Turkey with sides of humility, regret, and hope

 Thanksgiving Day has always been anticipated as a day to enjoy turkey and other great food and always with someone(s) I love.  This year the truth underlying that casual assumption has been laid bare.  The assumption is not casual at all.  For some there will not be any turkey or great food for there will be no food at all.  For some, they will not be able to be with a loved one in person or not at all.  The pandemic has wrecked havoc on a cherished belief.  However, I am very grateful that many of us will be able to reach out and see family and friends thru Zoom and other video means.  That's the turkey, the meat of the meal and day.

The side of humility concerns the humbleness I feel and have felt since April for all those people doing their jobs - the medical workers, the janitors, the truck drivers, the researchers, the shelf stockers, the bus drivers, the teachers, and way more.   I am in awe to your dedication and perseverance.  Thank you is all I can offer in return but it is deeply heartfelt.

The side of regret concerns all the little actions and words I said that made someone feel less than.  When I was younger, regret was all about the big actions or decisions that had major consequences for myself or someone else.  I have beat myself up enough and can't atone for them anyway.  So, my priorities have shifted to just trying to be a nicer, more polite person each day. Success is seeing a smile on someone's face (eyes now) each day.

The side of hope concerns the prospect of one or more vaccines arriving soon.  It appears all that dedication by scientists have paid off.  Now it's up to governments and community health services to deliver it across the globe effectively.  Before the election I had faith the vaccines would be created but little hope they would be distributed without a big mess.  It will still be difficult and complicated but I believe that from the top down fair and effective distribution will be a priority task.  Making the world safe from COVID19 will be the goal not cash in someone's pocket.

Happy Thanksgiving One and All in this strange and terrifying year. 

 

A revolution by any other name

Speaking my bias up front: I do not like the Trump presidency and did not vote for him.  There are many reasons and I fervently hope he is not re-elected in November 2020.  So, I have been watching the political campaigning by the candidates of the Democratic Party, hoping to find one I really can support even though I know in my heart of hearts, no matter who it is, I will vote for that person.  I've been hoping the candidate won't be as aged as I am but I really don't care because what I want is someone who will NOT take away social programs that benefit the poor and middle class and will NOT harm the rule of law, which is a fundamental social mechanism that has had egregious failures in the past but overall drives us to a more just, equitable society over time. 

I am a dyed in the wool feminist and fairly progressive for my age.  I would be so happy to see the ERA finally added to the US Constitution but here is the revolution I am going to cite -- the feminist one.  It has been a quiet one that has taken most of my lifetime but is almost complete.  Yes, I know we haven't elected a woman as president of the USA but it will happen inevitably.  The difference in opportunity and basic respect and expectations for a woman graduating from high school in 1965 and now is strikingly stark.  Yes, I can hear you on the left saying "Well, that's true if you are white!".  I think its true no matter your ethnicity or skin color.  Yes, it will be harder if you are not "white", but is still doable.  Having a goal of becoming a presidential candidate was laughable in 1965 but not now.

The feminist revolutionaries were very noisy in the beginning with "bra burning" and "witches of Wall Street and the Chicago Stock Exchange".  So noisy and boisterous that the ERA almost became part of the US Constitution.  It stalled but the revolution didn't.  Small policy changes in law, banking, politics, education, health care etc have added up to a big revolution.  And, the fight should never stop.

Thus, I would like those progressives who started out noisily in the 2016 campaign as Sanders supporters to learn from my experience and US history since the '60's.  Please don't throw shade on candidates who aren't as "woke" [shudder] as you would like.  It is more important to win the White House in 2020 and the Senate and the House and state legislatures than any immediate goals to upend the institutions you see as supporting the status quo.  Right now, wielding power in the White House is someone whose goal was the deconstruction of those institutions.  Trump is succeeding at that goal.  Stepping into the vacuum created is greed and corruption, because that is what happens with fast revolutions without the rule of law constraining them.

Learn from the old feminists.  Be practical and go for a "cold" war.  It works and you have to stop the slide into the abyss before you can start up the slope towards greater equality, opportunity, and respect.

Patrick Blaise Boniello

I didn't know my childhood girlfriend's husband very well but reading his obituary yesterday I was struck how appropriate his middle name was.  Pat had the brightest twinkle in his eyes and a smile that blazed as strongly as the sun.  Both matched his warm personality and love for his wife and family.  Pat is already missed.

I am having an identity crisis

No, not the ever popular gender identity type but the civil liberty, privacy type.  It kicked off with the voter fraud commission request to the states to provide a whole bunch of current and historical information on voters including the last four digits of their social security identification numbers.  I had an unnerved reaction like I was supposed to be paying attention to something here maybe.  [Aside:  a favorite science fiction book on where society might be going is John Brunner's "The Sheep Look Up."]

This reminded me of the onerous burden of proving you are who you say you are in order to get a driver's license in the state of New Jersey, which was a complete and utter shock when I moved here from Seattle and went like a good citizen to transfer my license from Washington State.  NJ uses something called 6 point ID whenever you apply for a new license, renew your license, move from another state, do a change of address, change your name because you married or divorced, etc.  The address proof is difficult for someone who just moves into state and the name change requirements can be hard for someone married several times.  Also, there is this special little check at the end of your social security number.  Silly me, I thought driver's licenses where to make sure drivers knew the rules of the road and had the necessary skills for good driving as proved by a road test. 

I needed a license right away because I needed to buy a car and lucky for me, I had already been paying real estate taxes and a water utility bill before I moved here otherwise I would have needed to wait at least a month to get proof of address.  I was  not happy and considered why should I even be a good citizen and transfer my license at all.  Darn that rule following streak, I went back to the licensing bureau with something that worked.

I thought this onerous process was just some mickey mouse that NJ makes one go through but it turns out that it can be worse in other states as in Kentucky where you need to show your Social Security card as well as other things.  I have no idea where my social security card is and haven't seen it much after I got it in my teens many years ago.  So, how many hoops would I need to go through to get a new one???

My sister, who worked at a small bank in NJ for many years says this whole process in NJ is to protect banks from the oodles and oodles of fraud and identity theft that was happening. Of course, I can not find any data to say it worked one way or another.  Maybe it did and the small banks are safer.    Maybe it didn't and that will be the new scandal coming from the US bank system.  What I do know is that I can not open any bank account or purchase a small CD at any bank without providing a social security number or a federal ID number    That bothers me because I don't think it safeguards the bank or me from any type of fraud or crime.  If I were fraud or criminal minded, I would create a corporation (which is easy and relatively inexpensive) and get a federal ID number for it and wash all the ill-gotten money I wanted through as many accounts as I needed.  No wonder someone invented Bitcoin.

I know intellectually that the Internet has made it so that anyone can know every thing about anyone but I still had this romantic notion that the USA was still a place where you could shake off past failures and re-invent yourself as better.  That might have meant you moved to a new state, chose a different name, learned some new skills, improved yourself, whatever but no longer.  Now, even our civic and financial institutions squeeze us into this little box created when you were born and labeled it with a social security number.  When did it happen that when you are born your parents have to get you a social security number right away?

So,  basically, many of our government institutions can track our whole lives from birth to now with just that one social security number.  I know many people live their lives out on social media through photographs and all without worry about privacy but not me.  It bothers me at some very fundamental level.  In my thirties I went from Margie to Maggie because I was opening a new chapter in my life.  Not a big change, I admit and did nothing to my legal identity.  I just wanted my family and friends to stop thinking of me as my little Margie, a label I really had come to abhor.  It worked though older family members found it hard to remember.  Some people need an even bigger change in their lives, but it certainly has gotten much, much harder.

Baa, I say, baa.

There it is again

In a report from NPR this morning, a Trump supporter says, "I think this country really needs to be run more like a business at this point."  Yikes. So what does this mean to run the country more like a business?  This particular Trump supporter is particularly worrying about the growing federal deficit but sees other serious problems.  So let's see if we can take a casual definition of a business and tease out what people might mean by this notion of running government like a business.

Let's define a business as an entity that provides goods and services in return for money or other considerations.  The usual goal of a business is to obtain more money for its good and services - a profit - than it puts out to provide those goods and services.  So the business owner makes a budget, forecasting what it will cost to provision itself and advertise, etc and forecasting what units of service and goods it can reasonably expect to sell/barter, and thus sets a price for the individual goods and services that should return a profit.

Notice the verb "forecasting".  This means the owner guesses.  The forecasts are for a specific length of time and are usually updated periodically, since costs and actual sales rarely meet their forecasts exactly.  A business may "run in the red" (run a deficit)  over a course of a year but the business will fail if it never makes a profit.  So, in a business sense, running a deficit for a long period of time is the road to failure.

Governments are not out to make a profit from the goods and services they provide.  A well-run government breaks even.  Still, a deficit is red flag that there is something wrong and should be addressed.  For the years 2007 up till now, the government purposely ran in the red because if it didn't the people it serves would not have been able to buy from the businesses existing in the US.  The deficit avoided plunging the US into another Great Depression.

The US seems to have climbed out of its steep recession, at least as far as the Fed believes, since it raised rates recently.  So, may be it is time to reduce the deficit.  A business would seek to raise profits in several ways:

1. Lower costs:
• Find cheaper sources.
• Lower quality of what is offered.
• Lower amount of goods in a unit offered.
• Cut out unprofitable goods and services.
2. Increase revenues/make more sales by:
• Add additional goods and services.
• Revise goods and services to be more responsive to buyers' needs and wants.
• Expand geographic range of where business finds buyers.

A business that just lowers costs in order to up its profits will eventually find itself back in the red unless it increases revenues because costs beyond the business's control will go up.  Likewise, a government will find itself back in the red if all it does is lower costs.  A government has only one way to raise revenues - raise the taxes it imposes on its citizens.  The Trump campaign wanted to lower taxes.  So does that Trump supporter want his taxes to do the opposite and go up so the government can reduce its deficit?  Is that what is meant by running the government more like a business?

The real question is how to raise taxes so the raises don't hurt the people the services are meant for.  The American Health Care Act strives to "lower costs" and it cuts taxes yet its effect is to raise costs on the persons it is meant to serve. A bad bargain so don't buy it.  

And, please stop thinking that if the government was run as a business we would be better off.  Some people might but I bet those would be the people who need government services the least.

Two of the notions really bothering me today

The first notion really bothering me today as I follow the news is that if we just run the government as if it is a business,  there will be a better outcome.  Pick your favorite - less taxes, less corruption, better national security, or whatever.  This notion has been around for years yet every time I encounter it, I shudder.  Now, with the Trump Administration have installed successful CEOs in positions of great power and responsibility, that notion is being tested in real time with big stakes. 

Failures are happening big and small, but especially on the global stage.  A small one was the media flap about Rex Tillerson being too fatigued to dine with South Korean officials, which was false.  It was reported widely in Asian countries before the US State Department corrected it.  Why it became a flap is because Tillerson made a judgment as if he was a CEO that he did not need a press contingent to accompany him on his diplomatic journey to Asia.  Well, Tillerson is not a CEO but a diplomat.  In fact, he is the top US diplomat.  He needs the press to accompany him so that the facts are reported, not speculation by observing media who have their own biases to push.  

Companies and corporations, whether they are domestic or global in scale, can put out press releases that carefully detail and/or limit what news they want released that fits their image.  Media can, in turn, put out reports that may distort or paint of very different picture of that company or corporation. But, if those reports do not report facts but are fabrications, the company or corporation can sue.  Governments can not do this; all they can do is counter with press reports of their own. 

Governments are not businesses nor should they be run as such. 

The second notion really bothering me is that government assistance whether in healthcare or education or foreign aid or whatever is a zero sum game.  I have read many articles about the "forgotten", who voted for Trump.  Too many of them seem to have chosen Trump because "someone else" was getting government assistance and they weren't and the best solution was to take that help away from the "someone else,", whether by deporting them or repealing the programs giving that government assistance, or building a wall or whatever stops the "offending" help.

Yes, the Democratic campaign waged by Hillary Clinton made many US citizens feel neglected and ignored.  Yes, there a vast portions of the US economy that have not recovered from the 2008 recession nor are they on a path towards recovery.  These are valid reasons for wanting change and recognition of the need for change.  But change doesn't mean you take something away from those who have the least.  Change can mean something like a universal health care system (not universal health care insurance) that might have spotted the opioid abuse trend before it because a US health problem.  Or, as some European countries have implemented, an education system that puts individuals preferences and aptitudes towards either helping them choose an appropriate secondary level of education and helping them afford it, without crushing debt.

If you believe government assistance is a zero sum game, let's figure out a different set of rules where we are all winners in that game.  However, I can't make life fair.

Further, I really believe that the reason the majority of job descriptions out there ask for a college degree is that they really want someone familiar with computer applications.  If our high schools are not teaching basic notions of computer science on an equal footing with math, that is a crime easily fixed.   Even a plumber or a mechanic or a salesman should be able to write a letter, do a simple Google search,  or enter and understand simplified checking account software.  With the advent of smart phones, many of the current generation have already mastered these skills long before they encounter such teaching in high school.  

Yes, these are "socialistic" notions.  Yes, I am "privileged."  Yes, I am an ardent "feminist."  Do I think universal health care and universal public education are rights of every individual?  Yes, I do.    Am I a member of some elite?  Yes, everyone has some skill or quality or ability that very few (relatively) share.  Am I an "elitist?"  Gosh, I hope not.

Thank you to the last of the Newfield Swim Club Founding Fathers

Daniel Asselta, 90, passed away yesterday.  His obituary mentioned he was one of the Founding Fathers.  That's a title bestowed on the men who established the Newfield Swim Club in 1959.  Polio was still a very real threat, often closing the many small recreational swimming areas on the lakes around Newfield, and with the shore about 50 minutes away by car,  this meant hordes of the baby boomers roamed the town with nothing to do. 

Not really hordes but certainly a boom of children had been born in Newfield starting in 1946 and since there were no dedicated summer sports facilities then and none nearby, we (I was one) roamed around on bicycles and foot.  The town library opened once a week on Tuesday evening in a one room building for two hours.  Various churches held summer Bible school, but that only kept some of us occupied for a week at most.  There were boy and girl scout camps and some families could afford to rent a house at the shore for a week, or may be a whole season but that was rare.

So, with a very real threat to our well being and the possible problems we could cause as we approached puberty (in those days, there was one cop and he walked the town as his beat),  a group of fathers had a brilliant idea -- buy land, build an olympic size pool (for that time), and establish a members only swim club association.  It was brilliant in concept and from ground breaking in 1959 to opening in the beginning of summer 1960, took dedication and and lots and lots of hard work apart from their regular bread winning jobs. 

They chose to make it private so it would not get bogged down in any town, county, or state politics and/or funding.  They had a business plan that forecast they would need about 100 families to sustain it through the years and while there have been lean years, it still exists 56 years later with about the same goal.  Oh, there have been many changes in that time and lots of hard work by many fathers and mothers alike to keep it vibrant but the original vision and hard work has paid off for three, possibly four generations of Newfield and surrounding areas residents.

So, thank you, Mr Asselta, as I would have called you.  I will also miss your bright and wide smile.

Calling Millennials who believe global warming is big issue for next US election

Remember the slogan "Think globally, act locally."  Global warming has become, for many, the global issue most important in the next US Presidential election.  Local actions have taken the form of protests and rallies against oil drilling/fracking, and small items like choosing better packaging (no plastics) from the grocery stores and retailers.    I don't want anyone to stop those local actions but I want you to add another local item: demand action on your local Superfund site.

There have been over 1100 Superfund sites listed since 1976 when the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) was passed.  If you search and find a local site and its status is final, that means it is on the list not that the problem is fixed.  Sites are deleted when all actions are completed and tests show no more contamination.    This process can take years, even when it has been decided what needs to be done. 

Newfield has a Superfund site with contaminated ground water and a slightly radioactive slag pile.  The ground water problem impacts residents in the City of Vineland more than it does Newfield and some action has been taken to reduce that problem, whether its the right action or not is not something I can judge but at least the problem is still being addressed.  Many years pass and the slag pile sits there and sits there and sits there while the company responsible and the US and NJ regulatory agencies have their days in court. 

I am assuming this is true for every Superfund site.  So, look up your local Superfund site and if it isn't cleaned up, demand action from your local politician, especially if they have a re-election coming up.  Make some noise, please.

Pursuing forgiveness

Several months later after a panic attack over another person's behavior that just enraged me, I read a passage in a book that spoke urgently to me.  It said basically that the best revenge is forgiveness and the best insult is indifference.  Applying the methodology known as "fake it til you make it", I have been putting the indifference part into good practice both externally and internally emotionally.  I am having a much harder time with the forgiveness part.

I have seen how powerful forgiveness can be in the example of the Charleston church members.  I don't believe the battle flag of the Confederacy would have been removed from the S.C. capital without their swift and direct forgiveness of the murderer.  It took the spotlight off the murderer and right on the nature of the crime - hate - symbolized by that very flag.  The response was historic.

I heard the message of forgiveness again when I went to see Disney's 2015 Cinderella movie along with its adage of "have courage and be kind."  Being kind enough to forgive often takes courage because forgiveness takes inner strength and a belief in one's own humanity and ability to make mistakes.  Mistakes that can alter one's entire path through life.

Pope Francis has declared a year of mercy that runs through Nov. 20, 2016.  Mercy sometimes requires forgiveness so I will take it as another sign I am on the right track.  For me, of course, the hardest person to forgive is myself.  Because in learning to experience forgiveness emotionally not just externally I have to separate failure to accomplish something from thinking of myself as a failure as a human being.  People with entrepreneurial spirit can do it, why can't I?

After all, having experienced various systems management group efforts where the emphasis was on finding the root cause of the problem not on personnel fault finding, I should have incorporated that lesson into my own emotional responses, but I haven't reached that state yet. 

I try to inspire groups to do that by providing examples.  I analyze situations I am experiencing or  others are reporting to me and look for ways to reduce or remove a problem but I can not reduce or remove an emotional reaction in myself or others.  I experience that lack of control as my failure whether it is or isn't.  

I need to say to myself I failed and then forgive myself and ask forgiveness of others if I have lashed out towards someone else.  So how do I get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice.  I have plenty of mistakes in my past just ripe for practicing on.  Wish me luck, add me to your prayers, or not.  Regardless, thanks for listening.

A good man died on June 4th

I am sure many good men and women died that day around the world but I want to talk about one I knew for almost thirty years - Al Erickson.  I heard about Al and his wife Marlys when my son began dating one of their three daughters although I didn't meet them in person for awhile.  Al was still working in Security for Boeing in the Seattle area then, a job he had moved his family to after moving around in the service.  Soon I knew any fears I might have that my son would encounter a rigid father who thought no man was good enough for his daughter were allayed.  Al's big heart had reached out to bring Brent into his family by feeding him plenty of meat and potatoes.

When Brent and Sheila moved into together while she was still a student at UW, Al wasn't fazed but helped them with their bills.  When Brent and Sheila went to France for a year as part of Sheila's education/career development, Al and Marlys went to visit.  When Brent and Sheila got married after 10 years of being together, Al gave a sweet toast at the reception held at Al and Marlys's backyard to the effect that Brent was already part of the family and had been for quite awhile.

Al was a good man who loved his wife, wanted only happiness for his daughters, supported his church, and lived every day of his life with integrity and grace, and he knew how to smile, which he did often.  He is missed.

Arrogance, Inspiration, Insult and Impressed

My self confidence has toppled over into arrogance again recently.  I was insulted when someone I only know in passing started to say they were impressed with some ideas I had gathered from others, added some of my own, then put into a succinct presentation.  I told myself I was upset because what I wanted to accomplish was to inspire them to put some of the ideas into action, not to be impressed with my writing skills.

There was a time when I would have let the person finish and bask in the compliments because I had very little confidence in my ability to put ideas down in a clear, readable fashion or, if my self esteem was particularly low, deflect it with a modest comment.  Now, I need to stuff that arrogance back in the box and practice humility again before that arrogance turns into self-entitlement.

My suggestion for a compromise between Borough Council and Fire Company

Since neither mediation nor negotiation happened, I am playing mediator here and making an open suggestion for a compromise.  Item 1: What the Borough Council and Mayor seem to want more than any other result is for the fire chief to be someone else and for regular reports of fire incidents to be reported to them.  Item 2: What the Newfield Volunteer Fire Company seems to want is to be left alone to run the fire company as they always have.  Item 3: What the residents of Newfield want is fire service at the same cost it historically has been.  Item 4: What the town needs if it is to continue to have its own volunteer fire company is a new fire truck.

I can not do anything about the Item 4 as that will raise the tax rate and no one wants that.  I hope a compromise addressing Items 1 and 2 will go along way to making Item 3 happen.

My points for the compromise are:
  For the Newfield Volunteer Fire Company:

1.  Prepare a succession plan for a new and different fire chief of their choosing to be installed in 6 months in order to give the new chief time to learn what procedures are, start what ever additional training is needed, and practice with the company in the role of fire chief.
2.  Provide written reports going forward and back to Dec 31, 2012 that make it easy to file incident reports on the national fire incident reporting system.
3.  Provide a write up of the procedure used to thoroughly vet new volunteers before they can be accepted into the company so it can be treated as public record, with any sensitive material such as passwords deleted.
4. Provide an affidavit signed by all members that they will not seek to nor re-elect the current fire chief for a period of three years.

  For the Borough of Newfield Council and Mayor:

1. Repeal the current ordinance and re-instate the the original ordinance governing a fire department.  This will return to control of the fire company, its membership, officers, and finances to the company as it was before 2013.
2. Amend the original ordinance to include written reports of fire incidents to be provided quarterly in a format and detail that is suitable for reporting on the national fire incident reporting system.
3. Provide the fire company with the contact information for reporting whatever details the insurance company needs on members and drivers directly.  This protects any sensitive information of individuals.
4.  Provide an affidavit signed by all members of Council and the Mayor that they will not seek to nor enact a new ordinance about the fire company for a period of three years.

Compromises require trust and there is little of that currently available so I have included affidavits for both sides that at least gives some time for trust to be restored.

The people of Newfield can still win in this situation but time is running out.

How much will it cost Newfield Borough if Forest Grove is contracted to provide fire services?

The newspaper reports that Borough Council is trying to start up a new fire company and if that fails it will pay Forest Grove Volunteer Fire Company to provide fire services for Newfield.  Nowhere do I find any estimates of what it might cost out of our real estate taxes nor any estimates of how much our house insurance fees might rise.  Forest Grove is several miles away from the center of town and thus response times are longer; every minute counts in a fire and insurance companies take than into consideration.

Somehow it seems it was more important to Borough Council members that they "win" by removing the fire chief and thus the fire company than the cost to the taxpayers.  I wonder if any grants that might be won by the police department if and when the new fire company starts reporting on the National Fire Incident Reporting System will offset all the additional taxpayer cost.  With only 45 calls in a year, I wonder if it makes any difference at all.  Could it be we get few grants because we have so few residents/voters?

Hippodrone Concept

I have been trying to come up with a new concept for an indoor recreation activity that appeals to all ages and is not just another video game.  I am fascinated with the miniature and micro drones that are available as play toys, so my first thought was as of a big unused warehouse space where you could rent one and pretend you are Snoopy flying against the Red Baron.  Not a lot of imagination in use but it would teach whoever was flying to think in three dimensions.

Well, the next idea was to divide the big space into different worlds like a reef under the ocean, the moon, a World War I battlefield, or a mythic world where dragons lived.  Anyway, the idea is to basically have a simulated landscape to interact with.  Then, the drones can be airborne, undersea water craft, or even move on the landscape.

The simulations played out could also be exploration of the simulated landscape, or a construction project, or a battlefield scenario like helicopter rescue.  This is already done completely in the virtual worlds of video and multi-player online role playing games, of course, but people still enjoy indulge in laser tag so there is some desire to physically interact with a game.

You still need to interact/control the drone through a handheld interface but I can imagine the feedback can be adjusted for the conditions in which the drone is "flying", e.g..; a microsub encounters different friction through water then a helicopter in air.

I am also imagining that the "pilot" can walk around the simulated landscape to view the action (think motion sensors triggering a sea creature folding up and retracting into the sea bed)  and plan various routes.  The handheld could also provide a drone's eye view of the landscape if it is equipped with a camera, or other sensors.  Or, it could be a completely closed landscape like a human body and then the scenario is a version of the film Fantastic Voyage.

This is probably a dumb idea and certainly it would be expensive unless you could figure out how to easily manufacture the landscapes.  Anyway, putting it out there in case it stimulates someone else's imagination for family entertainment with miniature drones.

Worse and worse ... not just control of organization but of their money too

As the Newfield Volunteer Fire Company stated last Thursday, they will not report to fires under the current ordinance.  As reported in the South Jersey Times, they didn't.    It was a traffic accident; autos were damaged but no people and there were no fires either.

I was reading through the article and noticed that some detail on what reports are asked for by the Borough Council.  The article mentions the (1) number of calls received, (2) the membership, and (3) the finances. One and two are innocuous and, I presume, are just repeats of reports already sent to the NJ state or county authorities governing volunteer fire companies.  If the membership list contains sensitive information like license  or social security numbers, it should be redacted.  Public records, and these would be public records under the OPRA statutes, should not contain sensitive information about individuals.

Three is the request that raises red flags for me.  Volunteer organizations like cemeteries, libraries, fire companies, and ambulance services all report financial information to the state yearly.  In the case of the cemetery, the report does not look at operating funds but the maintenance and preservation money set aside in case the cemetery fails and the state has to step in and do minimal upkeep.  In the case of a fire company, it is the funds used to as a type of insurance when an exempt fireman dies.  I don't know the exact definition of an exempt fireman is, but it does involve approval from the Borough Council to complete the application.  Again, there is not a report of funds used in daily operation.  Those reports are made at least yearly to the membership of the organization.  So, if the Borough Council wants a copy of what is reported to the state, that should not be a burden except any personal, sensitive information should be redacted on the Borough's copy.

However, reading the following quote makes me think the Borough actually wants to control the day-to-day finances in order to divert donated funds to pay for other Borough costs, possibly related to fires and possibly not.

The borough has planned to start an inventory of the building on Wednesday night to go over everything inside the building.

Sullivan said the borough owns the trucks and the building. They pay for the gas, insurance and equipment including the gear for the members, but Mason said a lot of the equipment belongs to members of the company.

"Anything we've purchased is rightly ours," Mason said.

Sullivan said there is a question on equipment that the fire company members own.

"Fundraising efforts are geared to residents, so there is a belief that even the equipment bought with fundraising could be taxpayers' money," Sullivan said.

That is the very definition of slippery slope right there.  Once any government gets control of any funds it becomes one big pie to be divvied up as needs must.  In the just above bankruptcy level where many governments live, how tempting the donations given to local organizations must be.

I give money to the local fire company, ambulance service, and library.  I feel confident that the money I give will be used for better equipment, training, books, or to support a special program for kids.  If I felt the Borough was doing fund-raising of its own to raise money to keep afloat beyond what is coming in from taxes, I would buy the cake or the raffle ticket or whatever is the inducement.
Heck, a fund raiser that was to pick up stuff I can't take myself to the recycling center/dump is one I have been asking for.

The feud between the Newfield Volunteer Fire Company and the Borough Council is now at a place where only "secret talks" can work to end it.  I, myself, can not think of a solution that allows both parties to save face (and there is lot of face on the line as it is playing out in the news media) and preserve the integrity of both organizations - nor of the town.

Newfield is already in a downward spiral and accelerating: the Fire Company is on its way to being sidelined if not already there; the Newfield Public Library has cut Saturday hours; the Newfield Ambulance Corps has problems having enough people to respond to calls;  the once vibrant ball fields are barely used; the Cemetery totters along barely staying solvent.  Part of this is socio-economic (Newfield was never rich; its industrial base has eroded away; both parents in young families work; more of the town is over age 60 then ever before) and part of this is cultural (volunteerism is not something you can do with a computer very easily when physical labor or presence is required; service organizations like Kiwanis have disappeared).

But part of this downward spiral is a loss of identity too.  People of all ages used to be proud to say they were from Newfield.   Note they didn't say they lived in Newfield, they were from Newfield no matter how long or short they'd been there. When I was a tween (way before that name was invented), we used to call into the radio stations to make song requests and identify ourselves are being from "Sunny Newfield, where it never rains" or sometimes our name was "Sunny Newfield."  There was a sense of belonging; that you were part of something good.  I have been searching for that old feeling in my fellow residents since I came back 7 years ago and all I find are faint, random echoes (yeah, mixed metaphors).  More often I find apathy, people burnt out on frustrating efforts from the past 40 years I was not here, or just plain old pessimists.

Inspired by Witches at Chicago Stock Exchange

In 1969 or 1970, when the women's liberation movement was employing guerrilla theater to draw attention to inequalities in treatment of women including financially (A single woman no matter how well educated or employed could not get a mortgage without a male cosigner.), a group of women invaded the floor of the Chicago Stock Exchange disguised as witches and chanted dire threats if women were not given equal financial rights as men.

Even though I was only 21, I was impressed as to the non-violent yet effective nature of the event.  National news both print and TV reported it and it did draw attention to the inequality.  Eventually, women did get more financial rights and by the early 80's women could get mortgages and business loans on their own merits.  Yes, it was slow but it didn't create dismissiveness as did the cartoonish burning of bras.

I have always longed to stage a bit of guerrilla theater myself in protest of something but having neither the nerve nor the 'stage' presence, I have not.  I thought that the silliness of Newfield Borough Council suing the Newfield Borough Council for control of the marquee sign because the Borough pays for the electricity that lights it was ripe for guerrilla theater (fyi- Borough Council lost).  Here's the scene I would have played had I the nerve:

1. As I walk forward to the microphone, pluck a hat off someone in the audience.
2. Identify my name and address.
3. Say "Gentlemen and Ladies, I heard that you had problems with paying the cost of electricity to light the marquee sign outside the Fire Hall.  Do you know what the yearly cost is?"
4. Wait patiently for whatever answer they gave in reply. 
5. Say, as I draw $20 bill from my pocket and with exaggerated movements place into the plucked hat, "Thank you.   Let's see,  I think I have a $20 bill here somewhere.   Let's start a fund with that $20 to offset that cost as a point of contention between you and the Fire Company and let's pass the hat to see what we can raise tonight."
6. Put the hat in the hands of the nearest spectator.
7. Walk away.

Of course, in my fantasy, the audience would have roared with laughter and even some of the Council members.  In reality, it probably would have fallen flat.

Cult, clan, family, or something else

One of the dramatic remarks made by a member of the fire company at 2/12/2015 Newfield Borough Council meeting was to the effect that the Council didn't get it: the fire company was a family and that an attack on one of them was an attack on all.  I know that some of the fire company members believe that even if they replaced the fire chief with someone else, that person would be under the same onslaught of scrutiny and demands from the Borough Council, that what the Borough Council wants is a puppet and won't be satisfied until they have one.  Legitimate fears but not a reason to not negotiate.

To me, this has tipped over from family members caring and supporting each other almost to the paranoiac thinking of a backwoods clan or a modern day cult.  After one contentious council meeting there were supposed to be negotiations for a contract between the fire company and the council.  Every date offered by the Council was not one that the fire chief could attend, so the fire company did not negotiate.  In my opinion, that was nonsensical thinking, any members of the fire company could have been designated to attend and listen, it doesn't have to be the fire chief.  Decisions made at negotiations are not whether to accept or reject an offer but whether to take an offer back to either party for a decision.  It makes perfect sense to not show up though for a cult, which only speaks through its leader.

In my limited experience with union negotiations for a contract (oh, yes, I have walked a picket line even as an engineer), a few people from each side meet to present their positions and explore where there might be room for compromise.  Offers and counteroffers are made until there is a vote by the membership on the final offer of the company.  Sometimes the contract is accepted; sometimes it is rejected but the union agrees to go on negotiating using the previous contract; sometimes there is a strike; sometimes there is a lockout.  So far in this multi-year saga, we've had a brief lockout by the Council before negotiations even were offered, a strike now because the contract offered has been not been negotiated (because the fire company only thought the fire chief should negotiate), and operating as if the previous contract was in effect albeit while legal efforts went forward.   Such a mess.

I have tried to find the correct ordinance as there have been several versions.  I wanted to know if there was a detail about what "reports" should be provided if the ordinance is treated as a contract offer.  I can't find it.  But if it is vague, contract negotiations either clear that up or there are memorandum of understanding attached to the contract that would detail the format, content, timeliness, and method of delivery for reports.  Memorandums of understanding are desired because they can be changed during a contract with full agreement from both sides.  There are often technological or economic reasons to change memorandums of understanding but it is not done unilaterally.

Another memorandum of understanding could have addressed the fire company's fears of becoming the puppet of the Borough Council by spelling out the scope of any approvals of members or officers.  After all, the original decision by the Court excised right of the Council to officer approval from the ordinance.

But, of course, this is not a union negotiation, nor a negotiation at all.  Just a big emotional blowout on both sides, way beyond logic or sense or thought of the consequence for the town.  Each side believes they are right and they know what is best and there is no changing of opinion or action towards compromise.  Is there cult thinking both sides? I don't know, but the fire company certainly presents that way in my layman's opinion.

One more thing - there is often intense abhorrence of individuals by individuals on the opposing sides of a negotiation but it doesn't interfere or stop the negotiation.  Sometimes it creates a cold war with outbursts such as Krushchev pounding his shoe at the UN.  But, cooperation on treaties and humanitarian matters still happened through the negotiations of diplomats, not the presidents or premiers.

Well, may be one more thing - some members of Council seem to believe they live or should be living in a pretty, little subdivision where neighbors never violate the neighborhood covenants on external appearance of houses or yards.  Thank heaven they haven't yet extended that notion to house colors.

There are members of my family who will be offended by this post.  They should remember their aunt always speaks her mind, more like their grandmother than their grandfather.  I can not apologize for being myself.

My solution since the whole mess started is to create a Newfield Fire District thru referendum

A fire district would need to be created through a referendum.  I tried to get this started before at the Town Hall meeting held at the Elks but no one paid any attention then and probably won't now but sometimes if you keep putting an idea out there you can get it adopted.

A Newfield Fire District would operate in a manner similar to the Board of Education, as it would contain a board of elected fire commissioners, none of whom could be serving on Borough Council or the Board of Education at the same time.  It would be independent of the Borough Council and of any fire company.  It would have a separate budget funded by its own tax revenues as is the Board of Education.  Just like the taxes raised to support the education of kids in town, there would still be only one tax bill as the same mechanism that collects the Board of Education taxes would bundle in the Fire District taxes.

One big advantage to the taxpayer is the total transparency of what it costs to have fire control in Newfield.  One big disadvantage is that taxes would go up as the fire district board would have to deal with the problem of the age of the fire trucks and other equipment.  It would still be to the taxpayers advantage to contract with a volunteer fire company as that would eliminate salaries, but we, the taxpayers, would know how much is being saved.

Maintenance labor on the fire control/emergency equipment could still be contracted out to the volunteer fire company with taxes covering supplies and replacement equipment.  That was/is the current situation but no one has any idea how many hours the fire company volunteers put in to repair and keep the trucks in working order.

It would be to the volunteer fire company's advantage to report how many hours were spent in training, responding to emergencies like a fire, and equipment maintenance and, I assume, they would put that into any proposal they made to the Fire District Board to have them chosen as the first responding fire company.

Another advantage to the concept of a Fire District Board is that it would be responsible for obtaining grants that improve fire control/emergency response.  This is an onerous task at any time and one the volunteer fire company may be happy to be rid of.  Kudos you get for successfully obtaining a grant far out weigh the effort necessary to make it happen.

Any one interested?

My father passed away 6 years ago today

In his later years, some called Dick Davis "Mr. Newfield" because he was always there volunteering for everything and attending every town function.  He gave volunteer service to the town from the age of 18 when he joined the Fire Company until his death at 81.  He was a Church trustee, Board of Education Secretary, Treasurer of the Rose Hill Cemetery Association, Borough Council member for 1 term, on the Board of the Newfield Savings & Loan before it was subsumed by another bank, Founding Father of the Newfield Swim Club.  There was probably more but I was not living in Newfield from 1967-2008.

I can remember seeing the sweat roll off of him as he presided over the chicken bbq pit for the Fire Company fund raiser and I know he did it year after year until it became too much physically.  I can remember his smile as he watched the inaugural jump into the pool of the Newfield Swim Club, formed to give the kids of Newfield someplace safe to swim during the height of the polio epidemic.

At his funeral, it was comforting to have people say how they would miss seeing him at town events.  He was always there, usually with my mother.  He was friendly, quiet, and always there supporting the town he loved in the unassuming ways he could.

I miss him.  The town needs him desperately as he was always the quiet, calm voice of reason and compromise in any conflict.  Did I say I miss him terribly?

Just the facts, Ma'am, Just the facts

Oh, sometimes there are plenty of facts but hard to get a true perspective.  Two articles in the South Jersey Times newspaper are full of facts.  The one titled "Newfield Council can fire, hire volunteer fire company members Appellate Court says" gives facts about the Appellate Court decision and hints at some of the roots of the long-standing feud between the fire company and the council - what goes on the marquee sign.  The one titled "Newfield Fire Company claims it was removed from service; council president says that's not true" in the online version or titled "Who will respond to fire calls?" in the paper version has each side alleging the other side is lying.

Neither side is lying; just giving their interpretations of the facts, context, and consequences from their own perspectives, particularly the consequences.  The 1950's TV show Dragnet implied that all you needed to get at the truth of a situation was facts but to evaluate consequence we humans need context too.  Context and consequence are what make history and entertainment compelling.  The possibility of drama will draw residents to the Borough Council Meeting Thurs Feb 12, 7:30 pm, no matter which side they are supporting.  Personally, I am wishing for a sweet anti-climatic moment where both sides shake hands and the feud is permanently ended with the fire company minding its own membership and the Borough Council working on the real problems of the town - like the slightly radioactive slag pile left by ShieldAlloy Corporation metallurgy operations; the bare bones budget situation, how to move into the next 20 years with an improving quality of life for residents.  Foolishly, I continue to root for the happy ending.  Isn't that the definition of insanity?