact upon voters, except to annoy the dickens out of them?

When politicians make law, you can always rely on this: They will invariably make sure to look out for their own self-interest. Guaranteed! When the Do-Not-Call Registry went into effect on October 1, 2003, legislators exempted themselves. The result has been incessant election-time barrages of computer-driven phone calls.

It isn’t soliciting voters over the phone that’s bad. It’s that none of these calls are personally from a human being asking for support. Getting a personal call from an elected official: Now that’s something tangible and worthwhile. What you receive, instead, is a flood of digital computer 0’s and 1’s coming to you over the phone in the guise of a human voice. And to make matters worse, they just don’t quit.

There is a way to intercept this political garbage, but why should you and I pay a fee to the phone company to block computerized calls from politicians and special interest groups? Not receiving unsolicited, unwanted telemarketing calls is precisely what the Do-Not-Call Registry is designed to do. Except, that is, for politicians.

Note: To read consumer facts about the National Do-Not-Call Registry, see the Federal Trade Commission at, http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/tmarkg/donotcall.shtm

Counting Sunsets

My wife called out to me from the other side of the house, remarking on how beautiful the sunset was. I picked up my camera and walked towards the bedroom window. I would have to move quickly, or I would miss the chance to freeze the moment. It was already 6:12 p.m. Friday – the setting sun doesn’t wait for the unprepared.

Since tropical storm Noël carried with it a solid, cloud-covered sky as it brushed past us from the east today, this would be the penultimate sunset before the last full day of daylight savings time.

Beautiful as sunsets are, we don’t always pay much attention to them when we spot them, sometimes while on vacation, from our backyards at home, or at other times while driving home from work.

Although quotidian, sunsets are quite extraordinary occurrences and for most of us, young or old, they can be spellbinding. They faithfully recur with daily precision and regularity, like a metronome marking off the days. During our lifetimes though, young or old, there will be only a relatively few: The next time that your child or loved one points one of these out to you, pause and marvel at this brilliant phenomenon of creation.

The Downside of Wealth

In your mail lately, you’ve received piles of fancy brochures heralding political candidates and issues. Think about all of the cash that those glossies represent.

It strikes a chord of reality in these parts. You and I – no matter what our individual resources may be – live in one of the richest sections of the nation. Somerset County, NJ ranks #7 in the country among all U.S. counties in per capita income, as well as in median household income (2000 census). That means a lot of money is available to do a lot of good. It also means that a lot of moola is available for graft, favoritism, nepotism and corruption.

Keep that in mind when you cast your vote on Tuesday. Take, for example, what you have consistently heard if you have kept abreast of the goings-on with the Somerset County Park Commission: It’s been said that we have one of the best park systems in the country and that it is the envy of many other states. Indubitably true!

But consider this: If you had the skills and were put in charge of growing a top-notch system of parks and also given the green light to construct superb golf courses and a ball park, while being provided with wads of cash to get there, wouldn’t you do just as well?

Maybe it’s the sweet sound of the Somerset County cash register as it goes, “ka-ching! ka-ching!” that all of these other states really envy.

Note: For wealth statistics on Somerset, Morris, and Hunterdon counties, see, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highest-income_counties_in_the_United_States#100_highest-income_counties_by_per_capita_income.07UNIQ71e0ea9b62c960f3-nowiki-00000006-QINU.071.07UNIQ71e0ea9b62c960f3-nowiki-00000007-QINU.07