The move to Dover

Just a quick post and then I have an out-of-state conference that I must get on the road for. My job has me doing a lot of work in Dover as of late, so I have decided to find an apartment down there and make that my center of operations for the next couple of months rather than trek back and forth along Rt. 1. Since I know virtually nothing about "downstate," it will be interesting to see whether it is as backwards as we are led to believe. Somehow I doubt it, although I could have sworn I saw a horse and buggy the other week.

Nevertheless, I haven't found too much in terms of what are good places to eat down in Dover, where the local bars are, etc., so maybe I'll chime in my perspective on these spots while I'm down here. One plus is that I'm closer to the beach. One minus is that traffic is much slower and the drivers really don't understand the concept of driving fast in the fast lane.

Moving is going to take a little while, and my internet is not scheduled to be up until I'm back from the conference, so once that is back up, posts will continue. I even decided that I would try and pick up the Delaware State News while I am down here so I could see once and for all which is the superior newspaper for the state. Hopefully they carry the News Journal at newsstands down here so I don't have to constantly rely on Delaware Online or the Wall Street Journal or Times for my news. (And no, I am certainly not equating the News Journal to either of those papers).

Tags: dover delaware

Socks the Cat returns to the spotlight

At long last, celebrity first cat "Socks" has returned to the headlines. Astute reporting from across the pond has revealed that upon President Clinton's exit from the White House, the decision on who was going to take Socks the cat didn't wind up in front of any family court judge, but rather, to "Betty Currie, Bill Clinton's personal secretary, who also had an embarrassing clean-up role in the saga of his relationship with the intern Monica Lewinsky." Well, the whole thing reeks worse than a litter box.

First, how can someone who can't even take care of a cat run for office? I mean, give me a break. The President should be able to juggle Monday Night Football with taking the garbage out or cleaning up after his/her pet like everyone else. Second, it is obvious that her ability to take care of animals isn't just limited to the cat. The article also reports that Buddy the dog got run over once he was taken outside the gate on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave (well, a little bit of time passed, but you get my point). If taking care of animals is any indication of her ability to take care of her constituents, then our country is in bigger trouble than England believes, right??

All kidding aside, it's amazing that this story even made headlines. In fact, it's sad. This election isn't going to be about a woman, or a Mormon, or a minority, or even about a Delawarean attempting to run for office. It's bad enough that with still over a year to go until the clock to replace the president restarts, the news is filled with Tonight-Show type bits that mock a candidate for how they treat their pets.

Britain's subtle knock about how Senator Clinton has handled some of her personal affairs shows the type of respect that our country is getting nowadays. Will she able to overcome all this if she is elected? Even if she is, her victory would ensure for four more years of these catty stories. Personally, while I believe that a woman could run this country just as well as anyone else, I just don't think that Clinton is going to be this country's first woman president. To me, she just polarizes too many people. The Socks the cat story is a good example.

Whoever wins will have to figure out how to return this country to the forefront of the world economy. The winner will also need to start mending fences between the US and everyone else who has started to shift sides toward this reportedly anti-cat environment. And if the winning candidate can make my dollar a little stronger along the way, that would be great also. I would rather not have to start trading in euros; our funny money is quite enough.

Tags: socks the cat

The allure of the black tag

Delaware is quirky in many ways, and one of the things that many don't notice until they have been here for a while is the "black tag" license plate. Whether they are a sign of elitism or just because they look cool, owners of cars in Delaware have the option of getting a "black" tag (as opposed to a "regular" tag) if their license plate number is low enough. And while I thought this number had to be somewhere less than 87000 or so, I saw a car on the way to the beach this weekend that makes me question whether the DMV has decided to elevate a few more thousand tags to "elite" status.

For those of you not aware, Delaware is the only state in the union that has a totally flat tag. The standard tag is blue with gold lettering. If you have a low number though, you are eligible to get the replica tag from the 1940s with your number. Certain restrictions apply. Low, three digit tags have been sold at auction for thousands of dollars. Apparently even people in the UK have been apprised of the "black tag" phenomenon. Regardless, it's a collector's thing like anyone else. People will buy anything if you tell them it's cool enough. Look at some of the junk that is available on ebay or Craigslist.

Nevertheless, I think the black tags are pretty cool, even if there is a hint of elitism with them. At the same time, it bothered me that I saw a six digit black tag on a dark blue or black Mustang (#148558). Not only did the tag look junky, it demeans the whole prestige of having a "low" number. Or at least, that's what I would think if I had a low number and liked the fact that the number of black tags available is fixed.

Maybe the tag was fake, but it had an '09 sticker on it, so who knows. In either case, it was unusual enough to warrant this entry and further research as to whether the whole black tag concept is about to take a lemming run off the DMV cliff.

Apparently the DMV page has changed in the times Google has searched it (current page and cached page), but I haven't been overly successful in finding out whether this is a legislative change or not. Maybe someone else who is more familiar with all of this knows and can chime in.

Tags: delaware black tag, black license plate delaware, delaware license plate

Jobs for DE College Graduates

One of the major issues facing this state is education. I can guarantee that there will be future posts on this issue, but for now, I will direct the focus of this entry to one of the problems that is a consequence of pushing for higher education. That is, once you have the degree and want to come back to the State and do something, your options in Delaware are pretty limited. Outside of the state, certainly jobs await for you in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, and any of the other 46 states, but how does that benefit Delaware? The answer to this rhetorical question is pretty obvious: Not at all.

With MBNA gone and with it all of the jobs and scholarships it gave out to a good percentage of the graduating high school seniors in this state, I submit that there is a shortage of entry level jobs for college graduates. With the exception of Astra-Zeneca, Gore, part of the duPont company, the state, and some banks that have stayed here, the remaining jobs are in the health, legal, and education industry, and half of those require an additional post-graduate degree. So my concern with this is that the state pushes for high schools to get their graduates up to "no child left behind" par, and a third or so go on to some type of college, and where do they expect these Delaware college graduates to come back and do? And even more to the point, is the state, by limiting these options, inherently telling the graduating seniors that unless you get a degree in these certain areas, you should look for jobs elsewhere?

Maybe, but probably not. Obviously your options with a college degree are more than they are without one. And there are a lot of jobs (although I agree there could be more) for those with just a high school diploma. But the gap is widening. And here, in 2007, I argue that a gap is beginning to form between those types of degrees people are getting. Thirty years from now, are you going to have to get a post-graduate degree in order to survive financially?

So what is the solution? (Meaning, how would I fix this?). I think the Governor, whoever the next one is, needs to make a concerted effort to recruit another Astra-Zeneca or MBNA-type (bank, insurance, etc.) (or Silicon Valley-type) company to relocate to Delaware. I would argue that this should be each of the '08 candidates' primary concern and platform (followed by the health care and education platforms that always show up at the top of the list). With the population growth spreading further south, the push shouldn't necessarily be to relocate this/these companies to Wilmington, but toward Kent or Sussex County. The population shift toward those counties is here anyway; the failure to recognize this and start to accommodate for it is just being short-sighted or disingenuous.

Even if one new company came in, that would create upwards of 2000+ jobs across the board (more if they build a new building and have to restructure the infrastructure). This would generate income for the state and the positive effects will certainly outweigh the negative ones I am conspicuously and purposely leaving out of this entry. Further, it would help fill out the void in the housing market that currently exists. While we are at it, why not start pushing for a branch of Toyota or some other car company to take over when Chrysler finally pulls out and leaves even more people out of a job? I think the effort to bring industry and business in shouldn't be focused directly on incorporation and the franchise tax; a scattergun recruiting effort across multiple industry lines could work. More research, admittedly, will need to be done (which helps create more jobs as well).

Lastly, for now, the idea of putting a new company south of the canal allows for the first step toward creating a mass transit system a more realistic idea. The current rail system exists for the industrial sector; putting the dual rails back in and recruiting a Septa-type organization to bid for the contract certainly would create additional jobs (both permanent and temporary) in building, running, maintaining, and policing this system. It could also help with the beach and tourist industry because many more would hop on the train to get to the beach, and could thereafter take Dart from the final train stop. Translation = more money for the state. More on this mass transit idea another day.

I can only invite commentary by posting; feel free post a comment and explain why this idea would or would not work.

Tags: delaware college jobs, delaware jobs, delaware jobs for college graduates idea, relocating business to delaware, delaware mass transit system

Bus stop sign laws and the divided highways

I certainly don't intend this to turn into some sort of Delaware traffic blog, but this event is so random and amusing that it deserves a brief writeup.

A long time ago now, in my high school drivers ed class, my teacher told us that you always have to stop when a school bus is loading. And that law appears to be followed in our state without any problems save the occasional crash. What stuck out in my mind, and what drives this story, so to speak, was the teacher's explanation of the driving rules of other states and how they need to be obeyed regardless if you know them or not (basically, ignorance of the law is not an excuse). In Delaware, cars are required to stop when meeting or approaching a bus while it is loading or unloading. Cars on the other side of a divided highway are not required to stop. According to my drivers' ed teacher and a quick Google search, some states, including New York, do not have this divided highway exception. Which brings me to my story.

As I was driving to work today, I came upon a stopped bus and like everyone else, came to a stop to wait. On the other side of the highway though, I saw that the lead car had also stopped. Ironically, this person was in the left lane, which undoubtedly drove the growing line of cars behind him or her insane. The two truckers in the right lane, likely confused, had stopped as well, at least for a minute before finally moving on. And after the bus started moving, so did all lanes of traffic. In high school, my drivers' ed teacher speculated that this sort of event on the other side of the highway could happen and could cause an accident if the drivers behind the out-of-state resident weren't paying attention. Here anyway, that was not the case.

It actually was an interesting display of the enforceability of other states' traffic laws. While in Delaware, the driver who stopped here would merely get a honk or two, a Delaware driver in New York in that same situation could face a steep fine if caught. In all likelihood, this would not be the case, but I found the whole incident mildly amusing, if only because it made me think back to some random day in a high school drivers ed class.

And to recenter this to be Delaware-related and not an expose on the bus stopping laws, I think the current Delaware bus safety and stop laws are good and work well.

Tags: delaware bus stop rule, passing a stopped bus laws

First registration, now Route 1 - tolls are going up

As anyone who has been to the DMV lately to register their car, the registration rates have doubled now for the 1 or 2 year re-registration. It now costs $40/year to register your car once it passes inspection. Compared to Pennsylvania and other neighboring states, this is still a bargain.

For anyone who has driven up or down Route 1 lately, you probably have noticed the new electronic toll signs, which currently reflect the rate of $1/car. That, too, is going up effective Monday, Oct. 1, from $1 to $2 (but only on weekends) (for now). While this is great for our side of the tourist industry and should generate big money for the general fund, I think it's going to have the added bonus of increasing local traffic on 13. After all, it's just about as quick to take 13 as it is Route 1 anyway, despite the lights.

With the increase in tolls and car registration to generate money for the state, why not go ahead and create a toll of say, $10/car and $20/truck on the St. George's bridge. You can go over the main bridge anyway without having to pay the toll, so is the St. George's even necessary anymore? That will effectively pay to keep that old thing up - and realistically, the money the State saves if they tore it down could help prevent any future increases on the toll roads. Just a thought.

Tags: delaware tolls, delaware route 1 tolls

Biden's idea to decentralize Iraq gains some steam

Senator Biden has argued for over 18 months that any success in Iraq necessarily requires the country be split into three sections, each run by their respective religious group. The sections would be unified by a central hub in Baghdad. Sen. Biden's idea, first posed in an op-ed essay in the New York Times (USA Today condensed version here), is (in some respects) similar to how the Allies decided to split up Germany in the aftermath of World War II. And while some may argue that the division of Germany led to greater implications, it did solve the intermediate problems facing that country in those tumultuous times. And now, 60+ years later, Germany is a thriving hub of the European economy. Obviously they still have problems also, but that is beside the point being offered here.

Biden's plan is one realistic solution to the Iraq problem, and, not surprisingly, has gained tremendous momentum, particularly today when the Senate, by a 75-23 vote, passed a non-binding resolution echoing Biden's decentralization plan. Will this have a positive effect on the war? Perhaps. At the very least, it is a feather in Biden's cap that may help him begin to climb the mountain that confronts him in trying to gain the national Democratic nomination.

More realistically, however, it gives whoever the next president is, GOP or Democrat, a solid reason to appoint him as the next Secretary of State. Obviously, I realize that if the Republicans (speculatively through Fred Thompson) are able to keep the White House, it is highly improbable that any such party lines will be crossed. And why should they? As a non-sequitur, I will save my developing belief that we don't really even have a distinct two-party system anymore for another day.

Nevertheless, given the inability for the currently Democrat-controlled Congress to do anything productive since gaining both houses two years ago, maybe such a West Wing-esque party line crossing should be considered. And while our senior Senator has ruled this position out, I have to question whether he would turn it down if the opportunity presented itself 18 months from now.

Tags: biden decentralization of iraq idea, biden plan to split iraq, senate resolution to split iraq

Tragedy at Del State

I saw this on the news this morning and haven't heard much about it other than what has been put on the national news. Two students were shot, one seriously, at Delaware State University. While anything I would say about this would be pure speculation, I will simply provide the links and say no more. Given the tragedies that have already struck the campus prior to the start of this semester, this sort of thing can't be too great for recruiting. Nevertheless, it is very sad. Hopefully these "persons of interest" are caught soon.

At the same time, however, I wonder how the events of this morning will affect Race Weekend, since the racetrack is practically across the street and a quarter million Nascar fans are expected to pour into the Monster Mile to watch over the next 72 hours. This sort of perfect storm of sorts must be a state and local police nightmare, and a media field day. I can only hope it is relatively quiet.

Tags: students shot at delaware state university

Stalking the Smyrna mayor, or a modern rendition of the fox and the grapes

I normally try and stay out of the local politics within the state, but an article today caught my eye and warrants some comment. Apparently, the Smyrna Mayor, Patricia Stombaugh has been the focus of a private investigator's most recent assignment. Since the News Journal made cryptic nonsense out of this mystery, I turned to the Delaware State News to fill in the gap. Apparently, the mayor was under surveillance shortly after being elected into office earlier this year. Now, for the part that makes this story much more interesting. Why was "DE50," an obviously different anonymous Delawarean than this writer, so interested in the mayor? That's right folks - she wanted to make sure that the mayor was a bona fide Smyrna resident: "The reason for the investigation, according to the document, was to determine whether or not the mayor lived within town limits for the year prior to the election, a requirement to run for and hold the office of mayor as stated by the Smyrna town charter."

Now, I've seen a lot of ... questionable things done by Delawareans, but this one has to rank right up there. Isn't this sort of investigation, brought on by a private citizen no doubt, an incredible waste of time, money, resources, and other people's time (compensated obviously), all for the purpose of essentially "sour grapes?" The article goes on to speculate that the person that hired this PI might have been the former Smyrna mayor, Mark G. Schaeffer, based on the fact that he didn't return any calls to the reporter. I don't know if that's a fair leap to make, and I see it as yet another example of unobjectionable reporting that is plaguing the nation. But even assuming for the sake of argument for the moment that it is, doesn't it go right back to my original point that this sort of thing is a big waste of time for everyone involved? Not to mention the whole creepiness factor.

My more basic point would be this. What if this investigation did yield that she didn't actually live in the city? Is that really enough of a reason to throw what appears to be a rather small potatoes political position into a tailspin and wreak havoc? And even more to my point, who cares enough about this that she would spend that much money on it? I am purposely (and perhaps sarcastically) assuming that it is a female that would do something this ridiculous. If it did turn out to be a man, he should be embarrassed for wasting his time and the investigators. And if it turns out to be the former mayor, wouldn't the efforts to unwind your loss have been better focused on keeping you into that position in the first place? Most of this rant is pure speculation, but I see it a great example of petty local politics that serves no purpose other than vindictive child's play.

And speaking of mayoral elections that waste taxpayer's money, I see that our state capital just completed a special election to elect a new mayor to replace Stephen Speed, who was mayor of Dover prior to being named head of the airway sciences program at Delaware State University. This two-year term ends in May 2008, at which point, I can only assume they will have the real election. Instead of spending the money to find an interim mayor, why wouldn't the city of Dover (or any other city/state for that matter) amend their charter to appoint an interim person. Wouldn't that be a lot less expensive and effective for all those involved? Just some things to think about the next time Dover (or other cities) start asking for state money for something like more police.

Tags: dover delaware mayor election, patricia stombaugh investigated, smyrna mayor investigated

Back from Europe and traffic is not much better there than here

After a brief vacation, I returned to our small state only to face the usual barrage of traffic this morning. According to a news report tonight, fellow commuters (Delawareans included) sit in traffic nearly a week out of every year. What a waste of time for everybody. To relieve this traffic problem, many larger cities have enacted carpool lanes, or limited access pay roads that have charges that vary with the time of day. While Delaware has neither the infrastructure or population to warrant this type of change, the problem is still enough that maybe we should start thinking about more seriously about it.

Since an election year is coming up, I'm sure there will be an absence of tax talk for a while, at least in the more traditional senses. Instead, I offer two ways to generate income without raising the state income tax. I give these ideas in response to the Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Council is projecting as a ten percent drop in revenue for the annual budget and that signs continue to point to a general slowdown in the Delaware economy.

While I save the merits of building a larger Septa-type rail system to transverse the distance from Wilmington to the beach along the old railroad lines for another day, we could do something along the lines of modifying the tolls on Route 1 to be more similar to the Pennsylvania turnpike. Depending on how long you were on it, your toll would vary. This modified toll system would also have the benefit of generating income similar to, if not more than the 60-cent-per-pack cigarette tax that was passed last year. Plus you would have to hire some union workers to work these new toll booths, so that would put a few more people to work.

My second suggestion for whoever winds up getting the nomination for either party would be to consider upping the fines for traffic violations and other minor misdemeanors. I think running a stop sign now costs somewhere in the neighborhood of $25 plus costs, and if one of the red light cameras gets you, it's $75. Doubling or tripling these fines may have the dual purpose of deterrence and income generation at the expense of those who break the law. Obviously it works for all of the beach towns with their speed traps...

Tags: delaware economic and financial advisory counsel projections, delaware recession talk, charging more on route 1, toll increase on route 1, ideas to make delaware better, ideas of raising income in delaware