McNerney Addicted to Bigger Government

 THE RED FACTION  Integrity, Personal Responsibility 

  McNerney Addicted to Bigger Government

WANT TO ELIMINATE SMALL TOWNS

Call For Republicans to Mobilize 

  Bergen County Executive Dennis McNerney’s call for consolidation of the county’s small towns into larger ones is a politically motivated smoke screen that Republicans must respond to, says Joseph Caruso, chairman of the GOP political action group The Red Faction  

Of the 35 towns McNerney wants to see incorporated into bigger towns, most are run by Republicans, says Caruso.

“McNerney’s gambit is part of a broader Liberal strategy to eliminate Republican influence by creating bigger communities, with bigger bureaucracies and bigger, more powerful public employee unions that will support Liberals on Election Day."

Caruso notes the irony of McNerney’s suggestion to consolidate towns to lower property taxes at the time that the county is struggling to control its 2008 budget that is $14 million in the hole. The county has offered early retirement incentives to employees and is working on a layoff plan to help close the gap

“The county executive is coming off a year in which he raised taxes by $24 million and gave away generous raises to himself and other employees. Now he unveils a scheme to eliminate home rule in half of Bergen County.  Why not eliminate county government instead and save the taxpayers of Bergen County about $500 million?” asked Caruso. Caruso said there is no financial data to support McNerney’s “bigger is better” philosophy or similar plans by State Sen. Robert Gordon, who authored a bill to consolidate school districts and eliminate neighborhood schools. Gordon attended McNerney’s consolidation announcement last week. “Big isn’t better. It’s just bigger,” said Caruso. He noted that bigger regional school districts cost more per pupil than smaller districts. (The most expensive school in Bergen is the county high school at $22,000 per student annually)   “Big cities, such as Paterson and Newark have grown into giant, wasteful bureaucracies that are perpetuated only because billions of dollars of state aid are taken from small suburban towns and given to cities. Yet, the lower income citizens of these municipalities are still not getting the assistance they need and deserve!” said Caruso, who helped engineer Republican victories in several Bergen municipalities last year.

NO STATE AID ADVOCATE Caruso noted that the 35 towns that McNerney wants to eliminate are at the bottom when it comes to receiving state aid – and that the county executive has done nothing to lobby state government on their behalf to get more state aid.

“The towns that McNerney wants to eliminate --   like Allendale, Waldwick and Carlstadt --  get very little in state aid and therefore are paying their own costs and also paying costs in cities like Paterson, Newark and even Garfield – which get millions of our tax dollars,” said Caruso.

 “Before McNerney even starts talking about consolidating towns, he should demand that Trenton dispense state aid more equitably.”

Carlstadt Councilman and Republican District 36 leader Joseph Crifasi noted that some of the 35 towns on McNerney’s hit list for elimination, such as Carlstadt, East Rutherford, South Hackensack and Wallington are already among the lowest taxed towns in the county and would suffer tax increases if their towns were increased.

“Most of the small towns in Bergen are already sharing services, personnel and equipment with neighboring towns and would not benefit at all from consolidation  -- even if McNerney could prove there is some value to it – which he can’t,” said Crifasi.

“Obviously, Mr. McNerney is running out of things to do as county executive and is trying to find an expanded role for county government in administering towns that are forced to merge,” added Caruso 

The Red Faction leader said he is calling on small town mayors and council people to rally to oppose the growing effort by Democrats like McNerney and Sen. Gordon.

“Republicans leaders need to wake up and respond to this latest threat from the liberal left,” said Caruso. “The Democrat agenda is to close our neighborhood schools and take away our small communities. They want all of New Jersey to look like Hudson County. We can’t let that happen.”