Roadwork on Kenyon Avenue, November 2005.
Plainfielders may well wonder what's up with the Governor's press machine, which was in overdrive in putting out the word about the most recent round of DOT grants.
'Corzine: Massive road projects will put people to work', the Bergen Record trumpeted yesterday, reporting on the Gov's Friday press conference in Metuchen.
That's a good thing. So I paid attention. Maybe a little too much attention.
$78.75 million. 372 towns.
Do the math. That's about $213,000 per town. Now anyone who's been paying attention knows that paves darn little, and puts a few people to work for not very long.
Not to mention that the workers most likely won't be from the communities in which the money is spent, but from the communities in which the contractors draw their pool of laborers.
The final touch came when looking up the governor's list (see here), where we learn Plainfield got a grant of $239,161 for work on South Second Street.
Which, if memory serves me, Mayor Robinson-Briggs celebrated the completion of months ago (see the City's press release here).
While we are truly facing hard times, and Corzine is on the right track in insisting that putting people to work on infrastructure projects is going to be key in getting us out of the hole we're in, blowing smoke is no way to begin.
Facing an election in 2009, Corzine has to do better than this to maximize his chances.
- Courier: "Corzine announces $78.75M in transportation grants"
- Record: "Corzine: Massive road projects will put people to work"
- Office of the Governor: "DOT Grants List"
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment