Let it Snow

Wow, so much to say. In case you live in a cave you should know that in NJ we had a snowstorm this week. The snow started falling on Sunday at about 1 PM and continued through the day and night. It was sunny on Monday morning, but by that point inches upon inches of snow had fallen. Add to that the blizzard like effects of wind and there were snow drifts that were easily 3 feet high. After a path was shoveled from the gate in my backyard to my back door we had an area of snow that was nearly 5 feet high. It came up to my neck!

I didn’t expect with the storm that I’d find Twitter to be so much fun. I follow Newark Mayor Cory Booker. I’m not a huge fan of politicians, but I do like when they function like humans and actually care about people. Mayor Booker has been Tweeting nonstop since Sunday and it seems without a break. He’s been shoveling out cars all over the city; coordinating plows and police to keep the city clean and functioning. He has proven to be somewhat of a superhero. He was even photographed and it appeared he was trying to calm a dispute. In the photo he was not in a suit and tie, not even in a jacket! He was in sweats, no gloves, no hat (and he’s bald), but the point is that he was there.

I learned late on Sunday as the snow began to pile up and that my office was closed because of snow that a state of emergency had been declared. What was most telling however was who had made that declaration—State Senate President Stephen Sweeney. Seems he was given the role of acting governor because both Governor Chris Christie and Lt. Governor Guadagno were out of state on vacation. I paused. A storm was predicted for 5 days, reports from the South on Christmas Day told us the storm would be bad. Forecasters did not hesitate, they predicted more than 12 inches. And while all this was happening these two idiots packed up their families and headed to the airport. On Sunday as the snow approached they boarded planes and flew off on vacation.

Christie never stopped to say to his kids, “hey your mother and I make over $400 thousand a year, we can go to DisneyWorld anytime. There’s a storm headed and I need to coordinate efforts to keep the state moving.” Guadagno could leave, she’s useless anyhow. In fact maybe she’ll stay in Mexico.

Now add to this the fact that I have not read in any article yet, how will this storm affect the bottom line? Christie cut aid to towns and put upon them the difficult task of keeping their property tax increases below 2%. Now we just had a storm that required municipal workers and county workers to be in plows at all hours. I’m sure their overtime is going to be huge. Cops had to be out to cover accidents and to keep the roads clear so plows could go through. Again, overtime. Often during storms local fire departments step in to assist with stranded and stuck cars. Other emergency services are generally on alert and all of this costs money. Now let’s add the other costs of salt and gas and mix that with the fact that many towns had to lay off many of the people that handle these services because of the budget cuts and you’ve got what we are witnessing. Roads are not in great shape, I didn’t see salt down anywhere, and a lot of frustrated people.

Look cleanup after a storm like this can never be perfect. Cleanup after 5 inches generally is never good, but the bigger point is just how this all looks. Governor cuts budget, towns cut back, governor goes on vacation and basically throws his arms up and says, “deal with it,” when a record storm brings the state to a halt. Oh yeah, that’s the way to lead.

Author Robert Heinlein once said, “an armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.” In place of arms we have technology right now. We have phones with Internet access and the ability to reach out to the world in real time. So when a car is stuck on Springfield Avenue in Newark, Mayor Booker is called to task thanks to Twitter. And unlike other politicians he has not fled and gone on vacation. He instead asks for the address and says he’ll a get a crew out there ASAP. And if the crew can’t make it he’s shown up personally to help.

So take that Chris Christie, how’s the line for the Tea Cups?