More on CCM and immigration

The Daily Record has a good editorial on the subject today _ almost as good as I used to write.  🙂

Seriously, the edit’s point is well taken, although those who reduce this complicated issue to an “invasion by aliens” will not be swayed by logic. That is sad.

And what is sadder is that the Morris County freeholders, a group that should be more dispassionate, agrees with them.

Freeholders looking backward

At last Wednesday’s freeholder meeting, board members made no negative comment on CCM’s revised policy to allow undocumented students to attend the college. Now I read that they want the policy to change. This view is one of small minds and cold hearts.

The change impacts students who HAVE GROWN UP IN THE UNITED STATES. These are youngsters who came here with their parents at a very young ago. The national debate over immigration has many facets; let’s not punish young people by putting up obstacles to education. Educating students serves society,

CCM has it right. 

We must also note that Bill Chegwidden, the freeholder director, is a teacher in the Morris Hills district. One of the towns in that district is Wharton, which has a large Hispanic population. Surely, there must be students in the Morris Hills district who are here illegally _ some may even be in one of Chegwidden’s class. Should we expel them and put them on the street?

Here’s hoping the CCM board of trustrees holds firm to its position.

Three cheers for Rodney

At varying times on this blog, I have disagreed with Rep. Rodney P. Frelinghuysen, R-Harding.  But today, I must praise him.

Our local congressman was one of the few Republicans in the House to oppose cutting federal funds for Planned Parenthood. Good for him.

That prompted a group of Right to Lifers to demonstrate outside his legislative office in Morristown on Friday. Protests are what America is all about.

At the same time, it is heartening to see Frelinghuysen break with most of his GOP colleagues on this issue.  Planned Parenthood backs a woman’s right to an abortion, but in addition to that, it promotes and provides needed health services for many women. It’s good to see that Frelinghuysen understands that.

Ted Doty

 Ted Doty died this week.  It is something I write with sadness, given the fact Ted was one of the most frequent posters on this blog.
 
I first met Ted years ago when he ran for mayor of Rockaway Township. Things did not go all that well. We did not endorse him and that bothered him. Over the years, however, our relationship improved. Ted was the type of guy that every municipality should have — someone who goes to public meetings and makes a nuisance of himself. He raised issues and wrote letters on topics that displeased the powers that be.

During the lengthy hearings on Christ Church’s application to build on Green Pond Road, Doty took the right position _ supporting the church’s right to exist.  That was contrary to the views of a majority of residents, but Doty did not mind. In the end, the church’s application was approved and a temporary structure has been at the site for about two years .

More recently, Doty was a critic of the board of education, specifically its finances. He attended meeting and wrote numerous letters to the Daily Record espousing his views. The school board, sadly, responded in a child-like fashion. It yanked its legal advertising out of the Daily Record because we published Doty’s letters.

On this blog, Ted also carried on a running dialogue on a variety of issues with a man who identified himself merely as “P.”   Such is the ways of a blog.

I mourn his passing and express sympathy to his family. Ted Doty spoke his mind and argued for the truth as he saw it. And that was a good thing.

Praise from Freeholder Nordstrom — sort of :)

Ran into Margaret Nordstom at last night’s freeholder meeting and she greeted me by saying:

“I never thought I’d say this, but I miss your editorials.”

I took it as high praise!

Freeholders get support, but …

do they want it?

That may be hard to tell.  Five people addressed the board at Wednesday’s meeting in regard to the decision by County College of Morris to admit undocumented, or if you prefer, illegal alien students.

Four of the speakers applauded the move; one opposed it, suggesting that students being helped are those “who should not be here” in the first place.  That ignores the reality that the students have lived most of their lives in the U.S. and that educating young people can benefit society.

The freeholders said little about the policy change, although Bill Chegwidden, the director, said the freeholders, which help fund CCM, did not know about the change in advance. That seems odd. He also talked about how the CCM board is an autonomous body. Only up to a point.  It is, after all, the freeholders who appoint members. Chegwidden also said that the freeholders would work with CCM to implement the policy.

This is a political quandary for the all-Republican freeholders. The policy change at CCM has been praised by many as a bold step in removing educational barriers. On the other hand, there are elements in the conservative Republican base that demand no compromise with “illegals.”

The hope here is that the freeholders take a hands off approach and leave a wise policy decision alone.

Kyleigh’s Law is upheld

That is not surprising, given the fact the Legislature has the right to pass laws that really do not do any good.

The more I think of this law, the more I do not like it.  Its main accomplishment seems to be giving police an excuse to stop young drivers.

Sure, the law is legal, but that does not negate the possibility of the Legislature repealing it.

Friday’s rally in Trenton

New Jersey public workers say they will rally in Trenton on Friday to show solidarity with their counterparts in Wisconsin.

There may even be a counter demonstration by Tea Party groups, although the president of the Morristown Tea Party is advising aganst that.

As always, we have a battle of extremes here.  Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin is correct to seek increased health and pension contributions from workers.  However, it is going t0o far to seek to end collective bargaining, as Walker has proposed for all issues other than wages. Workers should be able to bargain for benefits. It does not mean they are going to get them, but they should be discussed. 

What I find interesting is how some of the Tea Party groups _ these alleged supporters of  avearge Americans _ are so quick to jump on the side of management against workers. That’s hardly the spirit of Americanism.

We need sensible reform in regard to public benefits, not a complete reversal from union control to manangement control.

The freeholders, CCM and illegals

Wednesday night is the first freeholder meeting since the CCM board of trustees opted to allow undocumented, or if you prefer, illegal alien, students to officially enroll.

That  was a great decision in my book, but not all in Morris County agree with my book.   That leaves me to wonder — will there be any public opposition to the move surfacing at Wednesday’s freeholder meeting ? It is the freeholders, who help fund CCM and who name trustees.

Attendance at freeholder meetings tends to be sparse, but with a hot button issue like this, things may be different.

Happy Presidents’ Day

Yep, that’s today.

If you are old, you recall how this day was celebratred on Feb. 22, which was Washingtion’s Birthday. But given the fact we like three-day weekends, we can not do that anymore. So, we have Presidents’ Day.

You have to love the thinking: All presidents, apparently, are the same. It makes no difference if we are talking about Washington and Lincoln, or Fillmore and Taft. They all get a day.

Kind of silly, don’t you think? For my money, it was better when we just honored the presidents truly worth honoring.