Control freak government and corruption
Cash in an envelope. In return, a promise that a development project will speed along, unhindered by bureaucratic delays. A handshake to seal the deal.Government regulation in New Jersey is more than a speed bump on the way to completion of a project. Add to that the high construction cost because of unions and the high price of land and the slightest delay while the meter is running on construction financing gives the corrupt official the leverage to ask for an envelope with cash in it. It is part of the cost of doing business in the area and it is organized theft from the public as well as the developers.
It is the most clichéd, unimaginative form of corruption — and its persistent hold on New Jersey’s elected leaders seems unrivaled in American government. Over the last decade alone, nearly 150 of the state’s senators, mayors, county executives and council members have been arrested and charged with leaping at the chance to engage in this lowest-common-denominator crime, at times for laughably small sums of money. But the history goes back much further than that.
...As 44 people walked before cameras last week, their hands in cuffs, after they were arrested in the state’s biggest corruption scandal in years — but not, to be sure, that many years — even their most scandal-fatigued constituents, from the gritty precincts of Journal Square in Jersey City to the glittering new condominiums on the Hudson in Hoboken, began to wonder: Why is New Jersey so unshakably corrupt?
That answer, it turns out, has as many nuances as corruption itself. Interviews with law enforcement officials, prosecutors and, perhaps the best authority on the subject — those arrested in previous sweeps, like Mr. Botti — reveal a culture of corruption so ingrained that it has become impossible to resist when the envelope appears.
A decade-long building boom has flooded towns with millions of development dollars, as well as wealthy businessmen eager to secure sewer permits and zoning waivers. The Democratic Party firmly dominates local politics, turning most elections into sleepy coronations. The state’s news organizations, once vigorous watchdogs, have been decimated by a deep industry downturn.
Add to all that the fact that New Jersey is divided into hundreds of tiny fiefdoms, where part-time elected officials without much education and with small salaries wield considerable power, and the heady mix of arrogance, control and promised payoffs dissolves the will of even the most determined reformer.
It also seems to dissolve their intelligence and caution, because often enough, the man with the envelope is wearing a wire.
...It wasn’t always like this, proud New Jersey residents say. But, in reality, it always was.
As far back as the 1870s, a grand jury in Hudson County indicted two police commissioners accused of awarding contracts to fictitious groups. And by the 1970s, fraud, extortion and kickbacks had become as common as traffic jams on the New Jersey Turnpike.
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It was this kind of corruption in Louisiana and New Orleans that made Houston a great city. In Houston there are few zoning codes to trap the developers and corruption is not tolerated. The free market system insures that the guy with the best product or service gets the deal, which is a benefit to everyone but the crooks.
Control freak government gives the corrupt too many opportunities, and in New Jersey there are few who can resist.
I'm sure there are others to be uncovered. It's a shame that the gubernatorial race in New Jersey features two corrupt and incompetent characters. The Republicans should have picked Lonegan in the primary.
ReplyDeleteYou speak of media attention. There is a definite media problem in New Jersey. The only somewhat major newspaper to come out of the state is the Newark Star Ledger and it just does not get as much attention as the NYC/Long Island newspapers. That's North Jersey's affliction... it gets worse in Central and South Jersey where Philadelphia news dominates.
New Jersey also is absorbed into other major city visual and radio media centers. South Jersey gets Philadelphia TV, North Jersey gets New York TV... there's no New Jersey television outside of a small NBC affiliate in Wildwood that covers a small radius and NJN(PBS). There's far less scrutiny, which is obvious.
Unfortunately, you speak of the opportunity that Houston has due to its lack of zoning laws, incredible competition, low cost of living, and great opportunities. There is no such thing in the BosNYWash corridor, that's left-liberal country. However, it may have been behind the booms in Pittsburgh and Charlotte. However, there are many other reasons behind this.
Great post, Merv. I'm a lifelong Pennsylvanian and I can see New Jersey from my house. Growing up here, one quickly learns to react to just about any social irregularity with "Ahhh, it's Jersey - fageddaboutit."
ReplyDeleteYou're also right on to point out that you have to dig pretty far back to get to the "good old days" in NJ. I think a long time ago, New York City got all NIMBY and decided they needed a 'back room' to handle dirty work. They just needed to persuade the Mob that it was a 'step up' to move to Jersey. And that's what happened . . .