Our View

The battle lines appear to have been drawn in an issue that affects every resident of the state.

In recent weeks, news articles and opinion pieces have appeared in some of the region’s daily newspapers that mention the idea some people have to review the spending and functions of New Jersey’s 21 county governments

One of the people at the forefront of this issue is state Sen. Thomas J. Kean Jr. (R-Essex, Morris, Somerset, Union). Kean wants to begin a process that could one day result in the elimination of county government.

As might be imagined, county government officials see this initiative as a direct shot at their ship of state. County officials are in control of hundreds of millions of dollars in annual budgets and full-time patronage jobs with benefits that are delivered to their supporters. They also control the purse strings on lucrative public contracts for attorneys, engineers, accountants, consultants and other professionals.

Judging from the tone of some of the editorial pieces that have already appeared in print, Kean is in for a long hard fight if he has real plans to cut back on or do away with the power wielded by county governments.

As Ocean County Freeholder Director John C. Bartlett Jr. said in a press release sent to Greater Media Newspapers, "I will be damned if I’m going to sit idly by and watch this level of government get trashed."

The coming months should prove interesting as politicians from different levels of government try to figure out who should control the state’s tax dollars.