Walking and Talking

AUGUST UPDATE: I’ve been knocking on a lot of doors around Morristown and speaking with a lot of great people over the last month or so. I’ve also attended some great events, like the recent Neighborhood House community event (boy, was it hot that day !!). I’ve heard from so many people that they want a Councilman that will do everything possible to keep them, and especially their children, safe from crime, violence, and drugs. I have also heard many tell me they want a Councilman that will honor the historic nature of Morristown. They’ve said that they moved here because of the charm and unique nature of the town, and they don’t want it to turn into another Hoboken. They’ve told me that it is time to take a breath from all the building and find other ways to lower spending and taxes. like shared services. Many people have said that quality of life for their families is so important, and they wanted to make sure Morristown was not simply sold to the highest bidder. These conversations have been so motivating, and they confirmed exactly why I wanted to run for town council – on behalf of ALL of the people of Morristown, I will work to assure our town is all that it can be, and do the things necessary to assure that all her residents are safe, happy, and proud of their town !! If elected, I will be that voice on the Council to assure that the best interests of Morristown are always front and center in everything I do.

Primary Election

Now that the primary election is over, it is time to begin the general election cycle. Congratulations to Tim Dougherty, Michelle Harris-King, Kevin Gsell, and Tony Cattano on their wins in the primary election. I am looking forward to the next 5 months, when we will all be speaking directly to all the people of Morristown about our vision for the future of our town. I am also looking forward to this election being a demonstration of what an issue-based election can be, free from personal attacks and politics as usual.

Watch Last Week’s Candidate Forum

Please click here to view the recent candidate forum

Candidate Forum

I want to thank all the many people of Morristown for attending the debate last night. While the Republicans do not have a primary, I thought it was a great opportunity to introduce myself to all those people that I have not been able to meet yet. I look forward to the next 5 months, when I will have the chance to meet many/most of the people of Morristown and discuss the important issues our town faces.

Richard Babcock – Candidate For Morristown Town Council

RICHARD BABCOCK – A FRESH VOICE FOR MORRISTOWN

I have recently announced that I am a candidate for Morristown Town Council. I have decided to run for Town Council as I wish to offer a fresh voice and perspective on behalf of ALL the people of Morristown. After much thought and observation, and having many discussions, I am confident that I can have a positive impact. I see a need for greater diversity of opinion on the Council, something I view as lacking with the make-up of the current Town Council.

As I am running for an at-large seat, I will be a representative for ALL the people of Morristown. As such, I plan to meet and speak with as many people as possible in order to assure that I am hearing as many points of view as possible on the important issues we face as a town. Yes, we do have issues, and they require the steady hand, clear mind, fresh ideas, and the independent perspective I can bring to the Town Council. I will not be influenced by all the prevailing politics that seem to influence many of the decisions made by the current council. I will be an advocate for ALL the people of Morristown, so I will make sure that I listen to, and consider, many different perspectives prior to all important votes.

To summarize my candidacy: I will make sure that our tax dollars are spent wisely while enhancing town services, expanding job and educational opportunities, and improving public safety. After all, everybody wants to feel safe walking down any street in Morristown, day or night. Having a background as a corporate manager and a small business owner, I understand the economic struggles that we all face on a daily basis. Morristown property taxes are too high, town spending needs to be better controlled, and the Council needs to be more transparent and responsive to the people of Morristown. I will go out of my way to assure that I am listening to the diverse opinions from the four corners of Morristown, and make sure that those opinions are heard clearly by the rest of the Council members and the administration.

I am truly looking forward to speaking with the many residents and business owners that make up Morristown over the next six months. I also look forward to earning your trust, and your vote.

Thank you,

New Jersey: Home Of The Taxed

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.

Reduce energy costs. The state must reduce energy costs, not raise them. Under New Jersey’s energy master plan, a whopping 20 percent of a company’s total electric bill would go toward government taxes and surcharges. This is not acceptable.

Impose a moratorium on new regulations. The state should impose a moratorium on the issuance of new rules by the Department of Environmental Protection. Excessive regulations are a costly but hidden tax on the state’s businesses. The DEP last year issued 2,000 pages of new regulations, including one that requires the owners of tidal waterfront property — even chemical plants — to provide public “beach” access.

Support manufacturing. It pays to support a sector of the economy that pays above-average wages and benefits and supports half a million jobs. Let’s start with a 20 percent tax credit for manufacturers that invest in new equipment and facilities.

Establish one-stop-shopping. Other states make it easy for businesses to set up shop with “one- stop-shopping” that gives them a single point of access for all state permits and programs. New Jersey should do the same.

Stop the mandates. It’s time to stop the mandates. In May, New Jersey became the second state in to require paid family leave for all employees. The six week paid-leave program was strongly opposed by business. Mandates like this will only drive more employers — and jobs — out of this state.

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.

 

“TAP” into local talent

“TAP”  The Apprenticeship Program (of Morristown, Morris County, North Jersey, New Jersey, and beyond) …

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.

Local Influences

I was just doing some reading and thinking about a topic that has always been very much at the center of my political way of thinking. That is the influence and importance of local (town, county, state, etc) elected officials.

We tend to focus so much on the Presidential elections in this country, and not as much on the rest of government. This is proven by the drop-off in the number of voters in non-Presidential elections. In my opinion, too much importance is places on the Presidency and not enough is placed on the other elected officials (at least in terms of the apparent campaign enthusiasm and voter turn-out). Of course, the President is a VERY important office, I am not downplaying that fact. What I am saying is that we, as a country, need to put more emphasis on all the other elected officals at every level of government (Mayors, Town Council, County Freeholders, Governor, State Senate, State Assembly, US Congress, US Senate … hey, throw Sherriff and County Clerk into this discussion too, they are also very influential and important in our lives).

These locally-elected officials influence our lives in so many profound ways. This is a short blog, but please remember how important your Mayor and City Council is in making your lives better in your town. Remember that your Freeholders do a lot to make your county a better place to live. Please remember how important State leaders and legislators are in the health, safety, and prosperity of your state. Don’t ever forget how important US Senators and US Congressmen are in setting a positive national agenda. My last thought is this, please also don’t forget how negatively the wrong elected officials can effect your life. I urge your to vote, but I ask that you do so carefully and thoughtfully.