Month: January 2010

Igave up making New Year’s resolutions a long time ago, because I never kept them, and I got tired of starting my new year with personal failure. But as our economy begins to heal and we feel the glimmer of optimism as a new decade begins, it might be time to rethink that stance.

For the last several months, I’ve watched a segment on the “NBC Nightly News” called “Making A Difference.” While some of the features deal with celebrities who go above and beyond the call for their fellow man, the bulk of the stories deal with ordinary people who do something extraordinary to help others.

Some of those segments almost brought me to tears.

There was the story about Brad and Libby Birkey, who own a restaurant in Denver, Colo., and who believe that everyone deserves to eat well, despite their ability to pay. At their restaurant, customers order off the menu and pay only what they can. They say they’re still making a profit, by the way.

There was the story about Lionel and Mischa Thompson, who found themselves in desperate economic circumstances, but were moved when friends and neighbors started turning up at their home with donations of food and money. Once they were on their feet again, they gave back by starting givinganon.org, a website that allows donors to give anonymously to people in need and pairs donors with people who most need help.

There was the story about Joe Works of Humbolt, Kan., who lost half of his manufacturing business to the tough economy, but refused to lay off any of his 180 employees. Instead of working in his manufacturing shop, he paid his employees to perform public works projects. They repainted churches, built baseball diamonds and improved playgrounds.

There were lots of other stories, but the message of all was simple: Many of us in this great country are only a few paychecks away from disaster, and the only way we’ll come through intact is for those of us with means to reach out to those without.

But because many of us who are still getting by are doing it with limited means, we need to get creative.

That’s my resolution — to find and share some affordable ways to help others — and I’d like to challenge my readers and local governments to make it with me.

It doesn’t have to be painful; we just need to think outside the box. For example, a story in The New York Times last week noted an innovative program in the public libraries in Joliet and Palos Park, Ill. Those libraries gave patrons with hefty overdue book fines a way to clear the slates. In lieu of the fines, they could donate canned goods or other groceries to local food pantries. Patrons simply take the amount they owe in fines, divide it by half, and donate that many items to charity. If the fine is $50, for example, the patron can erase his fine by donating 25 items.

That is beautiful in its simplicity. The libraries get their books back, patrons are off the hook, needy families are fed and everybody wins.

Programs like that could certainly work in New Jersey, but I don’t think we have to limit them to libraries.

Why couldn’t local governments offer the same deal to people with unpaid parking tickets?

Why couldn’t schools offer that deal to the families of students with unpaid fees?

Why couldn’t youth groups or volunteer organizations work a modified version of that deal and complete projects for people or families who couldn’t afford it otherwise? In my neighborhood, for example, there are several elderly citizens living on fixed incomes who simply can’t afford to paint their houses or landscape their yards. But what if a Boy Scout troop or other organization offered to do that work for them at a discounted rate — say 50 percent — and donate the proceeds to charity?

Again, everybody wins.

I believe that the old adage “All of us are smarter than any one of us” is absolutely true. That means that the possibilities for helping each other are limited only by our collective imaginations, and our collective wisdom. In other words, they are virtually unlimited.

As we start the new decade, I’d like readers to send me their best ideas for making a difference. I’ll share the best in this column, and together we’ll try to make something positive happen in 2010.

And if you know someone in your community who is making a difference, let me know about them and I’ll share those stories as well.

• • •

I tried to pay attention, but I couldn’t get very worked up about the big fight between the Fox network and the Time Warner Cable system.

As you know, Fox was threatening to pull all of its programming from the cable system unless it got a payment of about $1 per subscriber from Time Warner. Time Warner, which had never paid for rebroadcasting Fox content, thought maybe 30 cents per subscriber was more reasonable.

The two companies duked it out with competing full-page ads in national newspapers and long editorials on Fox News stations that devotedmore time to telling people what jerks the folks at Time Warner are than telling viewers what happened in the entire world that day.

Although this whole thing was about corporations making even more money than they already make, or keeping more of what they have, both sides tried to make it sound like a consumer issue.

Fact is, consumers are going to end up paying no matter what the terms of the last-minute compromise the companies worked out might be.

Does anyone think that if Time Warner pays Fox a compromise fee of 50 cents per subscriber, they’ll eat the loss? Or will they simply pass the cost on to consumers in the form of higher cable rates? And what happens if other networks start demanding similar per-subscriber fees from the cable companies?

We all know what will happen, don’t we? Either we’ll be looking at even higher cable bills or drastically reduced programming.

I’ll tell you this, however: I hope the network that carries all those home-improvement shows my wife is always watching does go away. If she didn’t get so many ideas from television about projects to add to my to-do list, my life would be a lot simpler, and a whole lot more affordable

I might even be able to afford a satellite dish.

Gregory Bean is the former executive editor of Greater Media Newspapers. You can reach him at gbean@gmnews.com.

Unfortunately, there are many similarities between Afghanistan and New Jersey. I have been stationed in Afghanistan for a little over four months. I am certainly not an expert on Afghan ways or Afghan politics.

However, I have seen some very disturbing things that have extremely damaging effects on the population here as well as the stability of the region. I also see some similarities between my home state of New Jersey and Afghanistan.

Corruption is rampant here in Afghanistan. It was reported recently that the minister of industry and mines accepted a $30 million bribe from a Chinese company that was awarded a contract to mine copper in Afghanistan.

There are reports of alleged corruption from provincial governors that pilfer U.S. funds that are meant for the redevelopment of Afghanistan.

As a side note, I disagree with the word redevelopment as it indicates that this country was developed in the first place. This is the most primitive place I have visited in the world.

When you have bad leaders that are corrupt, you cannot progress as a society. That is clearly the case here in Afghanistan, and I believe it to be the case in New Jersey.

Just to give you a case in point, former Marlboro Mayor Matthew Scannapieco was convicted of accepting $245,000 in bribes from local builders.

He lined his pockets, due to his own personal greed, and made the people of Marlboro suffer with extreme overdevelopment that the infrastructure could barely handle. Not to mention the fact that neglected his duties with regard affordable housing obligations. This behavior is common practice in Afghanistan.

In certain provinces, the governor will charge the chief of police $100,000 for the job. Once appointed, the chief hires police officers that will kick up money every month to him to secure their jobs. Additionally, when

comes time for payday, the chief documents that there are 100 police officers, when in fact there are really only 30. The chief keeps the other 70 phantom police officers’ pay. It is a giant Ponzi scheme.

Corruption is such an everyday part of life in this country, it is expected that you must bribe someone to get building permits, licenses, a trial in court, and to travel on the road system here.

Police will set up checkpoints and demand cash from you just for riding on the roads.

Provincial governors are involved with builders and construction companies and rig the bids so their friends get the contract and end up getting a large kickback from the company.

People are tired of having to pay off officials for items that are expected to be free, and in the end, the people suffer for it.

When you open a newspaper in New Jersey, you will most likely see a story about a corrupt official or group of officials that were caught taking bribes. Once again, we the people suffer for it.

How did things go so horribly wrong in the state of New Jersey with regard to corruption?

When I tell my fellow military officers I am from New Jersey, they laugh and say, “Well, at least you are used to the corruption.” We live in a beautiful, diverse state that can be the shining star in our nation. Instead, people know us as the state with the highest corruption, highest property taxes and the “What Exit?” joke.

It saddens me to see such a similarity between life here in Afghanistan and New Jersey. I don’t think the conditions will change anytime soon either.

Political figures are very rarely held accountable by the people who elect them. How often do people vote for people because they saw their name in the paper or heard from someone else that they are a good person?

Why not get to know the people you are electing and figure out where they stand on issues that affect you most?

If you are one of the people who do the latter, congratulations on putting in the effort, however, you are in the minority.

Political figures should be held to term limits. Some people argue that the people set the term limits and if they want them out of office, they will vote them out.

Since most people do not take an active role in learning about the people they elect to office, how can they determine what the appropriate term limit is? In my humble opinion, the following rules should apply to public officials:

• Set term limits to a maximum of 12 years.

• Create stronger laws and penalties to combat political corruption.

• Mandatory jail time for those convicted of corruption.

• Mandatory ethics training for all politicians and appointed officials.

• “Clean” election zones that will not allow money to come in from lobbyists or other parts of the state or country.

• Create a website of “Ethical Offenders” determined by municipal and state ethics boards.

Bad leadership coupled with corruption will destroy our state and will create an environment of animosity and polarization, and will lead to a dysfunctional state that will hurt all who live there.

Everyone has to accept responsibility for voting for the right person based on skill sets, positions on issues, and ability to work together (bipartisan) to get things done.

If people do not accept responsibility and do not become educated about political candidates and issues, nothing will change and we will continue down this disastrous course.

For the record, I am an elected official in the township of Marlboro as well as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army.
Jeff Cantor
Councilman
Marlboro

Mrs. Wotton, 90, of Lakewood and formerly of Howell, died Dec. 25, 2009, at The Leisure Chateau, Lakewood. She retired as a bookkeeper for Frank Muth Builders, Long Beach Island, in 1989. Prior to that, Mrs. Wotton worked for Allen Lunden Advertising, Caldwell. She was predeceased by her husband, Thomas G. Wotton; and a sister, Edith Wotton. Surviving are a son, Andrew Wotton and his wife, Pamela, of Whiting; a daughter, Karen and her husband, Michael Puglisi, of Howell; 11 grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and a sister, Joan Simons of Tuscaloosa, Ala. A funeral Mass was celebrated at St. Veronica’s Catholic Church, Howell. Interment followed in Gate of Heaven Cemetery, East Hanover. Memorial contributions may be made to St. Veronica’s Catholic Church. Arrangements were by the Clayton& McGirr Funeral Home, Freehold Township.

Mrs. Borden, 77, formerly of Freehold Township, died Dec. 28, 2009, at Martin Memorial Hospital South in Stuart, Fla. She worked at the Parkway Diner in Lakewood and then for Dr. Ruth’s Chiropractic Office in Red Bank for many years. In 2001, Mrs. Borden and her husband, Herbert, retired and moved to Hobe Sound, Fla., where they spent their remaining years. She was predeceased by Herbert in 2007. Surviving are her friend, Ed Worth of Florida; two sons and a daughter-in-law, Glenn of the Morganville section of Marlboro and Mitchell and Sharon of Brooklyn; a sister, Estelle Sanders of Manhattan; and three grandchildren. A graveside service was held at the Hebrew Benefit Society Cemetery in Freehold. Funeral arrangements were under the direction of the Freeman Funeral Home, Manalapan.

Mr. Monday, 89, of East Brunswick, died Dec. 21, 2009, at Sunrise Assisted Living, East Brunswick. He was a graduate of the Stern School of Business at New York University, N.Y., and worked as a controller at Con-Lux Coatings, Edison, for many years. Mr. Monday served in the U.S. Army Air Corp. during World War II. He was a long-time volunteer at Saint Peters Hospital, New Brunswick. His wife, Terry Monday, predeceased him in 2003. Surviving are a daughter, Lynn Struening of East Brunswick; three sons, Robert Monday of Florida, Lee Monday of Long Valley and Barry Monday of Marlboro; eight grandchildren and a great-grandson. Funeral services were held at Rezem Funeral Home, East Brunswick, followed by entombment at Frost Woods Cemetery Mausoleum, East Brunswick.

Mrs. Benedickson, 78, of Howell, died Dec. 29, 2009, at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune, after a courageous battle with kidney cancer. She was born in London and had resided in Hazlet and Manalapan before moving to Howell. Mrs. Benedickson was a member of the Women’s Republican Club and the Women’s Jaycees, both of Hazlet, and a volunteer at CentraStateMedical Center, Freehold Township. She was predeceased by her husband of 49 years, Robert J. Benedickson. Surviving are her children, Karen MacCloskey and her husband, Michael, of Dallas, Dawn J. Benedickson of Shark River Hills, Robert W.H. Benedickson and his wife, Denise, of Fair Haven, and John P. Benedickson and his wife, Lynne, of Villanova, Pa.; nine grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; a nephew; a niece; a great-niece; and her neighbors, Bob and Marge Seagram. Funeral services were held at the Higgins Memorial Home, Freehold. Memorial donations to Dr. Richard Childs, (include in memo “Dr. Childs Kidney Cancer Research Fund), 10 Center Drive, Bldg. 10-CRC, 3-5330, MSC 1230, Bethesda, MD 20892 or Toys for Tots would be appreciated.