Musicfest: Pro and Con

The inconvenience to Union County residents of having a musicfest in their backyards is not the main problem with it. We’ll get through that. The county has become good at putting on these events and they’ll make this the biggest and best musicfest ever. Placards are everywhere. It makes one think that, when inverted and the time comes, they morph into freeholder campaign signs. Two major rock stations in the tri-state area, WXRP 101.9 and WDHA 105.5, are running contests giving away VIP passes. When I listened people from Middletown and Howell won. A lot of time, effort, and money is being pumped into this and I’m certain no expense will be spared.

The problem is the mindset that allows this bacchanalia to flourish at a time when people are losing their jobs, their homes, and even their lives.
What good does it do the 480,000 Union County residents who won’t be attending though they’ll be paying for it? Or the thousands who will lose jobs in the next few months because of this depression. Or the hundreds who will lose homes in part due to outrageously high property taxes? Or the family of Frank Congiusta. Will getting VIP passes make it all good?

The freeholders, the county manager, and whoever supports this blatant waste of resources should be ashamed. Even when Nero fiddled he had the good sense not to do it on a stage. County government should not be entertaining. They should be running prisons, maintaining parks, and tracking land sales. If they can’t do that economically then they have no business even existing.

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Tagged: MusicFest