WOW. EVEN LAUTENBERG?
Gov. Corzine’s controversial plan to shore up the state’s long-term financial problems by increasing tolls took a hit from Sen. Frank Lautenberg and a Democratic legislator running for Congress on Thursday.
“With New Jersey drivers already paying $3 a gallon, Sen. Lautenberg believes that this is not the time to be raising tolls,” Lautenberg re-election campaign spokesman Brendan Gill said.
Gill also said that Lautenberg thought Corzine deserved to be “commended for working to take on New Jersey’s serious fiscal problems” by calling for a freeze in state spending and public approval of future borrowing. (Jackson, Bergen Record)
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ET TU, ADLER?
Gov. Jon Corzine's plan to cut state debt and fund transportation projects by sharply hiking tolls ran into deep political trouble yesterday, with every Republican in the Legislature and a key Democratic senator vowing to oppose it.
The flurry of announcements from legislative leaders came hours before the Democratic governor made his latest pitch directly to the people at a town hall meeting in Atlantic County, where a crowd of more than 750 gave him a mixed reception. It was the 10th such forum hosted by Corzine, who plans to visit all 21 counties.
Yesterday's developments leave Corzine with little margin for error if he is to win approval of the toll- hike plan, which he calls critical to righting the state's shaky finances.
He needs 21 votes to secure passage in the 40-member Senate. Without any GOP support — and with the opposition of Sen. John Adler (D-Camden) — the governor has no more than 22 votes, and even they are not assured.
Last night, Senate Democratic leaders conceded that the Corzine plan, as presented, will not have enough votes to pass.
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CHERRY HILL – The candidates for the 3rd District U.S. House of Representatives seat all oppose the debt reduction plan proposed by Gov. Jon S. Corzine.
State Sen. John Adler, D-Cherry Hill and Republicans Medford Township Mayor Chris Myers, Ocean County Freeholder Jack Kelly and Suzanne Penna issued statements this week expressing their opposition largely because of the toll increases that are part of the package.
Myers went Thursday to Adler's Cherry Hill legislative office to demand he take a position.
Adler released a statement shortly after Myers' unscheduled visit that expressed his disapproval of the potential toll hike and promised he would work to find an alternative to reduce state debt.
"Increasing highway tolls would inflict yet another financial hardship on our hard-working taxpayers," Adler said in a prepared statement. "The governor issued a challenge to the Legislature and to the people of New Jersey to come up with our own plan to alleviate the state's financial crisis – and that's what I intend to do." (Previti, Press of Atlantic City)
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Sens. John H. Adler, D-Camden, and Jeff Van Drew, D-Cape May, came out against Gov. Jon S. Corzine's toll road proposal Thursday, leaving the plan hanging by a thread in the Senate.
Senate Minority Leader Thomas Kean Jr., R-Union, said none of the 17 Republican senators would support it. That leaves 21 Senate votes available, the bare minimum needed.
"Increasing highway tolls would inflict yet another financial hardship on our hard-working taxpayers, and I oppose it," Adler said in a statement. Adler, who is running for Congress, called for budget cuts instead.
Van Drew said there may be ways to wring money out of the roads, such as selling naming rights or deals involving service areas.
"This is a time for caution and conservative fiscal policy," Van Drew said. (Tamari, Gannett)
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STATE OF NEWARK
Despite the downturn in the economy and forecasts of a national recession, Mayor Cory Booker said yesterday Newark is poised for a slew of development projects that are expected to touch all corners of the state's largest city.
Delivering his second State of the City address at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Booker said businesses and developers are showing a renewed interest in Newark. He ticked off a number of projects, including a four-star hotel, a children's museum and an incubator for high-tech businesses.
"Despite our slowing economy, we are opening up the doors and inviting development that truly boosts our communities and reflects our values," Booker said.
The mayor capped his speech, which at one hour was 45 minutes shorter than his address last year, by saying, "I believe, I believe, I believe in Newark."……..
Booker's address was preceded by an 8-minute video highlighting the mayor and his accomplishments. He then opened his remarks by focusing on the city's two most vulnerable populations: senior citizens and children. He announced a pilot program called Grandparents Parenting Grandchildren, which will offer support to low-income grandparents. He also challenged every resident to become a mentor. (Mays and Wang, Star-Ledger)
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EVANS HOPES TO GO DOWN IN INFAMY LIKE HIS PREDECESSORS
ATLANTIC CITY – It's been widely known throughout the city for the past few weeks and fliers have already been distributed for his first campaign fundraiser. Now, Mayor Scott Evans is finally ready to admit it publicly: He's running to retain his seat.
Evans issued a news release Thursday announcing his plans to run in the upcoming June primary.
"I've been meaning to do it for a while and hold a proper press conference, but my schedule has just been overwhelming," Evans said in a phone interview Thursday.
However, his busy days have not given him second thoughts about running.
"I think there's an importance of stability. I definitely want to be here for at least another year," the mayor said, stopping short at confirming he'd run for a full term in 2009. "I'm taking it one step at a time." (Clark, Press of Atlantic City)
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THIRD TIME’S A CHARM
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Murray Sabrin jokes that the two questions he gets most frequently are: When are you going to retire? And are you going to run for office again?
The retirement question, he says, comes from younger faculty members at Ramapo College who want to see the 61-year-old professor of finance step aside so they can move up.
The second question comes from those interested in his Libertarian ideas about government who remember his two previous campaigns. He ran for governor as a Libertarian in 1997 and for the U.S. Senate in 2000 as a Republican.
So the answers are: Sabrin will retire when he's ready, and he's running for the Senate again this year.
He said the answer to the candidacy question had been "99-plus percent no" until he started paying attention to GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul, a U.S. representative from Texas who turned heads when he raised a bundle for his campaign on the Internet. (Burton, Philadelphia Inquirer)
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WILL CHRIS CHRISTIE GET TO APPOINT A MONITOR?
Pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. will pay more than $650million to settle allegations that it overcharged Medicaid for prescription drugs and paid kickbacks to health-care providers to prescribe its medications, the Justice Department said yesterday.
U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey said the recovery represents "one of the largest health-care fraud settlements ever achieved by the Justice Department." He said the government will "hold drug companies accountable for devising pricing schemes that deliberately seek to deny federal health-care programs the same lower prices for drugs that are available to other commercial customers."
Ron Rogers, a spokesman for the Hunterdon County-based drugmaker, said the settlement does not constitute an admission of any liability or wrongdoing.
The case stemmed from two lawsuits filed by whistleblowers under the False Claims Act and then pursued by federal prosecutors. One of the cases was initiated by a former Merck employee who stands to pocket $68million for alerting the government to the company's conduct. (Cohen, Press of Atlantic City)
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THIS CAN’T HELP CORZINE
Environmentalists, in theory, support higher highway tolls as a way to reduce traffic – and pollution.
But that can depend on how the money is spent.
Yesterday, environmentalists and mass-transit advocates said they were opposed to using higher highway tolls to fund the widening of the New Jersey Turnpike, Garden State Parkway, and Atlantic City Expressway.
Adding on to those roads, they said, will only increase traffic, create more pollution and encourage sprawl.
The higher tolls are at the center of Gov. Corzine's financial restructuring plan to reduce the state's debt and fund future transportation projects.
"It doesn't matter where the money comes from, they're bad projects," Jeff Tittel, director of Sierra Club of New Jersey, said of the plans to widen the three major toll roads. (Gambardello, Philadelphia Inquirer)
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SOAP OPERA DIGEST
Dina Matos McGreevey was granted limited access to financial accounts shared by her estranged husband, former Gov. James E. McGreevey, and his millionaire live-in boyfriend.
Matos McGreevey can look at joint bank accounts, including one that accrued $195,000, and any lease agreements, but she will not be allowed to dig into other financial details regarding Mark O'Donnell's personal fortune, Superior Court Judge Karen Cassidy ruled yesterday.
The decision narrows considerably the scope of the original request. Matos McGreevey has pursued access to a wide range of O'Donnell's dealings, including his financial relationship with McGreevey's political aide Theodore Pedersen, Rahway Mayor James Kennedy and Charles Kushner, a real estate magnate who was jailed and disgraced for witness retaliation, and tax and campaign finance violations in August 2004.
"We are dragging in people who are really not involved other than they have a relationship with these people," Cassidy said. (Lucas, Star-Ledger)
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BARHAM WILL NOT SEEK ANOTHER TERM
Republican William C. Barham, a Monmouth County freeholder since 2004 and the board's director for two years, said Thursday night that he will not seek re-election this year.
The county Republican organization had set a deadline of today for candidates seeking the party endorsement to submit application notices. Barham left the door open to changing his mind, saying he would think about his decision "overnight," but indicated such a change was unlikely.
Party Chairman Adam Puharic said that if Barham is out, the deadline for potential candidates to get into the race will be extended two weeks.
"Based on this new information of an incumbent not seeking the endorsement, it changes the dynamics dramatically, and the right thing to do is to extend the application period," Puharic said…………
The only two potential candidates who have been previously identified — former county Assistant Prosecutor Robert Honecker and Bradley Beach Mayor Stephen G. Schuler, who was defeated in the freeholder election last fall — "are both still considering making a run, as far as I know," Mangan said.
Barham said he would detail reasons for his decision today. (Jordan, Asbury Park Press)
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MIDDLE SEX FREEHOLDERS LOSE SOME YOUTH (RELATIVELY SPEAKING)
Middlesex County Freeholder John Pulomena is resigning from the board, effective today, in hopes of becoming the new county administrator.
For months, the 52-year-old Democratic freeholder was mentioned as a likely successor to County Administrator Walter DeAngelo, who is retiring in May. He formally announced his resignation at last night's freeholder meeting.
Freeholder Director David Crabiel said he supports Pulomena's goal of being appointed to the $164,000-a-year county administrator job. Crabiel described Pulomena as a "valued colleague" with whom he worked closely on the finance committee, which helps draft the county budget every year.
"I am confident that John's proven management skills, his commitment to hard work, together with his intimate knowledge of county government would serve him well as the county administrator," Crabiel said in a statement at last night's meeting. (Walsh, Star-Ledger)
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ENJOY MORAN’S COLUMN – THERE WON’T BE MANY MORE
Garry McCarthy was the chief anti-crime strategist in New York City under three different commissioners, a job where the life-and-death stakes were gigantic.
But he says he never knew how tough politics could get until he came to Newark as police director in 2006. That's when the knives came out.
"The politics here is much more intense," he says. "I say 'no' a lot. And unfortunately, people don't like to be told no."
McCarthy is a kid from a tough neighborhood in the Bronx, the son of a cop, and a guy who seems entirely at home when he's in the middle of a fight. He would make a terrible politician because he sees the world in absolutes, with no wiggle room.
"There's a right, and there's a wrong," he says. "And I'm not naive enough to think I can satisfy everyone. I'm not really even trying to do that." (Moran, Star-Ledger)
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NEW JERSEY’S OSCAR NOMINATION
Almost exactly two years ago, on Feb. 18, 2006, Lt. Laurel Hester died after a battle with lung cancer. It was not the fight with cancer that made Hester famous. It was her battle with Ocean County freeholders. And that struggle is brilliantly chronicled in the documentary "Freeheld," nominated for an Academy Award this year for Best Documentary Short Subject.
The Oscar category is misleading. With a running time of 38 minutes, "Freeheld" is a short film. But its subject — Laurel Hester — is anything but short.
Hester worked for the county prosecutor's office for more than two decades and wanted to pass her pension benefits on to her domestic partner, Stacie Andree. Hester was a cop. She was dying. She was a lesbian.
And for way too long, Ocean County freeholders chose not to see the dedicated dying cop appealing for justice. All they saw was gay. The freeholders, despite statewide support for Hester, refused to extend pension benefits to the domestic partners of county employees. (Doblin, Bergen Record)
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IN WATCHUNG
An outspoken judge from Watchung who abruptly resigned his Superior Court seat a year ago was unanimously appointed last night to preside over the borough's municipal court.
Frank W. Gasiorowski had been filling in for retired Municipal Court Judge Richard Sasso, and Watchung's borough council last night made the job official. Gasiorowski will preside over the local court at an annual salary of $37,960.
Of the applicants borough officials considered, only Gasiorowski, 63, had Superior Court experience, "which of course held a lot of weight," said Laureen Fellin, the borough's clerk and administrator.
"Really, the Superior Court experience was very attractive, absolutely," Councilman William Nehls added. (Min Kim, Star-Ledger)
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SPORTS BETTING
For the third time in less than four years, the Assembly approved legislation yesterday that would ask New Jersey voters to approve a referendum to allow betting on professional sports in Atlantic City casinos.
Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D-Gloucester), a co-sponsor, said he will attempt to work with the two Senate co-sponsors to expand the legislation to allow for sports betting at the Meadowlands Racetrack, Monmouth Park and Freehold Raceway as a way to bolster operating revenue there.
He also said he wants to see betting on collegiate sports included, except for games involving New Jersey schools.
But as the Assembly approved the bill, Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) said Burzichelli's proposal, in its present form, can be considered dead on arrival in the upper house. (Hester, AP)
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“HO-HO RIVER”
Bergen County Executive Dennis McNerney called Thursday for a dramatic reorganization of local government, urging the state to encourage — with financial incentives — the merger of towns with fewer than 10,000 residents.
By that standard, half the municipalities in Bergen County — 35 — would be eligible to become, say, Allenwick, Demarkill or Ho-Ho River.
"The surest way to significantly lower homeowners' property taxes is to merge small towns and reduce administrative overhead," McNerney said in his State of the County address before a small crowd of county officials and state legislators at the EMS Training Center in Paramus.
Nevertheless, he acknowledged that merging towns is a volatile and emotional proposition — fraught with political danger for the mayor or council members who suggest it. (Carmiel, Bergen Record)
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IN MONMOUTH COUNTY
Five lucrative professional contracts — one of them going to a firm that has made $158,000 in political donations throughout New Jersey since June 2006 — were awarded Thursday by the Monmouth County Improvement Authority at its monthly meeting.
Acacia Financial Group Inc., which made the contributions to both Republicans and Democrats, was hired as the authority's financial adviser, a role the company has had since 1995. Consulting work by the company's vice president, Jennifer G. Edwards — who attended Thursday's meeting — costs $200 per hour under terms of the accepted proposal.
There will be extra charges for travel expenses, postage, photocopies, faxing, freight charges and telephone calls. Another bidder, Phoenix Advisors LLC, proposed a charge of $125 per hour for consulting, a price that would include travel and the other expenses…….
The authority — made up of five freeholder appointees — leads joint financing arrangements for municipalities, county government entities, school districts and utility authorities. The authority also voted to keep the same attorney, auditor and two bond counsels that have been in place in recent years. All the votes were unanimous. (Jordan, Asbury Park Press)
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IT WAS GOD’S WAY OF SAVING THEM FROM HAVING TO MEET TYRA BANKS
HANOVER — A Mike Huckabee campaign plane carrying reporters — but not the candidate — made a safe landing at Morristown Municipal Airport on Thursday morning after declaring an emergency.
Huckabee — a Republican candidate for president and former Arkansas governor — was on his way to New York City for meetings and at least two television show tapings. He taped "The Colbert Report," a spoof on conservative TV hosts, and "The Tyra Banks <http://thenewyorkobserver.bm23.com/public/?q=link&fn=Key&id=boeohylgaxaxwxjmlnwxxilkmnhlbpc&link=asrrqfqyghbzpgyrkmhxxcxagiplboi> Show" on Thursday, campaign officials said. His plane landed at Teterboro Airport.
The press plane, on its way from Little Rock, Ark., suffered from a computer problem, said Alice Stewart, Huckabee's campaign press secretary, and was rerouted to Morristown Airport. It landed safely, and the members of the media on board were transported to New York.
"They are in New York now, and everyone is safe and sound," Stewart said. (Koloff, Daily Record)
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ARE WARREN COUNTY REPUBLICANS AFRAID THAT THE DEMS THERE COULD BECOME RELEVANT?
Warren County's GOP Committee is accusing the county's Democratic Committee of violating federal election campaign law by sending out a pre-election mailer that encouraged unaffiliated voters to vote Democratic.
The GOP committee authorized member Harry Brown to file the complaint with the Federal Election Commission Tuesday, Republican Party county chair and Lopatcong Township Mayor Douglas Steinhardt said.
The sworn complaint asks the commission to investigate the Democratic Committee's election-related activities and make a list of the donors public. It also recommends penalties of no less than 200 percent of the cost of the violations if the committee knowingly committed them.
County Democratic Party Chair Michael Sedita said the complaint seems like a response to Tuesday's election results.
"The Warren County Republican Committee has nothing to do," Sedita said. "Perhaps they are upset about the excellent turnout the Democrats showed in Warren County on Tuesday." (Satullo, Express-Times)
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IN OCEAN COUNTY
TOMS RIVER — A surge in interest in the Democratic presidential primary created more than 4,700 new voters for that party, according to Deputy County Clerk Scott Colabella.
More Democrats voted than called themselves Democrats before the primary, he said.
When the polls opened Tuesday, there were 48,436 registered Democrats on the rolls. When they closed, 53,387 Democrats had voted — a turnout of 109 percent of the registration. (Bennett, Asbury Park Press)
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