Barometric pressure readings are dangerously low and falling in Bergen County, Save Jerseyans.
Dangerous for whom?
Any county bureaucrats caught in the path of Hurricane Kathe!
The Bergen Record reported late last night that Bergen’s County Executive fired SEVEN of nine commissioners at the Northwest Bergen Utility Authority. No one should be surprised. Kathe Donovan hasn’t been shy about vetoing their minutes. Most recently, on March 30th, she complained that “Part-time commissioner’s rip-off full time benefits and cash stipends and then charge the taxpayers again for their legal fees. We are not going to allow the commissioners to force taxpayers to fund a legal challenge which is not in the taxpayers’ best interests.”
Her patience finally ran out yesterday when, reportedly, dismissal notices were delivered to seven Bergen residences. I bet that went well…
But hey, someone needs to do it! I like this lady’s moxy; I have ever since we interviewed then-Clerk Donovan back in August 2010. She and her trusted ally, Governor Chris Christie, have made it a point to try and rein in the Garden State’s notoriously unaccountable “authorities.” These shadowy, quasi-governmental entities exercise tremendous control and command huge operating budgets but, until recently, seemed to waste money with near-absolute impunity. See the DRPA for an exceptionally egregious example. We all have our favorite.
So what’s so controversial here? Just last month, Donovan told NJTV that she believes there are “two many freakin’ layers of government in New Jersey.” No honest person could disagree. And anyone willing to buck the system (and the fat pensions/benefits of its beneficiaries) is bound to encounter stiff opposition from all sides and both parties.
I say “bring it on!” We’re trying to SAVE a state, folks – not make friends. Ms. Donovan clearly agrees. In a political world where you need to pick your wars, this is most definitely a fight worth waging. She may even do some long-term good if Bergen Republicans don’t succeed in killing each other first!
My only regret? That Hurricane Kathe’s current projected storm path isn’t expected to cross Southern New Jersey any time soon.
and her own party is fighting her why?
Good for her. These authorities need to have their wings clipped by somebody.