Andrew Cuomo tells local governments to consolidate.

View Comments (6)

• This is what happens when people continue to elect politicians who see everyone's money as that of the government. Until this stops, states like New York will keep on the path of self tax destruction. Hey Andrew don't you talk with your dad? He tried the same stunt some years back and many corporation fled New York. So it must be true. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

  • Especially when that family tree resembles a stick!
    Who else but the inbred would think doing the same failed thing over and over is a good idea?
    Oh, wait! He's a Demtard, I almost forgot!

• That Coomo needs to STFU is a given. That is the least of what he should do. And that he forces his agenda on people is also a given. He's a fascist progressive. A tiger would sooner go vegetarian than Coomo stops telling people how to live.

  But on this one thing I have to give him credit, while also recognizing that he's saying the right thing for probably the wrong reasons. The municipal level bloat, waste, and corruption is a huge driving force behind the ridiculous local (property) taxes people pay in NY and in my state of NJ. I do suspect his primary motivation is not so much looking out for people's wallets as much as looking to shift the blame from NY State. But nevertheless, if “we the people” can get some benefit from his misguided pursuits, then why not? Heck, they do it to us all the time.

  Local gov't, including school boards, county level bureaucracies, and special agencies (sewer commissions, regional development authorities, etc.), have become basically high-level welfare systems, handing out the cash, retirements, and unused sick-day payouts like it's someone else's money. Recently, I think it was in Keansburg, a town of barely over 10K people, a school superintendent retired with a check over 700K just for unused sick days. That’s on top of a 6 figure pension.

  Bergen County NJ has 850 - 900 K population. It has 70 municipalities. Many towns have less than 10,000 people. And every one of them has a police chief, a schools superintendent, and all the ancillary staff and offices. Ridgefield Park NJ (In Bergen), a mostly middle-lower middle class town with about 16K residents, is paying pensions to 5 retired police chiefs. And for those in the south, midwest, or mountain states, FYI - those too are well into 6 figures, probably in the 150 K range, and they come with full benefits to boot.

  All these microtowns also have planning boards and boards of adjustment. It is not uncommon that each will have its own attorney (different people from the Municipal Attorney). And this attorney is ON MUNICIPAL PAYROLL, and will also get a pension. No doubt he will need it to help defray the costs of his Mercedes 500. I don't begrudge him his luxury car, but I do have a problem with municipal officials, backed by men with guns, expropriating the money of working class people to pay for the extra Lexus. Note: in a town of 6000 people, being the Planning Board attorney is nowhere near a full-time job. These are politically connected lawyers who have their own practices, sometimes with several more lawyers working there.

  I recently saw a van that had "City of Hoboken Division of Carpentry" on it. Now WTF does Hoboken need a division of carpentry for? It begs the questions - Is there a Director of Carpentry? What is his salary? What is the pension? How many retired Directors of Carpentry are getting pensions? How many carpenters does the city employ? Or does it just sub out all the work? If it does sub the work out, then why can’t the City Engineer or Director of Public Works oversee the contracts?

  The city of Jersey City has a separate Incinerator Authority. Same questions.

  Newark has 55 (or so) Curriculum Supervisors in the Board of Ed. Only one also teaches. All but 2 have 6 figure salaries. And here’s the kicker: the book publishers say they would do that for free if you buy their books.

  Mom and Pop hardware stores are a thing of the past. There's a reason for that. It's an inefficient way of selling sheetrock, hammers, and paint. There's a reason why you don't see Mom & Pop jet plane manufacturing companies. There's also a reason why there isn't a national chain of Dentists, Landscapers, or Interior Decorators. Every form of business, private or public has its ideal size.

  But we have cities of millions on one hand, and villages of 3000 (or much less) on the other, and they each have a school system, a public works division, and provide sewer service, pave the roads, have a police dept. (most of these tiny rural or low-density suburban towns have volunteer fire depts., though the unions are always pushing to ban them), etc.

  Both of them can not possible be equally efficient in every field. Maybe some are better done on a scale of millions. Others may be better on a much smaller scale. But in any case, the notion that municipal gov't is an endless well of goodies that one can get at without doing all that much work has to stop.

  As a die-hard, radical libertarian, I hesitate to promote the use of force any time, and especially by innately corrupt gov't people. But in this case, I am not completely certain that the use of a little force may not be for the better.

  • There is a reason Hoboken has a division of carpentry, who else is going to fix the city owned welfare housing?

  • Very well stated. As you say, Cuomo is saying this for the wrong reasons, of course. He wants to consolidate to make it easier for him to force people to do his bidding.

• Someone needs to tell Cuomo to STFU and learn how to govern without trying to force his own personal agenda on the people.