N.J. voters to decide on open-space bond issue

New Jersey residents have approved 12 consecutive bond issues to preserve open space since 1961. On Tuesday, they will have an opportunity to vote on a 13th.

In addition to choosing the state's next governor and Assembly members, voters will decide whether the state should issue $400 million in bonds to benefit preservation programs.

Of that amount, $218 million would go to preserving land, refuges, watersheds, recreational parks, and sports fields; $146 million would be used to preserve private farmland; $24 million would be used to acquire homes and properties in flood-prone areas; and $12 million would help preserve historical buildings, structures, and grounds.

While state residents have historically supported funding for land preservation, voters also have indicated in recent years that they are worried about their wallets.

The last open-space ballot question, in 2007, passed by the narrowest margin to date for such a question in New Jersey. When a ballot question to borrow $450 million to fund stem-cell research failed the same year, most analysts attributed the defeat to voters' financial worries.

Two recent polls that asked about the open-space ballot question this year yielded significantly different results. A Monmouth University/Gannett poll found 55 percent of likely voters supported the bond referendum, with 32 percent opposed. But in a Rutgers-Eagleton Poll in which the survey question emphasized that the state would need to borrow money to pay for open-space preservation, only 41 percent supported the bond issue compared with 43 percent against, within the poll's margin of error.

Assemblyman John McKeon (D., Essex), who sponsored the bill to place the open-space question on the ballot, said that financially, it made sense for voters to support the measure because it would help preserve clean water and air at a reasonable price, especially with real estate prices depressed in the current market.

"I don't mean to be overly dramatic, but in light of the economic consequences of not preserving this space - we could be writing our economic epitaph," McKeon said.

Tom Gilbert, chairman of the New Jersey Keep It Green Campaign, a coalition of more than 100 groups working for the ballot measure's passage, also argues that it makes financial sense for voters to approve the bonding.

"It's critical that state efforts to protect clean drinking water and our last remaining open spaces for our children and grandchildren continue," Gilbert said. "Unless Question One is approved, those efforts will grind to a halt. We'll miss some great opportunities to preserve land before it's too expensive or too late."

Others disagree. Steve Lonegan, who lost to Christopher J. Christie in the Republican primary for governor, is actively campaigning against the measure's passage, arguing that the state cannot afford to take on more debt.

"The state's debt has exploded, and we simply cannot afford to borrow money for anything," Lonegan said.

Lonegan also believes too much money approved by voters for "open space" winds up funding projects such as recreation in urban areas.

"I'm not saying I oppose that, I'm just saying, be honest," Lonegan said. "It's become a slush fund for political projects."

Earlier this year, some prominent environmental groups opposed the bond referendum, arguing it would be better to create a stable and permanent source of funding for open space. The Sierra Club, for example, previously opposed the ballot question but is now supporting it.

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