Spout Offs Make Cape May County Turn

I just completed editing Spout Offs for this week. One observation routinely surfaces after that weekly task: Few people are happy. A lot of elected officials have told us they don’t read Spout Off (which I can’t believe). They might not like what they read, but what better gauge of the electorate’s sentiment? We all know what happens when voters get disaffected, don’t we?
In Dennis Township rancor remains after the recent election. Continuous complaints are entered about all-terrain vehicles. Either one person is irate countless times, or countless people are steaming one at a time. I have my suspicions. We get the gist of the gripe: Something has to be done about ATVs in that municipality. Continued Spout Offs won’t cure the problem.
Many of the same gripes are edited out for space reasons. Those who are bothered must rise up, petitions in hand, and either get the elected officials to take action or get a candidate who will act on their behalf and elect that person. That’s why there are elections. Motivating voters is quite another thing, but, if it’s that serious a groundswell of sentiment new faces will be found in high places.
The Borough of West Wildwood apparently suffers a similar malady as Dennis Township. Administration A was loathed by voters. Administration B replaced it. Now those who liked Administration A are continually tossing Spout Off brickbats at Administration B. Such a small place to have such animosity, it makes me wonder how many people are truly unhappy. They are in serious need of a Unity Day dinner.
This humble editor is repeatedly asked to solve some of mankind’s great mysteries.
Here, from Dennis Township was one that stated “For a couple weeks now I’ve been conducting a little experiment to see if the Herald would print my truthful Spout Offs about hateful lies being spread in Dennis Township by (elected official) and several disgruntled ex- and current township elected officials and employees. These lies ran for weeks unabated before the election and continue after the election, targeting township departments and elected and appointed officials (except, of course, elected official). Somehow the Herald finds room for countless Spout Offs but not the truthful ones. Interesting.”
“Tell us how to know what is truth in Spout Offs. Those are the only ones we will print,” I replied. Ah, what is truth?
I’ve searched for a truth meter on eBay, but have yet to find one. Should anyone out in Herald land have such a Truthmeter that I could run Spout Offs through, please contact me. Make sure it isn’t too expensive. Things are rather tight around here since the storm.
If things get too slow here in Rio Grande, I’m going to ask Library Director Deb Poillon for a job at the County Library as a research librarian. Spout Off editing gives a body much experience in that line of work.
Another Spouter outlined a woe about officials and malfeasance (imagine that in good old Cape May County!), and asked if we might provide the telephone number of Gov. Christie’s office. The person wanted to contact him about the officials’ shenanigans.
Thank goodness for Google! A few keystrokes and…BINGO!. There was our smiling chief exec, staring right at me, contactable via email from the gubernatorial website or, by snail mail, or by telephone number.
Get ready, Governor, here it comes.
Of course we provide other similar services, although sometimes not via Spout Off. Such concerns are: Is trash being collected today, since yesterday was a holiday? Yes, according the ad which no one, apparently, saw except me. Who am I to complain, it keeps me in a job.
Another one, from Spout Off, questions about zoning laws, readily found on municipal websites. Example: Is it legal to park a boat on the street in Middle Township? Oh, King Solomon, where are you now?
Some Stone Harborites will, apparently, never ever, let the branch library location go. The county, in case you missed my story, plunked down $750,000 to buy the old Bank of America building at Second Avenue and 96th Street. The library will be built there, next to Borough Hall. That’s a done deal, but not good enough for the Spouter.
There was a Spout Off this week about the once-touted, then discredited, beach parking lot location. The Spouter noted that lot survived the winds and tides of Hurricane Sandy unscathed while the selected, then rejected “Hand Lot” on Second Avenue was underwater.
Of course where were some remarks about two borough council members in the Spout Off.
After a few readings of Spout Offs, it becomes almost like a cheap whodunnit. You figure out the plot and narrow the list of suspects and, voila! You know who’s complaining.
Locals can probably, very accurately, pinpoint who is submitting those Spout Offs. In fact, after doing this job for a while, I can understand how the Secret Service might be able to piece together information with threats to officials. Just look at the style, the manner of name-calling, and who would give a hoot except a certain set of narrowly-defined suspects? Well, that’s Spout Off. Songster Bob Dylan hit the nail directly on its head in his “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” “You don’t need a weatherman To know which way the wind blows.” Townspeople can surely figure out who’s writing such Spout Offs.
For example, one person in North Wildwood has targeted Mayor William Henfey for criticism. This person continued to wonder where he is or was? As far as I know, the city is operating whether he’s there or not. But one person has the mayor in his or her cross-hairs.
Same as those who griped that Gov. Christie was off to some out-of-state gathering while there is work to be done after the storm. Should it be expected the governor would grab a shovel and dig out sand in those inundated northern resorts? Whether or not you’re a Christie fan, staying in Trenton behind the desk won’t make the cleanup any better or faster.
The beat will continue as Spout Off proliferates. Thanks for expecting miracles, we’ll do the best we can.