Column: Morristown’s Community Soup Kitchen another victim of stupid government rules

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By Ray Friant

Today’s society is enormously complex.  But, our eighteenth century political system is very simplistic.  This is unfortunate for it gives rise to disastrous consequences.  Government bodies take a long time to get anything done…and when they finally do act the consequences are frequently both undesirable and costly…and last forever!

Let me explain via examples.  Compliance with the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) costs many corporations a fortune without accomplishing the intended objective of making investments safer.  This cost makes America less competitive vs. Europe and Asia…and that hurts all Americans!

SOX is huge, and hugely complex.  Few blog readers will spend the time digging into the details to understand its sapping effects…rather, with a shrug, we take an indifferent attitude.  Suffice it to say, though, that SOX “Set Points,” or mandated requirements, are far too stringent…hence costly.

What is a “set point” you ask.  If you decide to save heating cost in the winter, set the thermometer to a lower temperature.  This reduces heating fuel consumption thus reducing cost.  Move the “set point” higher and you increase cost.  Throughout society there are millions of set points that are created by our governmental bodies.  Most are created by bureaucrats charged with oversight for health, safety, police, tax, defense, etc.

guests of soup kitchen
Guests line up at Community Soup Kitchen in Morristown last winter. Photo courtesy of soup kitchen

So lets us examine something close to home that is easy to identify with. Recent State mandated set points have caused large cost increases without measurable benefit to the Morristown Community Soup Kitchen that does such a wonderful job of feeding the poor.

Since its beginning 25 years ago the Kitchen has fed everyone that has come every day of the year, which during cold winters approaches 300 “guests” per day.

But New Jersey has recently forced our Soup Kitchen to add paid staff, reduce volunteers, and increase cost by $150,000 — all without measurable benefit (but with significant downsides).

When I was growing up in the depression of the 1930s, hungry folks would knock on our door and ask for a meal, and my mother would always find something for them to eat.  In today’s world, people have banded together to alleviate hunger.  Volunteers from religious and secular organizations by the hundreds come together to feed the less fortunate among us.  Most religions teach that “acts of compassion” are a duty endorsed by God.

So it is that our Community is blessed to have a terrific soup kitchen.  Over the years volunteers and volunteer organizations have prepared, and brought to the Kitchen, tons of food.  During that time there is no known incidence of food-poisoning.  One reason is that a lovely lady, Betty Jones, has demanded that volunteers follow safe food handling procedures.

Unfortunately, the State of New Jersey thinks that it knows better — and it has mandated that community food kitchens must now meet a food safety standard that is even more-strict than current restaurant requirements.  The consequence is that the Morristown Community Soup Kitchen’s costs have been forced by the State of New Jersey to increase by $150,000 per year…money that must be donated by someone in the community.

As near as I can tell, some bureaucrats have “decided for society” that the risk of both unintentional food-poisoning and legal liabilities demand that the food-safety set points must be dramatically raised…and that our local community must shoulder the added cost.

To me, that set point is crazy.  Why didn’t the bureaucrats decide that Good Samaritan laws that protect people who voluntarily assist in an emergency could be extended to cover soup kitchens, their volunteers, and paid personnel that meet the daily emergency of hunger?  Why indeed!  Could it be that bureaucrats are protecting their own jobs by creating a fuss and loading more rules on an already overburdened public?  I believe that that is at least part of the answer.

All thinking Americans want to minimize government expenses.  And at the same time we want to assure food safety, assure rapid response to emergencies, stabilize Social Security benefits, provide jobs for everyone who wishes to work, and etc., etc.  But for the good of society we must resist — no, fight against — stupid regulations that raise costs without gaining significant, measurable benefits.

In fact, the Governor of New Jersey should create a task force to systematically examine every bureaucracy for embedded rules that raise cost without measurable benefit.  And then bureaucracies should be forced to lower their set points so that those organizations affected can reduce their cost. If we shed the load, costs come down, taxes come down, the economy strengthens, and the size of the rule-book begins to shrink.  Wouldn’t you like to see such a day?  I sure would!

Ray (Jerry) Friant lives in Morris Township, belongs to the Morristown United Methodist Church and is active with Morris Habitat for Humanity. The retired corporate turnaround executive is the author of Beyond Buzzwords.

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