JC Live Wire Currents

11/16 – The war against the enemy invasion in our country enters its twelfth year since they arrived in Pennsylvania in 2014,dragging into the sixth year on the New Jersey front. Though mounting evidence suggests humans are slowly repelling the seemingly ceaseless hordes of the Red Spotted Lantern Fly empirical forces (the SLF), we must not tire in our efforts to once and for all vanquish the invaders.

We have learned much about the enemy since its approach was first, uh, spotted in New York and the Garden State in 2020. For instance, their numero uno safe haven is the (suspiciously also non-native) species of tree haughtily calling itself Tree of Heaven.

They are especially destructive to grape vines and fruit crops, and there are some other 70 species of trees, shrubs, and vines that these warring creatures are known to feed upon and destroy, but it is the Tree of Heaven that is profanely the favored location for their obscene orgiastic group rituals of distance squirting that icky clear “honeydew” liquid that can ruin patio furniture and other outdoor items, and the appetites of unwary picnickers. Removing their primary base of operations is key to our ultimate victory.

Fortunately, there is some good news from the front lines. We are receiving unexpected aid from the bird and insect nations, in particular Cardinals, Jays, Stink Bugs, Praying Mantis, and Honeybees; all who seem to have acquired a taste for the lobster flesh-like insides of the enemy. (You know this is getting serious if we’re talking birds and bees.)

“It [the SLF army] is shrinking slowly. We are beginning to get there as people are now starting to treat them when they see them," said Michael Wilson, Horticultural Lab Manager at the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Rockland County, NY, speaking to News12 New Jersey back in July of this year.  

Mr. Wilson asserts that there has been a slight change in their total numbers but a real difference won't be clear for at least a few years.

So what else can we do in our struggle besides the strangely satisfying cracklesquish stomp when the attackers come jumping at you with their phoney Shaolin Kung Fu? Well, I’m glad you asked because there’s lots.

Before anything, though, please, please, please, do not ever include glue traps in your arsenals as they catch and kill birds, butterflies, and other backyard wildlife who are our allies and were here long before we were.

Homemade sprays of vinegar or insecticidal soaps (sold at garden stores) have been shown to be effective. Reducing the SLF habitats by pulling up the roots of preferred non-native trees and shrubs will also benefit native trees.

Traps that do not endanger birds are also very effective but have to be monitored to avoid harm to beneficial insects. Some examples include:

1. - A bowl of pine-scented cleanser mixed with two teaspoons of sugar. The SLF will be attracted by the scent and drown in the bowl.
   - A circle trap, commonly used for pecan weevils, are available online. Step-by-step instructions for home-made versions can also be found online, for example at extension.psu.edu. Video instructions are also available at extension.psu.edu/spotted-lanternfly-circle-trap.
   - An empty, clear plastic, water bottle: Simply hold the bottle upside-down above the SLF fighter and it will instinctively jump up and into it. Replace the cap quickly (a YouTube video made by Temple University explains how).

Last and most certainly not least, with the recent arrival of cold weather we have seen the retreat of SLF and their last straggling diehards.  From September through November, adult females lay egg masses—each containing up to 50 eggs—on nearly any outdoor surface: tree bark, patio furniture, siding, vehicles, and even playground equipment. They look like flat, textured grayish patches. They can be difficult to see on tree trunks, but are easily identified on vehicles, patio furniture and other surfaces .These egg masses are the source of next year’s infestation. Inspect your property from fall through early spring for the egg masses. Scrape them off and CRUSH THEM. It is now while the enemy slumbers in their nectar-drunken dreams of victory that we must strike pre-emptively and vastly reduce their number.

On a final additional note before the holiday travel season, you may not be aware that New Jersey is one of several states under quarantine rules set in place to prevent the spread of the SLF to other states and countries. As such, from fall to spring we are expected to carefully inspect any outdoor items you might be traveling with for signs of egg masses. We have bad enough reputations out there, so let’s not add SLF-enablers to the list of Jersey’s undeserved bad raps.

Courage, O Citizen! Your town and and your country need you to remain vigilant and unwavering in our righteous crusade. Together we will overcome the oppressor.

04/19/25

    Just over a year ago, on April 10th, the Jersey City Municipal Council nearly unanimously voted 7-0-1 to approve a Ranked Choice Voting “trigger” ordinance that would enact the ranked choice method of ballots in municipal and school board elections, contingent upon passage of authorizing state legislation in Trenton.

    There was a fair amount of public support for the initiative and advocates nationwide chalked it up as a small victory for a concept still remarkably unfamiliar to the average voter. Hoboken had recently in December 2021 become the first city in New Jersey to approve RCV.

    Proponents of ranked choice voting defend it as the most logical form of electoral representation, a “win-win” scenario for everyone, and democracy in its purest form. Theoretically, Republicans stand to benefit with second and third choice votes from Libertarians, disaffected Democrats, other third parties, and undecided voters. In turn, Democrats would receive votes from pragmatic Greens, less obedient Republicans, third parties, and those same undecideds. Critics have called the ranked choice system confusing and anathema to the “one citizen, one vote” doctrine.

    So how will RCV work in Jersey City? The immediate answer is that it won’t. Not without you, it won’t. Without increased public support and demand, the ranked choice voting bills currently before the state legislature, A4042 in the Assembly and S1622 in the Senate, face an uncertain future, most especially in the in the current stormy political climate.

    As for how RCV functions in practice, the idea is so simple one can perhaps understand how folks conditioned to only two options might get confused. In the most basic of terms, a voter is able to rank their choice of candidates as first, second, third, and so on to however many candidates are listed on a ballot. At the final tally, the votes from the least vote-getters are distributed upward to the voter’s next choice(s) in mathematical succession, an “instant run-off”, until an undisputable winner of the contest is clearly confirmed. Costly and time-consuming run-off elections are eliminated.

    National organizations such as Rank the Voteand Fair Vote exist to help educate the public about RCV and provide updates on advances throughout the country. Fair Vote includes a New Jersey page. Voter Choice NJ is an organization focused on the garden state and has posted an online petition in support of the Municipal and School Board Voting Options Act, the RCV legislation primarily sponsored by state Senators Linda R. Greenstein and Andrew Zwicker, the latter a perennial champion and sponsor of RCV bills who has received bipartisan support for ranked choice voting from leading New Jersey Republicans such as Vince Polistina.

    At the time Jersey City approved its ordinance, there was national attention on the proposed bill and its subsequent passing. Mayor Steve Fulop expressed support for the initiative, as did Senator Raj Mukherji, Assemblyman John Allen, and County Commissioner Bill O’Dea. Ward E Councilman and now mayoral candidate James Solomon co-sponsored the Jersey City bill and could be seen everywhere on local media espousing the merits of RCV. There were favorable op-eds in the Jersey Journal and other regional publications. At the hearing itself, there was a who’s who line-up of Hudson County notables on the speaker list in support of the legislation.

    And then the waiting began. The following month, Red Bank became the third New Jersey municipality to officially endorse ranked choice voting with a borough resolution. In late August the town of Princeton also passed a reform resolution expressing support for state-level ranked choice voting legislation. On September 11th, US Congressman Jamie Raskin (MD-08), US Congressman Don Beyer (VA-08), and US Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) reintroduced the bicameral Ranked Choice Voting Act to require RCV for all congressional primary and general elections.

    A full year has passed since the Jersey City resolution. The main bill before the New Jersey Legislature floats aimlessly in legislative limbo, as did similar bills before it, all of which ultimately dissipated into the ether. For the ranked choice voting initiative to succeed in New Jersey, a monumental effort by the electorate has to take place. Only widespread support will make it happen.

    At the very least, and not at all the least of it, RCV in local elections would certainly generate civic interest and activity, level the political playing field, and offer a voice to the voiceless. At the federal level, ranked choice voting disperses with election “spoiler” disputes at the dinner table and, had it been implemented in the 2024 elections, would have undoubtedly afforded the country an opportunity to avert the national catastrophe of the dumpster fire currently raging unabated at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington.