Great Books

Local Government

Introduction
How local government works and what citizens can do to reduce property taxes and eliminate the out of control township police departments by using their County Sheriff (a Constitutional Officer) instead of having high cost individual township police departments (the chief of police in a township is not an elected office nor is he/she a constitutional officer)—see heading entitled Why the Sheriff’s Office Should Replace existing Township Police Departments.

 

Locate your State District Number by Town (this is not your Congressional District Number, which is different)
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/districts/municipalities.asp


Counties and Districts
There are 21 counties in the State of New Jersey and 40 legislative districts for the State Senate (one State Senator per district) and the Assembly (two Assembly members per district—see map above).  These counties together contain 566 municipalities composed of clearly defined territory; 250 boroughs, 52 cities, 15 towns, 245 townships, and 4 villages.  A county stands between the state and municipalities and includes a Board of Chosen Freeholders, sheriff, clerk, and surrogate.  All are elected officials; however, only the county sheriff, county clerk, and county surrogate are constitutional officers (the county freeholders are not constitutional officers). Also, the county sheriff has great authority under the constitution for protecting citizens’ constitutional rights (see heading entitled Why the Sheriff’s Office Should Replace existing Township Police Departments). Some counties have an elected county executive, which pertains to counties that were organized under the Optional County Charter Law.  The location of the administrative office for the county is referred to as the county seat.

 

The New Jersey Senate
The New Jersey Senate was established by the New Jersey Legislature in 1844. In 1947 the New Jersey Legislature changed the New Jersey Constitution to allow the term of State Senate office to be four years instead of three years.  New Jersey Senators are elected in a “2-4-4” cycle based on the decennial United States Census, which affects the district boundaries.  As a result, elections in the Senate seats take place in years ending with a “1”, “3” or “7”.

Vacant legislative seats can be filled with interim appointments by the county committee (each political party has elected county committee members—2 year terms--for each polling district in the township—one man and one woman are elected only by their registered party affiliation; voters such as a registered Republican or a registered Democrat can vote for one man and one woman in their polling district only).  The office is on the ballot for the next general election unless the vacancy occurred with 51 days of the election—the appointment would then stand until the following general election.

What is Senatorial Courtesy?
This allows the State Senator from his/her district to prevent consideration of a local resident nominated by the Governor for a position that requires Senate confirmation. For example, a State Senator from his/her district can block the nomination of a prosecutor or judge temporarily or permanently without any obligation to justify the basis of their actions. [County Prosecutor’s and Judges are appointed whereas in Pennsylvania the District Attorney (the equivalent to our County Prosecutor) and judges are elected by the people—a better system.]

Historical note: The New Jersey State Senate had 21 representatives, one from each county regardless of the population (this was predicated on the our constitutional Republican form of government—2 U.S. Senators are elected every 6 years regardless of population and the congressional seats are apportioned by population and congressmen/congresswomen are elected every 2 years).  Yes, United States is a constitutional Republic, not a democracy (see Republic vs. Democracy--PDF and The Electorial College: Preserve or Abolish?--PDF). The Founding Fathers believed in a Republic and were against a pure democracy because it would lead to anarchy. Also, the states with a smaller population would have no say if the number of U.S. Senate seats were determined by the population. Unfortunately, the wicked Supreme Court of the United States in 1964 (Reynolds v. Sims) decided abolish this form of government in New Jersey—which was based on the federal model—by requiring a “one man, one vote” principle that legislative districts must be approximately equal in size.  David Friedland was the person who filed the suit in the New Jersey Supreme Court on behalf of two union leaders, who disgraced themselves by undermining our Republic form of government. The New Jersey Legislature acquiesced to the wicked United States Supreme Court and mandated the changes of “one man, one vote” principle that took effect in 1967.  The Governor had the authority under the Constitution to disobey the United States Supreme Court, but chose to instead to be a coward or he did not understand the authority given to State Governors and County Sheriff’s under the United States Constitution.

What is the Optional Municipal Charter Law or Faulkner Act (N.J.S.A. § 40:69A-1, et seq.)?

Under the Faulkner Act, it offers four basic plans for New Jersey municipalities:

There are two procedures by which the voters of a municipality can adopt one of these plans. The Act provides many choices for communities with a preference for a strong executive and professional management of municipal affairs. Twenty-one percent (21%) of the municipalities in New Jersey, including the six most populous cities --Newark, Jersey City, Camden, Trenton, Paterson and Elizabeth-- all govern under the provisions of the Faulkner Act. More than half of all New Jersey residents reside in municipalities with Faulkner Act charters.

Initiative and referendum
Citizens that reside in municipalities under the Faulkner Act, regardless of the particular form, have the right of Initiative and referendum.  Yes, ordinances can be introduced directly by citizens without action by the local governing body such as the Township Committee. In order to exercise this right, a citizen has to prepare a conforming petition signed by 10% of the registered voters who turned out in the last general election in an odd-numbered year (i.e., the most recent General Assembly election).  Once the petition is submitted, the local governing body can vote to pass the requested ordinance. If the local governing body refuses, it is then submitted directly to the voters.  For example, the citizens of a township decide to phase out their township police department over a 15 year period because of out of control costs (binding arbitration with high percentage increases in salaries when the federal and state economy is in very serious trouble, etc.) and replace it with the Sheriff’s Department (up to 50 to 75% cost savings), a petition would have to be signed by 10% of the registered votes, then the local governing body can pass the requested ordinance. Otherwise the ordinance would go on the ballet for a direct vote of the registered voters in the township.

Why the Sheriff’s Office Should Replace existing Township Police Departments
The Sheriff should be in charge of township law enforcement duties for the following reasons:

Total:       $4,010,492.00
Raritan Township’s Total Budget: $16,872,575.32
Police Percentage of Budget:  24%  [Note: This percentage does not necessarily account for the true cost of operating a township police department—when the full costs are accounted properly such as pensions, the percentage cost can be anywhere from 30%  to 50% of the townships’ budget)

• The Sheriff is elected Constitutional Officer and not a bureaucrat and is an employee of the people.
• Mistreatment of the citizens by the current township police departments (which the President of NJIAT has been receiving a lot of complaints by the citizens--both old and young--against the township police departments in Hunterdon County such as being pulled over with no probable cause, harassment, nasty attitude, etc.) is harder to address because the chief is not an elected officer (who sets the policy and culture for the department and many honorable township police officers have to work under a chief who runs the department like the Gestapo) and most township committee members are cowards or have a vested interest (control) in keeping their high cost police departments.  The Sheriff is elected every 3 years and is thus directly accountable to the people.
• The Sheriff has the ability and authority under the Constitution to protect citizens’ liberties against the federal government and state government.  Yes, they can disobey a federal law if it is a direct violation of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.  Also, the county Sheriff and the Governor are the only state officials who can call out the “militia” (armed law abiding citizens—see I Samuel 25:13 for support of an armed citizenry called to action) or “posse” to support efforts to keep the peace in his/her county.  The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 27, 1997, that the Brady bill was unconstitutional and that the Federal Government could not commandeer state or county officers for federal bidding—this is a tenth Amendment right.  Federal agencies could not do whatever they felt like doing.  Justice Scalia wrote for the majority, stating, “The Federal Government may not compel the states to enact or enforce a federal regulatory program.” (See article by Sheriff Mack on the subject.)
• The President of NJIAT has spoken to many high ranking New Jersey State Police Officials about the local township police departments—they concur with me that the township police departments are out of control and should be phased out with the exception of city police or park rangers. The townships that are currently patrolled by the State Police such as Kingwood Township do not have to pay for the services because they were grandfathered in and have a population under 10,000; of course, the NJ taxpayers are paying for this service. If the citizens of that township had to pay for services, it would still be less expensive than having a township police department; however, the Sheriff’s Office could perform the same function at a lower cost and the Sheriff would be directly accountable to the people in the county. Also, any concealed carry permits should be processed through the Sheriff’s Office—this is what Pennsylvania and many other states do.
• On January 25, 2010, a meeting was held at the East Amwell Municipal building to discuss the possible merger of West Amwell’s, East Amwell’s (which does not have its own police department) and Lambertville’s police department.   There was one major problem with the independent study conducted by Blue Shield Consulting of Morristown (Mr. Ted Ehrenburg is owner and one of the main speakers there): The Sheriff’s Office report was not included.  An East Amwell resident asked why the option of the Sheriff’s Office was not mentioned and brought to the panels attention that Undersheriff George D. Mueller was in the audience and deferred to him. Undersheriff Mueller pointed out to Mr. Mike Capobianco, the Hunterdon County shared services coordinator, that they have already discussed the matter in detail and let Mr. Capobianco explain why the Sheriff’s Office report was not included.  Mr. Capobianco’s response can be summarized as follows:
  
  
  1. The Sheriff’s Office is the most cost effective method of policing the county and is a 100% behind having the Sheriff’s Office (an already existing county police force) police the county where needed.
  2. The Hunterdon County Freeholders would not release the advisory report submitted to the Freeholders from the Sheriff’s Office and that is why it was not included in the study.
  3. It would be very difficult to get the Freeholders accept the Sheriff’s proposal because they do not like the Sheriff
  
  The citizens of the three townships, especially East Amwell, were not happy with the study and thought it was very flawed and offered no guarantee that the residents would save any money.  They would probably end up paying more money --West Amwell and East Amwell would have to subsidize Lambertville. East Amwell has free services already from the State Police.  Basically the Freeholders do not have a concern for the taxpayers, but have a vested interest in keeping these high cost township police departments and are trying to destroy the Sheriff’s Office. (It should be noted that Undersheriff George D. Mueller  has administrative expertise as former Freeholder for 18 years has actually generated revenue and saved money for the citizens of Hunterdon County through the Sheriff’s Office in 2008 and 2009 and Undersheriff Mueller has given presentations to other townships on the cost effectiveness and efficiency of having the Sheriff’s Office patrol their community and also proposed that the Motor Vehicles contract out the services to the Sheriff’s Office instead of the high cost Township Police Department that did not want it anymore—Hunterdon County would have made a profit on the deal if the Freeholders voted to approve hiring a Sheriff’s Officer because the State of New Jersey would reimburse the county for a set amount and the Sheriff’s Department cost of hiring an officer is much lower then hiring a  township police officer.  The Freeholders would not approve the hiring a Sheriff’s Officer for Motor Vehicles—the conduct and actions of the Freeholders is a disgrace.)  Hunterdon Central High School should consider a Sheriff’s Officer at the school instead of a Raritan Township Police Officer considering that the Chief is trying to obtain $70k (the real cost would be $100k) from the school for their services—the Sheriff’s Office has jurisdiction in the whole county and the sending districts could split the costs, not just Raritan Township residents if the school would have pay for the services. (I am sure if the Sheriff’s Office had a patrolling function in the county, they would not charge the school.)  There seems to be hostility towards Constitutional Offices by the Hunterdon County Freeholders—this ought not to be the case. The purpose of the Freeholders is to: 1. Run an efficient  county [having the Dept. of Corrections (County Jail), Emergency Services, Homeland Security, Communications, etc under the Department of Public Safety (DPS) instead of the Sheriff’s Office is not running the county efficiently); 2.  Lower the costs to the taxpayers (which is giving the Townships an option with the Sheriff’s Office); and 3.  Protecting their Constitutional rights, not how much control they can have.  The Prosecutor’s Office is not a Constitutional Office and the Freeholders have less control of this office then the Sheriff’s Office!  Which Constitution did they take an oath to? It should be noted that the Prosecutor’s Office has to pull individual police officers from different townships throughout the county for their Swat team—the Hunterdon County Sheriff’s Office should have their own Swat team instead of the Prosecutor’s Office, which is much more efficient and effective.

Contact your Hunterdon County Freeholders and ask them to release the Sheriff’s Office advisory report that was purposely kept out of the police merger report done by the Blue Shield Consulting of Morristown.

Can the County Sheriff Save the Constitution?—PDF

What can County Freeholders do to about the township police departments?
The county Freeholders should be instrumental in promoting the Sheriff’s Office instead of trying to destroy it as is the case in Hunterdon County.  By working with the Sheriff’s Department, the taxpayers on the local level would benefit because the individual townships in the county would have a valid alternative to their high cost police departments.  The township committee members would put in a request for so many unit hours (the unit hour cost would include the salary of the Sheriff’s Officer, overtime, and police car to operate in a one hour increment) and any other needs.  Also, Communications (9-1-1), the Office of Emergency Management, Homeland Security, County Youth Facility, Office of the County Fire Marshal, Emergency Services Training Center, and the county jail (which was taken away from the Sheriff’s Office in the 1980’s) should be under the Sheriff’s Office—the majority of the county Sheriff’s Departments in NJ have control of their county correctional facility). The Freeholders created in 2005 another bureaucracy called the Hunterdon County Department of Public Safety (PDS) and put the above services under PDS—this would be totally unnecessary if the Sheriff’s Office was running those services. This is not implying that current director of PDS is not doing an excellent job—he should just be under the Sheriff’s Office, which would give PDS a more effective Homeland Security (a local response plan is much more effective with a county Sheriff’s Office, especially having control of the Incident Command System (ICS) and if your township police departments have been replaced by the Sheriff’s Office).  (It should be noted that the new jail was suppose to be built behind the county library on RT 12—it would have been half the cost then the current location and could have housed temporary non-violent federal offenders, which would have been paid by the federal government. Yes, the county would have made money—the current jail was built on an outdated design that has a tunnel that connects to the court house that floods.  Ask your longest serving Freeholder (1978 to present) why he voted this way in the 1980’s along with other Freeholders who are no longer serving). Instead of the Hunterdon County Freeholders destroying the Sheriff’s Department and being petty over items requested such as off-duty badges ($2,000), which was already approved in the budget, they should be saving the taxpayers money on the big items such as eliminating the enormous fees that the county attorney is receiving for his services--$845,286.86 in billing fees to the county  in addition to a $62,328.00 salary from the county with health care benefits and a pension in 2008 (see copy of 1099--PDF& Salary and Health Benefits—PDF).  They can hire two full-time salaried attorneys and a paralegal for $300,000.  If the Freeholders allow the Sheriff’s Office to place an officer at Motor Vehicles in Flemington, the county would actually make a profit because the State of New Jersey would reimburse the Sheriff’s Office.

Recommended Book
See Sheriff Mack’s website below for further information.
www.sheriffmack.com
   
http://www.usa1911.com/landing/ 

Are you ready to take back these United States of America?

                                                We can show you how. Did you know . . .

• The President cannot tell your County Sheriff what to do;
• Congress cannot tell your County Sheriff what to do;
• The Supreme Court cannot tell your County Sheriff what to do;
• Your County Sheriff takes an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America.

 

 

Recommended Book

http://faithdefenders.com/ 
“Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a disgrace to any people” (Proverbs 14:34, NASB)    

 

Listen to G. Gordon Liddy on Radio America
from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM EST—live streaming.

Issues

• Take the Test: How would God Vote?
• Is Conservatism, Liberalism & Libertarianism Anti-Christian?
• A Simple Fallacy the Natural Theologians Commit
• Ayan Rand (1905-1982)
• Tracking False Conservatives
• Beware of False Conservatives
• The Truth about Black Liberation Theology
• Black Liberation Theology—the enemy within
• Ten Propositions on the religious Attempt to Change the Law
• Constitution 101
• Christianity and Humanism
• Christ and Civilization
• Rebuilding America in the 21st Century
• The Gandhi Nobody Knows
• Death by Gun Control
• ‘Gay-rights’ leader quits homosexuality
• The Purpose Driven Church?—Rick Warren’s Global Peace
• Psychology & The Church
• High school Students Lose More of their Rights (1957 vs. 2009)
• Ted Kennedy: Reagan’s Benedict Arnold
• A critique of Walter Cronkit—was He anti-American?
• Power Play: How Obama Is Exploiting phony ‘crisis’ To destroy U.S. sovereignty

Great Magazines