Thursday, July 24, 2008

The Impact of Words


OK, we know that a municipal ordinance is not quite the stature of the Declaration of Independence, the writing Epidemics, or even the presidential inaugural address of 1961. But two things are clear. The current tree ordinance was crafted by some very good minds, and it took longer to craft than all three of these writings put together.


Most importantly, the power of words is immeasurable in what they connote and denote. Certainly the preamble to the current tree ordinance promises an appropriate document, one that will protect its greatest natural resource: " The Township Council of the Township of West Orange finds that: trees are among the Township’s most valuable natural resource assets, greatly enhancing the appearance of the Township and contributing to its suburban residential character."


But, alas, the promise is never fulfilled as one continues to read the subsequent clauses. The most striking lack of integrity in the language is signaled by the use of the phrase to the greatest extent possible. The phrase, in context, is the ultimate cop out, and compromises every other aspect of the ordinance. The circumvention of absolutes regarding the destruction, removal and replacement of trees, particularly as it relates to development projects, is in direct contrast to the golden promise of the preamble.


The council had the opportunity to be bold in creating this ordinance, but did not have the courage to commit to the vision they created in the first few paragraphs.


And if anyone believes that a few words here or there have no real impact, then consider these five words added on to the writings by Thomas Jefferson, Hippocrates and JFK.


We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness........to the greatest extent possible.




The physician must be able to tell the antecedents, know the present, and foretell the future - must mediate these things, and have two special objects in view with regard to disease, namely, to do good or to do no harm.......to the greatest extent possible.




And so, my fellow americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.....to the greatest extent possible.



Would we have thought these writers and their writings to be extraordiary with these five words added on to what have become iconic phrases in the American lexicon?


Hardly. Their addition would have created confusion and, most likely, scorn.


Things have not changed that much over the years. These five words as applied to what is right and what is wrong in guarding our resources only raise the suspicions and rankle those who feel the town, its residents, and most obviously, its trees, deserve better.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Welcome to the West Orange Puppet Show


The meeting of the West Orange Township Council last night was the culmination of the shell game the Council members have been playing for a year. Here's the tree ordinance, there's the tree ordinance, where's the tree ordinance?

First and foremost, for a town the size and complexity of West Orange to not have a protective (operative word here is protective) tree ordinance is egregious. After a year of consideration, debate and enormous input, to put forth the kind of gutless ordinance read last night goes beyond egregious. It is offensive.

Now, lest anyone get the idea that this is just another bungling, inept, municipal government let's set the record straight. The fact that the tree ordinance is so full of holes it makes swiss cheese look solid is not just the usual bad government at work. Indeed, the council members may be incapable of getting out of their own way, but that is not the core reason the tree ordinance has no teeth.

The tree ordinance is not just imperfect, it is impotent by design.

Why would the council members not want a good tree ordinance?

Certainly there is a circuitous trail of campaign funds. These have benefitted every one from Mayor McKeon to every Council member and trace back to a major developer who most assuredly would not benefit from having a strong tree ordinance instituted.

But beyond that there is the issue of abslolute power.

Senator Codey, John McKeon, and the developer for the project slated to bring down 27,000 trees behind the West Essex Highlands are just too close for comfort. The Mayor has been heard to claim (and in public) that he "promised" Wilf, the developer, that this project would come about.

Never mind that it was never properly vetted, that it flies in the green "face" the town pretends it has, that it is totally unacceptable to the towns adjoining the 180 acres of land where the development is to take place, that it has raised safety concerns even among West Orange police and fire officials, that virtually every resident who will be within sound and sight of the blasting that will have to take place first rejects the project....Never mind any of that. The Mayor made his promise, and the Mayor is an honorable man.

And so the developer greases the wheels and pulls the strings. The Mayor dances to the developer's tune. The Council serves as the triage point for the ordinances to be considered with each of the council members having an obligation, not to the town or to the residents, but to the Mayor himself.

Does that sound like too much inter-connectedness?

Welcome to the West Orange puppet show. Now aren't you happy you live here?