Politics in Vernon

What is Vernon politics all about? Well, it’s where up is down, black is white and nothing is what it seems to be. It’s a place were friendships, character and ethics are used to run the town and mostly it’s the lack of character and ethics that wins. It’s a place where the former mayor Mr. Carew can attack the current mayor Ms. Rinker on a proposed open space land deal, about a property she owns. First, our bias is for people that don’t raise our property taxes by 30% during their tenure. Second, as to credibility we believe people who were driving a bus blindfolded (and crashed it) should never be given a new one. Mr. Carew had four years to establish some creds and he consistently squandered all chances that he encountered. Yes, we have advocated that Open Space monies be used to actually buy land that will remain Open Space forever, and the Rinker property not only fits into this but has been offered at a fair price. End of story. As to other properties bought by the Township, well the Attorney General is supposedly looking into those purchases and we support looking into the waste of taxpayer monies.

Currently, there is a move by the Deputy Mayor to take the monies gathered by the Open Space Property Taxes and use the money for a grab bag of projects (lighting, new fields, new recreation programs, tea for grandma,) Yes, this fits nicely with the last ten years of tax and spend on frivolous projects, which reminds us of the Town Center money pit project. Basically, this idea of spending any money we have without a financial plan or how we will address escalating property taxes is nonsense. The era of fractured financial planning, of constantly going to the residents of the town and asking for more money, should come to an end.