Goodbye, county government?

The Record's Oshrat Carmiel reports today on former freeholder and gubernatorial candidate Todd Caliguire's ambitious platform in the race for the Republican nomination for County Executive (primary on June 6th).

Caliguire certainly demonstrates aptitude for telling voters what they want to hear, promising a thorough reform of county government through the elimination of wasteful spending on services that are duplicated on the state and local levels. Given that county government has no natural constituency as it is largely invisible to residents, Caliguire's plans should be music to the ears of the Bergen County electorate.

Unfortunately, Caliguire's bold "Blueprint for Downsizing County Government" runs up against the reality of a State of New Jersey tottering on the brink fiscal crisis. According to the article, Caliguire hopes to shift the burden of many significant budget items off of Bergen County and onto the State. We don't need the ensuing quotations from Caliguire's opponents and a spokesman for the Department of Community Affairs to know that the chances of success are two: slim and none.

The virtue of Caliguire's unconventional thought on the place of county government and its programs is that it may stimulate officials and voters to think in a radical new way about how things could be done differently. While few of the ideas put forward are likely to survive in tact even if Caliguire were to win election, it may be time to examine the institutions of government we have created and reevaluate whether they are suitable for the current and future realities of 21st century life in New Jersey.

The danger in making such radical proposals is that they can be easily dismissed as unrealistic and therefore ignored.

The outcome of the June 6th primary between Caliguire and County clerk Kathleen A. Donovan may determine whether the big plans Caliguire has formulated are tossed aside completely or whether they become a part of the ongoing dialogue in Bergen County for years to come.