Home Rule is Nothing of the Sort; Why is that exactly?

Home Rule Does Not Work or Can It?

Tax Anxiety Why; public trust?

Taking Parsippany's population of 2010 census being at 53,238 people, now we take this number; which would be less of the total of actual people paying taxes as an seeing into the money potentially available to use as tax payers say under Home Rule, without tax ratable from Corporate development. Start with .01or 1-penny x 53,238 one day of one penny would bring $532.38. Now that that penny and turn it into a dime 10cents. We now have $5323.80. If we take the dime a day x 365 days of the years we have $1943187. Looking at this we must say why would any Municipality Have a tax burden or a crisis leading it to tamper with its Master Plan or quality of life? If we accelerate to 25 cents or even up to a dollar a day the money available to defend against things not in keeping with a certain expected quality of life is unnecessary. We must also see the amounts of money that is "floating around" at any given time, not being accounted for, or syphoned off unknowingly for other purposes; like the BOE finding of the over $2-1/2 Millions for the turf fields. Most money does go for the BOE and Police/fire.

Accountability or Transparency

The point being made here is there is plenty and perhaps too much going to the wrong places for the wrong reasons; example why are we not willing under home rule to defend our Master Plan in lawsuits against developers, Waterview, Forge Pond, who knows how many. As a Township we have an opportunity of being in a Regional Conformance Plan of the NJ Highlands Water protection and Land Use Legislation. In July 2014 Parsippany chose not to participate; and decided in favor of continued home rule. In a taxpayers perspective the Regional Conformance would have given the Municipality immunity from developers’ lawsuits, and would have enhanced and strengthened our Master Plan. In other words any developer wishing to sue because he could not force his project on the Township would now if he chose being suing the State. So our present republican administration has chosen home-rule, which allows developers to inflict their property rights over the residents’ wishes, their wellbeing, health and safety and loss of quality of life. Their unfounded fears of ceding to regional authority is unfounded because the most character changing developments in a community is when a corporate developer sues a town to build out of scope, huge developments. What is home rule when the zoning of your community isn't determined by your Master Plan, but by the developers who has the time and resources to win in court?

Illusion of Home Rule. A Better Way A Better Rule.

Home rule does not work in the best interest of a community, unless they are willing to exact and make use of their tax dollars, which could or should be sufficient to defend themselves in court. This is not impossible and has been accomplished by Municipalities, recently Wayne gaining open space in 2007 in court over a church wishing to take a sensitive landscape and Englewood Cliffs defeating an office complex proposal. The Judge sited regional issues as the duty of the Court in determining the decision. “We must consider our neighbors”.

Parsippany has recently and in the past perhaps not defended or lived up to its Master Plans Goals and Objectives, but has given in to developers. In fact in cases like Waterview actually helping the developer over come his hardships and turning against its own citizens and Council. Under Regional Conformance, Waterview's outcome in favor of the developer would of been impossible. Regional Planning would of given the citizens of Parsippany living in the Planning zone of the highlands more say and transparency in their own right of life. Centralization or Constitutional Unity of laws like the Highlands Water Protection and Land Use Legislation empowers a community. In the past New Deal type legislation made local communities stronger, this can happen again, if only Parsippany would once again begin the "Volunteer Conformance" of the regional Plan. Three basic natural laws exist here on Earth Air, Land, Water. What is in the best interest of a community is decided by that community, not behind closed doors, or under a pretext of threats from lawsuits. It should be Parsippany's citizens right to participate in regional planning, not home rule if home rule has chosen not to represent the issues, our Master Plan and the citizens right to quality of life into the future and their civic duty to protect our natural resources, in Parsippanys case our water and remaining natural landscapes. We are far behind in this aspect of civic responsibility; as of this date we still have no Environmental Resource Inventory, and do not use advances already made in law and science to defend our Home under home rule.

There is a better way for including developers its called Regional Conformance. We must realize ecology and economy must be one; we are all organically link. We come out of the background of nature that sustains all life. All that is asked is; Is the project really necessary, or just market speculation or sprawl.?Is there some redevelopment of already developed land that can satisfy the need? If approved developers must be held to the best practices and highest standard in the best interest of the community.

Human Nature has replaced the great nature, we are the keepers; or are we? When citizens resist for just cause and sound reasons and Councils vote No; it then becomes the duty of the Township to go forth in defense of itself in a lawsuit under home rule; not make a deal or compromise the grassroots.

Anti-Pilgrim Pipeline Ordinance .Comment from Burgess Associates Town Attorney

Please note this information is regional scale and would need further site investigations but gives a general idea of the environmental issues that would be involved with the proposed alignment. Implying we should be in "regional conformance" Nature; air, water, landscapes recognize no boundaries one and all are linked organically to each.

Why then SuperPac?

Is not SuperPac money is local politics; big politics in little places a regional scheme against the actual citizens Home Rule or Master Plan in favor of a private economic concern?

Remember we are talking about corporate property owners, not the community that suffers or undergoes changes caused by compromise or more tax ratable of short term outcomes; where as land loss inflicts long term accumulative effects increasing susceptibility to contaminations in our, spaces,soil, air and degrading our aesthetic beauty sense of place and home.

The money required to sustain our Master Plan and protect remaining natural resources and towns aesthetic beauty would not cost that much if another waterview episode ever arose. If our leaders so chose they could even have temporary minor tax increase to compensate legal fews and then return to the previous tax; of course they would require to do extra work, but is not that what they are payed for? Their answer would no doubt be; once taxes go up they never come down; why is that, and does it have to be that way? Of course regional conformance bring legal protections, that is a fact, but who is listening ?