Dana's been interested in politics since high school, when she was a part of Model UN and my own group, JSA (Junior States of America). She graduated from Rutgers University (a top New Jersey school) in 2004 as Phi Beta Kappa, and with a 3.9 average GPA. To pay her way through college, she worked a variety of jobs, from nursing homes to restaurants (as a manager) to soup kitchens.

While at Rutgers, Dana became interested in politics on her local level-Morris County, New Jersey. At age 19 (in 2001) she joined the Jefferson, NJ Economic Advisory Board, where she's done a heck of a lot of good. If you can imagine a 20-year old running a town wide survey on financial matters and then using the results of the survey for economic development in that town, then that's Dana for you. No wonder why she was promoted to Vice-Chairwoman at age 21, a position she still holds today. At the beginning of this year Morris County appointed her as their liaison to the Board of Directors for the five-county non-profit North Western Community Action Program.  The program works throughout the state to use community activism in building New Jersey's economy.

Currently Dana is starting her second year at Rutgers University's School of Law. However, the same political impulses that started in high school and continued in her town of Jefferson are now going to the county-wide level. She was asked by the Morris County Democrats to run for the Freeholder position of incumbent Republican Margaret Nordstrom. Never mind that Nordstrom has oodles of cash, whereas Dana, being a graduate student had nothing. Never mind that Morris County is one of the most Republican (if rather "county-club" Republican as opposed to "faith-based" Republicans) counties in the state, giving Bush 58% in 2004. Never mind that no Democrat has been elected as Freeholder since the first Watergate year of 1973. In Dana's eyes, the necessity of making her county better is what has motivated her to run.

The Issues in the Campaign

Now I need to talk about the issues in Morris County. New Jerseyans are generally wealthy, and that's especially so in Morris County. Former EPA Director Christine Todd Whitman doesn't live far away from the county, and Tom Kean (of the 9/11 Commission) resides in Madison. The biggest county in terms of acreage, it nonetheless suffers from "suburban sprawl" like other counties in my state. Being wealthy, they suffer from heavy property tax costs, and heavy congestion on the roads of the county cost citizens $446 MILLION each year (!). The environment isn't healthy here, either. Morris County ranks in the lowest 10% for carbon-monoxide, nitrogen-oxide and water pollution, according to the EPA. Diesel soot pollution is even worse: the worse 3% of the country, again according to the EPA. This had led to the risk of cancer in Morris County going 437% ABOVE the acceptable limit for cancer-causing emissions as stated by the EPA.

So, to summarize: Morris County residents have extraordinarily high property taxes, are losing millions of dollars to transportation waste and are suffering from environmental negligence on behalf of the county and state environmental units. In short, you have a county that needs some serious housecleaning, and funds to alleviate some of the pain.

So, how come the Morris County Freeholders are refusing to dole out a $25 million SURPLUS from the county budget?

Dana's been arguing (correctly) that the fiscal problems in Morris County are due to the expansion of the county budget to avoid raising taxes (which would hurt the reelection chances of the freeholders) and the high property taxes which are driving away local residents, particularly seniors. Morris County's budget has gone up 40% in the last eight years, which has resulted in a lower tax RATE, but higher ACTUAL taxes for each county taxpayer. She also wants to produce extra funds for the county through public transportation and tourism advancement. For example, did'ya know that George Washington stayed in Morristown (the county seat) for three years during the American Revolution? Neither do most New Jerseyans! Along with other major attractions (such as the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey) and the encouragement of new bus and train lines, Dana believes that the gained income would help greatly in lowering property taxes.

The Freeholders' solution? DO NOTHING. Their argument is that losing the surplus would cost the county its AAA-bond rating, but that's only one factor out of many that determine a county's status. Morris County's resident affluence alone would prevent such a loss. Otherwise, the Freeholders have been silent, especially Dana's opponent, Margaret Nordstrom.

But don't take it from me; Dana will tell you herself, in these video clips from a speech she made recently on the campaign trail:

On Taxes and Hoarding the Surplus: http://www.danawefer.com/videos/taxingandhoarding.wmv

On Property Taxes: http://www.danawefer.com/videos/propertytaxes.wmv

On Helping Senior Citizens: http://www.danawefer.com/videos/seniors.wmv

On Pay-to-Play Corruption: http://www.danawefer.com/videos/paytoplay.wmv

On the Campaign Trail

Dana's press conference that I spoke of in August went rather well. The Republicans didn't turn out as many partisans as I'd thought they would, and many prominent Democrats came out to support Dana as well. The event got covered in the Morris County Daily Record (the #1 paper for the county) and other newspapers as well:

"Democrat Protests Surplus Strategy (August 10)"
http://www.danawefer.com/pdf_files/news_20050810b.pdf

"Democrats Lead Drive for Rebate Surplus" http://www.danawefer.com/pdf_files/news_20050802.pdf

On September 10th Dana had the honor of introducing John Kerry at a Morris County Democratic Rally. The Morris News Bee had this to say:

"Kerry Revs Crowd at Jimmy's" (Morristown)
http://www.danawefer.com/pdf_files/news_20050914.pdf

Late last month Dana held a press conference to blast Nordstrom and the GOP-controlled Freeholder Board for giving away $3.2 million in no-bid contracts, much of the money going to campaign donors of the Freeholders. The Daily Record had this to say:

"Freeholder Candidate Blasts No-Bid Contracts"
http://www.danawefer.com/pdf_files/news_20051001.pdf

Finally, Dana has managed to wring an agreement for a debate with Nordstrom on October 25th. Dana has called for Nordstrom to repudiate pay-to-play and other like practices, and the debate provides her with the opportunity to confront Nordstrom on the issues.

Summary

While it will be difficult for Dana to win the Freeholder's job, it is not entirely out of the question. Having been endorsed by Democrats2000 and 21st Democrats, among other grassroots organizations, she'll have a strong supply of volunteers for GOTV operations. An aggressive effort by gubernatorial candidate and US Senator Jon Corzine (http://www.corzineforgovernor.com) in Morris County and other GOP areas of the state will also pay dividends. Finally, enough money has come in that we may be able to run television commercials by the end of the campaign, as local TV is rather cheap (this is rural New Jersey, after all). The bottom line is that victory in this heavily GOP county is unlikely, but possible. And we're working here in the Garden State to make possible a reality.
But even that's not the main point. By jumping in with both feet into politics, Dana has shown me that anyone in this country-young or old, rich and poor, of any color and creed-can make a difference in politics if they are willing to fight for their beliefs. Hopefully this article has shown you, the reader that possibility as well. If you want to help out, whether it is with volunteering or donating, you can go to http://www.danawefer.com and help my friend out in her bid for Freeholder. I'm proud to call her the former, and it would be especially great to call her the latter.