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BY JOE TYRRELL
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
In the heart of Chris Daggett country, voters seem as confused as the opinion polls about what impact the independent gubernatorial candidate will have in Tuesday's election.
An unscientific survey in Basking Ridge found some enthusiasts each for former Republican Daggett, Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine and GOP nominee Chris Christie.
But for every potential voter who professed support for one of those candidates, there was another who was undecided on whether to support any of them.
"I'm probably not going to vote, I wouldn't know who to vote for," said one woman, who declined to give her name. "I don't like either of them," she explained, referring to Corzine and Christie. Asked about Daggett, she tentatively amended, "I'm still considering him."
Such responses illustrate the problems facing not just pollsters, but local candidates trying to predict the impact of a wild-card gubernatorial candidate on their races.To have any chance, local resident Daggett needs to run strongly in comfortable suburbs like Bernards Township. But Christie does, too. While Somerset County does not have enough votes to put a Republican over the top, few could hope to carry the state without it.
This year, even Corzine has a chance, at least to minimize damage. In 2008, for the first time, the number of registered Democrats surpassed Republicans in Somerset County. That presaged a rousing victory for Barack Obama, but produced mixed results farther down the ticket.
Although they ran the strongest race of any Democrats in the past 30 years, Montgomery Mayor Cecilia Xie Birge, a one-time democracy activist in China, and North Plainfield Councilman Doug Singleterry came up just short for county freeholder. They are back on the ballot this year, and both parties are cautious.
Republicans have adopted a party line, uniformly telling voters not to waste their support on Daggett, a one-time top aide to GOP Gov. Thomas Kean.
Daggett "has a lot of friends and neighbors, and some of them will probably vote for him," said Somerset Republican Chariman Dale Florio. "But they have to weigh that against the chance to bring real change to the state with Chris Christie."
Democrats expect Daggett, although hidden away in a corner of the ballot, to run strongly in Somerset. But they are uncertain whether this hurts, helps or has no effect on their chances.
"I think Chris Daggett is going to do very well in Somerset," said Peg Schaffer, the county Democratic chairwoman. "There are a lot of socially liberal Republicans in the county."
As a former state and federal environmental official running with the backing of the Sierra Club, Daggett is that most endangered of species, a fairly liberal Republican. His habitat is an area once represented in Congress by Millicent Fenwick, scary territory for the red state radicals who dominate the national Republican Party.
Although they pooh-pooh his chances, the Somerset Republican freeholder candidates clearly are hoping a little Daggett rubs off on them. During their political careers, incumbent Jack Ciattarelli and Pat Scaglione, the Bridgewater council president, have been hard working and thoughtful. They are also describing themselves as independent.
Ciattarelli pointed out that he has expressed different opinions from his four freeholder colleagues, and succeeded in getting them to form the state's first county-level council to promote energy efficiency.
While a leader of the majority party in Bridgewater, Scaglione said he has taken controversial stands, such as helping kill a developer's proposal to provide space for municipal offices. That also would have meant more development, and it was better for the township to pay for a new building itself, he said.
Democratic ads mock the Republican claims of independence with bobble-head dolls, heads bouncing up and down to emulate 5,626 "yes" votes in 18 months, with just one "no" vote from Ciattarelli.
Many of those were routine measures, Ciattarelli noted. During a similar period the larger Middlesex County freeholder board, all Democrats, cast roughly three times as many votes, also with one "no," he said.
"I feel very strongly that it doesn't matter if it's Democrats in Middlesex County or Republicans in Somerset County," Birge said. "How can you defend one-party rule, say you don't need independent voices or watchdogs? If that's what you think, why even have elections?"
She left China after the Tienanmen Square crackdown, attending college in the United States and working on Wall Street before moving to the suburbs and becoming New Jersey's first female Asian-American mayor.
"Mr. Ciattarelli's freeholder votes included approving contracts for political contributors, some who gave to his campaign," Birge said.
"I know when Jack Ciattarelli first got on the freeholder board, he pushed very hard to eliminate the county park commission," Singleterry said. "But nothing ever came of that."
Long a clubhouse for GOP partisans, the commission received scathing reviews two years ago from an outside law firm, which found violations of state bidding law such as the steering of work to a firm owned by a county official.
A five-member freeholder board amounts to "leadership by committee," Ciattarelli said. But even he when he does not prevail in public discussions with his colleagues, he influences their thinking, he said.
Ciattarelli pointed to an overhaul of commission membership and a shuffling of some management positions. While some parks employees enjoy unusual contract perks, policy changes have curtailed many benefits, such as the use of county cars.
In tough times, Singleterry said, the county should pursue steps to increase revenues, such as the sale or lease of the commission's $25 million "country club," Neshanic Valley Golf Course. Lax oversight led to cost overruns and greens fees that are too expensive for many residents, he said.
If elected, "I'll look at the park commission," but its major problems seem resolved, Scaglione said.
He prefers to focus elsewhere, such as expanding the county recycling center, and bringing more towns into the county dispatch system and health department. While the expansion requires spending, the other steps could ultimately save tax dollars, he said.
At least privately, even some municipal officials who have feared losing local control are now open to consolidating services, Scaglione said.
The Democrats said they also support consolidations, if managed to ensure savings. They contend the freeholders have not adequately controlled costs or reformed contract procedures.
"Towns like Montgomery and North Plainfield have passed ordinances against pay-to-play contracts with political contributors," Singleterry said. "But when we ask the freeholders, they say, 'Oh, we're waiting for the state.' "
Somerset County has the seventh highest property taxes in the nation, according to the Tax Foundation, a Washington, D.C., organization with conservative views but a reputation for solid analysis.
Scaglione is running in place of Freeholder Rick Fontana, who decided not to seek re-election. An executive at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, Fontana had good business reasons to step away from politics in the midst of the Great Recession. But he also has been closely associated with the county's financial planning and the park commission.
Asked what he would do differently from Fontana, Scaglione called him "one of the statesmen of the freeholder board," and can only hope to emulate his performance.
The Republican freeholders were able to fractionally trim county taxes this year, and say there could be more cuts ahead.
The Democrats favor 15 percent spending cuts, which could reduce the county tax levy to slightly more than the 2003 level.
"I don't think that's realistic, especially since they're also calling to restore spending for Raritan Valley Community College and the vo-tech schools," Scaglione said.
He defended the education cuts, saying that in difficult times, "everybody should share the pain."
"The middle of a recession, with enrollments rising and more people seeking job training, is not the time to cut the college and vo-tech," Singleterry said. "An educated, well-trained workforce is critical to our economy."
Cuts should target "fluff," such as county contributions to the Somerset Business Partnership, while seeking to preserve vital programs, Singleterry said.
"Any elected official who isn't committed to putting everything on the table doesn't deserve to hold office right now," Ciattarelli said.
With his prodding, he said, the freeholders have pared the county workforce, reduced holidays, eliminated lifetime health benefits for new hires and ended all employees' ability to accumulate sick leave.
That would be more convincing "if the freeholders weren't already providing more benefits than the state and most municipalities," Birge said. "The freeholders are only catching up to what the rest of us were doing."
The Republicans claim they will be able to continue cuts for three years if the economic doldrums persist, but "that shows there's fat in the budget," Birge said. "The freeholders are not helping themselves by paying the county administrator more than governors, and giving very high salaries to other managers. They could make more cuts now."
Joe Tyrrell may be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
