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The Herald And The Lantern

Wednesday, November 14,1979

editorial

Keeping The Faith Tfer tumultuous days of campaigning for local, county and •Late assembly offices ended last week in victory for some and defeat for others. All have now climbed down frtrtn their soapboxes, voting machines have been packed away and the first flush of triumph for successful candidates has dissipated. Rut. the job for which these very same candidates fought so frantically is jMt beginning. Although the 1979 general election was essentially a contest of candidate images rather than clear-cut campaign issues, several very pertinent problems did surface during the course of the electoral contest. The need for senior citiien housing, a regular, comprehensive dredging program for the shore area, Increasing tourism promotion and garnering more attention to Cape May County's problems at the state level — all are compelling issues that need governmental attention. Ail the candidates in last week's election had no trouble in promising attention and even resolution of these problems. Their ability to express sincerity in making such jaromises is what ultimately put them in office. But often in the afterglow of an election it is easy to be carried away with the sweet savour of success,easy to become comfortable and complacent and easy to forget campaign promises. The successful candidates are honor bound to fulfill any commitments made during their campaigns wherever possible. And. the responsibilities of the small percentage of Cape May County voters who voted last week did not end with pulling a lever. Elected off! ials must be made accountable to the public — from their very first act in public office to their last, let's start out on the right foot by making sure campkign officials promises are fulfilled — and not forgottefT. ACC Phone Survey To Judge Needs

•Capitol Comments ■V Auwnbly Minority Loador Jamws R. Hurlwy Wee»+»e»ee»»—.

MAYS LANblNG - Atlantic Community College will conduct a telephone survey to assess educational needs among residents of Atlantic and Cape May Counties beginning Nov. 19 through Dec. 8.1979. ACC President Dr. Lawrence R. Winchell Jr., said the College is updating the survey to insure that our programs can benefit the greatest number of area residents. "If persons are called and asked to participate in the study, we hope that they will give us their views. Their ideas will help the college help persons reach their educational goals," he said. Survey results will be available in February. ACC conducted a similar survey last year. The results will be evaluated and used by the College to develop programs to meet

the educational needs of the communities served by the College. ACC received funding for the survey as part of a $1.4 million three-year federal grant under a program for "strengthening developing institutions." The Advanced Title III grant is designed to enable ACC to initiate programs which otherwise would be financially impossible. Activities, such as the survey, proposed in ACC’s Advanced Title III Grant application, are based on recommendations by th*Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools when it evaluated and reaccredited ACC for 10 years in 1976. Residents of Atlantic and Cape May Counties will be telephoned at random seven days a week between 5 and 9 p.m. The interview will require only about 10 minutes and all will be kept confidential.

By Assembly Minority Leader James R. Harley One of the' favorite pastimes of politicians, newspaper reporters, commentators and students of government is to indulge in post-election analysis, drawing conclusions from diverse electoral results. Any such conclusions, obviously, are open to debate and question, thus making an exercise in election analysis a somewhat risky, though tempting venture. With that in mind, I will discuss the election results not so much to draw conclusions but to present the various and, in some cases, . competing viewpoints which have already been expressed. The * Republican Party, gain of 10 seats in the' Assembly while retaining all 26 positions it held going into the election, must be viewed as a major stride toward the return of a strong, healthy two-party system in the Legislature. Recently, in this column, I spoke of the need for institutional reforms to return the legislative branch to co-equal status in governmental affairs. The narrowing of the political balance of power in the Assembly may well meet that need. One of the more puzzling aspects of the election was the voter approval of a $475 million transportation bond issue, coupled with the defeat of a $95 million higher education spending program. There have been a number of theories explored in an effort to explain the widespread split voting on the spending programs. Voters are much more acutely aware of the need for upgraded mass transit and highway systems due in large measure to the recent gasoline shortages and the real prospect of future cutbacks. Moreover, a concerted effort was made to gather broad-

ON THE TRACK of history. This 1959 photo shows the old Wildwood Crest railroad station. Early advertisements refer to daily doilarexcurslon trains throughout the season from Philadelphia via Camden, crossing the Delaware by ferry boat. Hie tracks ran down what is now New Jersey Ave. “Snuffy’s” now stands to the left of where the old station once was and Haynes Realtors to the right.

based support for the transportation question, an effort which brought together political leaders, business and industrial leaders and civic organizations. On the other hand, the higher education question was signed into law rather late in the year affording very little time to arouse the same interest and support. There may have been, also, an element of complacAcy with respect to this qiUstion, a feeling that since it was by far the smaller aiqount of the two that approval of the transportation issue would be more than enough to pull the education question through as well. It has also been suggested that the education question was placed on the ballot as a sacrifice, offering a spending program which voters could oppose as a move toward less government spending. Yet another explanation for its defeat is that there exists a generally adverse reaction against higher state spending for education. This theory holds that the voter and taxpayer is well aware that the education consumes the lion’s share of the tax dollar and that a vote v against the bond issue even though it was for higher education rather than local — was simply a voter expression of dissatisfaction with this situation. My own judgment is that the failures^ the higher education qtiRktion can be attributed to^combinatlon of all these factors, but primarily the late start and lack of any effort to generate broad support for it. I was very pleased at the overwhelming support shown in the eight counties in which the citizen initiative and referendum question appeared on the ballot. I was confident that such support would be Shown and it is — as I mentioned several weeks ago — the kind of grassroots support that the Legislature will find impossible to ignore. All in all, the 1980-81 session of the Assembly will be one in which, hopefully, the Legislature will reassert its independence, and recover the powers it has allowed to slip away to the Executive. But, most importantly, the election has given a clear signal to the Legislature that the people desire a government which is sensitive to their needs and responsive to their problems. Letters to the Editor The Herald welcome* letters of comment and opinion from its readers. All letters must be signed . and accompanied by a full address. Names and addresses may be withheld upon request. The Herald reserves the right to edit letters for length without changing the intent or emphasis.

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.No-Fault Reforms Sought By AAA

The Public Affairs Council of the AAA Auto Clubs of New Jersey has taken an active role in supporting two auto insurance reforms which will be considered by the State Legislature when it reconvenes in November. The primary reform is replacement of the no-fault Ihw’s current $200 threshold with a verbal threshold, and the second is replacement of the Assigned Risk Plan with a Joint Underwriting Association (JUA). Council Chairman Donald L. Hughes announced the appointment of William K. Duncan, Council Vice Chairman, to serve on the recently formed Committee for NoFault Reform, a statewide coalition supporting establishment of a verbal threshold in the no-fault system. Duncan served on the original No-Fault Study Commission, and also on the recent no-fault reform group appointed by Governor Byrne. "We feel that New Jersey drivers have been forced to endure the state’s inef-

fective and costly auto insurance system for too many years. Unless strong reforms are adopted by the legislature, auto insurance costs will continue to rise inexorably, more insurance companies will consider leaving New Jersey, and drivers will have less and less opportunity to obtain auto insurance coverage at a reasonable cost,” said Hughes. He continued: "We believe the verbal threshold is the key to making no-fault work in New Jersey. It is working ■in Florida, Michigan and New York. It has the support of Governor Byrne, many Democrats and Republicans in the State Legislature, and major media serving the state. It is the best available solution to the problems of our no-fault system... "We are asking all our AAA members to contact their State Legislators and urge them to support adoption of both the verbal threshold and JUA no-fault insurance reforms,” concluded Hughes.

tt» SOVEREIGN STATE of AFFAIRS BOYD & WOOD

WHEW DOES JERRY BROWN GET MOST OF HIS SUPPORT FOR HIS PRESIDENTIAL AMBITIONS 7

WHY'S THAT? COULD BE ITS THE EASIEST . WAY TO GET HIM OUT OF CALIFORNIA...