In introductions by Allison Deeb, Morristown Councilwoman from the 4th Ward, and Ed Ramirez, Chairman of the Morristown Republican Committee, there was a call for Rich’s brand of reasoned, professional leadership. They both commented on Rich’s ability to put politics aside in favor of putting his genuine concern for the needs of Morristown front and center.

Rich confidently told the enthusiastic audience that he views issues not in terms of political “left and right” but in terms of “right and wrong.”  He said that he is running for Town Council because what is lacking is a diversity of opinion and enough open cooperation and dialogue between the community and the Council.

Shared-services were a prominent topic in Rich’s comments last night. He called for a new era of civility, professionalism, and trust between the Morristown leadership and the leadership of neighboring towns. He strongly stated that this is an essential issue that must be addressed in order to lower spending and taxes in Morristown. His comments were well received by all that were in attendance, especially Morris Township Mayor, Scott Rosenbush, who extended a handshake to Rich in a demonstration of his support of Rich’s call for a new tone of cooperation and partnership.

Re-development was also a main topic of Rich’s remarks. He said that he supports the town moving forward to assure that Morristown remain a beautiful and dynamic community. He supports re-development so that Morristown will offer the best facilities for a healthy retail and residential environment. But, he cautioned, there is a time where good judgment must be used to determine when the saturation point has been reached. He pointed out that the infrastructure of the town can only take so much, and over- development would have a negative impact on both quality of life and the historic charm of the town he loves. He said: “Morristown is a town of neighborhood, a town of families, and it will require sound leadership to assure that we do not lose the essence of what we love about our town.”

Rich also commented on his concern for the safety and security of the community. He said that in this age of drugs, violence, and gangs, it is essential that the Police and Fire Departments are fully staffed and equipped to assure that all people that live, work, and visit Morristown, especially the children, are kept safe. He commented, “After all, we all wish to feel safe as we walk down any street in town, day or night.”

New Jersey’s State/Local Tax Burden Highest in Nation:
Estimated at 11.8% of income, New Jersey’s state/local tax burden percentage is the highest in the country, well above the national average of 9.7%. New Jersey taxpayers pay $6,610 per capita in state and local taxes.

New Jersey Property Taxes: Highest Per Capita in the Nation
New Jersey is one of the 37 states that collect property taxes at both the state and local levels. As in most states, local governments collect far more. New Jersey’s localities collected $18,225,594,000 in property taxes in fiscal year 2004, which is the latest year the Census Bureau published state-by-state property tax collections. At the state level, New Jersey collected $3,660,000 in property taxes during FY 2004, making its combined state/local property taxes $18,229,254,000. At $2,099, New Jersey’s combined per capita collections were the highest in the nation.

New Jersey’s 2008 Business Tax Climate Ranks 49th
New Jersey ranks 49th in the Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index. The Index compares the states in five areas of taxation that impact business: corporate taxes; individual income taxes; sales taxes; unemployment insurance taxes; and taxes on property, including residential and commercial property. Neighboring states ranked as follows: New York (48th), Pennsylvania (27th) and Delaware (9th).

New Jersey’s Individual Income Tax System
New Jersey’s personal income tax system consists of six brackets and a top rate of 8.97% kicking in at an income level of $500,000. Among states levying personal income taxes, New Jersey’s top rate ranks 6th highest nationally. New Jersey’s 2005 individual income tax collections were $945 per person, which ranked 15th highest nationally.

New Jersey’s Corporate Income Tax System
New Jersey’s corporate tax structure consists of a flat 9% on corporate income. However, corporations with total net income of $100,000 or less pay 7.5% and corporations with total net income of $50,000 or under pay 6.5%. Among states levying corporate income taxes, New Jersey’s top tax rate ranks 7th highest nationally. In 2006, state-level corporate tax collections (excluding local taxes) were $287.51 per capita, ranking the state 6th highest nationally.

Federal Tax Burdens and Expenditures: New Jersey is a Donor State
New Jersey taxpayers receive less federal funding per dollar of federal taxes paid than any other state. Per dollar of federal tax paid in 2005, New Jersey citizens received approximately $0.61 in the way of federal spending. This represents a decline from 1995 when New Jersey received $0.68 per dollar of taxes in federal spending (second lowest). Neighboring states and the amount of federal spending they received per dollar of federal taxation paid were as follows: New York ($0.79), Pennsylvania ($1.07), and Delaware ($0.77).

Now that the bad news is out in the open, what do we do from here? We are taxing our people (income and property) and businesses to death. We are losing people and businesses to other states. We need to elect fiscally conservative leaders who will act, and act quickly to reverse these policies that are killing our state.

Reform taxes. Does it make sense that New Jersey tax law penalizes businesses that hire workers and build facilities here? It certainly doesn’t. Let’s overhaul the corporation business tax so that it no longer gives a break to out-of- state companies that merely sell goods and services in New Jersey while more heavily taxing businesses that have operations here.

It’s time New Jersey embraced business as its economic partner, as other states have done. It is time to ease the tax burden on those that live and work in New Jersey.  Only through following these conservative fiscal initiatives can New Jersey begin to attract and retain people and businesses to live and set-up shop (or stay) in the great state of New Jersey. Vote for those politicians that will follow these basic guidelines to return New Jersey to prosperity and growth.

When it comes to the training and employment of our children for a career, we often hear that education is the key, and I agree. The question to be asked is regarding how “education” is defined. In our country, the model seems to generally be that education for white collar jobs means college, graduate school, etc. and for blue/gray collar jobs it means trade school or on the job training. In many parts of the world there is an additional approach know as the apprenticeship. We often think, in America, of an apprenticeship to be associated with a trade like plumbing, carpentry, lock smithing, and the like. I would like to see this concept broadened to include white collar career paths.

We have all known very bright people that would be considered ”not book smart.”  There are many, many kids that grow-up in families that have not had the exposure to higher education, and as a result they don’t stress the importance of it to their children. There are kids that grow up in families that cannot afford a college education for the children, or need their children to contribute to the family income immediately after high school graduation. I could go on and on, there are a million scenarios, but my point is simple, what many of these people have in common is limited opportunities in the business world, thus by default they take jobs instead of pursuing careers.

Here in Morris County, we have many Fortune 1000 companies, as well as many other large employers of various sizes and industry types. The other thing we have here in Morris County is one of the highest ranking school systems in the country. So, we are in a position to offer many young, bright, and available potential candidates for employment.

What if we were to establish a program (let’s start small – start it here in Morristown) where we gain the support of 10 local employers to be fully involved with a mentor and apprentice program targeting kids like I described above starting with summer employment following their sophomore year of high school. In that first summer, these employers would agree to each employ three kids for ten weeks, rotating the kids after five weeks. This rotation would allow the kids to get exposure to two employers, and the employers would get to evaluate a total of 6 kids.  As part of the program, a mentor from each employer is assigned to each kid. This mentorship responsibility is to continue beyond the initial summer program, this relationship could extend through the student’s senior year. They could meet once of twice per month to talk about classes, the business world in general, goal setting, personal challenges, etc.

Following the summer program, there would need to be a process for giving input to the student, his family, the program manager, etc. As part of the feedback should be an evaluation of all the aspects of the student’s participation in the summer program – such as work ethic, interest level, communication skills, abilities, etc.  This would give all involved parties some of the necessary information to decide on the best company-student matches, and a place to begin to set some more educational goals for the student’s junior and senior years.

This program would then continue, maybe including a short employment stint during the Christmas break of the student’s junior year, then the following summer the student’s would be matched with the company where mutual interest has been expressed. This would further continue through the senior year.  Following graduation, there could be an agreement to a two year apprenticeship program, where the company and the student work together to build knowledge, skills, and outline potential career paths.

Obviously, this is an very general description of one potential approach. To get too much into detail would make this post just too long. The main concept is to encourage local companies to be good neighbors who are investing in local kids for the good of both the company and the community. By opening non-traditional opportunities to our children, we are helping our kids to get involved, think about their futures,  plan for their future, and to work toward achieving the goal of long-term career development.

While I genuinely love this town, it does have its flaws. I am dedicated to being part of the solutions for the future rather than part of the problem – or worse yet, one that simply throws rocks from the sidelines. The time has come when Morristown faces many choices that are waiting to be addressed as Morristown grows and changes. With evolution comes the need for sound and responsible leadership. I look forward to having my voice being heard on the important issues that face “our” town. Let’s start discussing what is best for our beloved Morristown. I will share my opinions and thoughts here, and I invite hearing the ideas of my neighbors.