March 19, 2008 - 7:00am
Can you think of any examples where the policy has been violated?
By Wally EdgeIn case you forgot: back in late 2004, just after Jon Corzine won election as Governor, his transition office released a tough-talking policy, noting that applicants for state positions will face "intensive vetting and should be prepared to serve an administration with 'zero tolerance' for placing private interests above the public good."
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Wally Edge
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Quote of the Day
October 10, 2008
"(Governor Jon) Corzine understands that his initial plan went too far, and he is now doing everything he can to hold down the increase the Turnpike Authority proposed to the lowest level possible in order to guarantee safe roads and enhance bridge safety." -- Corzine's "best positioning" on toll hikes, according to his pollster, Doug Schoen.
-Star-Ledger, 10/10/08
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Jeanne Fox
March 1, 2008
Fox undeserving of renomination
Asbury Park Press editorial
Gov. Corzine this week renominated Jeanne Fox, controversial president of the embattled state Board of Public Utilities — embattled mostly because of her irresponsible fiscal leadership. Does Corzine have a short memory? We don't.
Corzine's talk of cutting spending and a "turning point in the fiscal management of our state" in his budget address Tuesday was undermined only hours later with his nomination of Fox. The Senate should block it.
Fox's storing of more than $80 million in a secret bank account in 2004 — accessible only to her and one other employee — should have resulted in her ouster. A whistle-blower lawsuit by the staffer whose responsibilities were taken away after he alerted authorities to that account — a suit that already has cost taxpayers more than $1 million — should have sealed her exit.
Sen. Barbara Buono, D-Middlesex — Fox's home county — said she would not block Fox's reappointment, even after noting "several state audits that have indicated a lack of transparency in some of the financial transactions." That's reason alone to oppose her nomination.
There are other reasons: A state audit of the BPU found there was no oversight of how ratepayer money was spent, poor record-keeping and rampant cronyism, with grants given out to former BPU employees. A former BPU executive director earned $430,000 over three years as an "adviser" almost as soon as the five-year restriction on hiring of former employees expired. BPU officials, including Fox, racked up huge travel expenses and were criticized for taking trips around the globe for conferences and workshops.
Fox is married to Steve DiMicco, a political consultant who handled Corzine's campaigns. It's all too chummy. Corzine's renomination of Fox despite her abysmal track record has a noxious odor to it.
"He is reappointing the poster child for government waste, fraud and abuse," said Sen. Jennifer Beck, R-Monmouth. She and fellow senators should insist that Corzine present them with another name.
just criticism, myopic posts
Taking into account Corzine's appointments of Farber, who was already vetted by the McGreevey administration, and of Fox, who, even if no real conflict of interest exists, at least presents the possibility of one, I think this is just criticism of Corzine; it is one of the areas of criticism where Corzine sometimes thinks with his heart (Farber, a minority figure, as AG) rather than his head.
That said, while I think Wally should have every right to make editorial posts, the anti-Corzine bias on this site is getting a bit transparent and a bit old, somewhat like the "Rotarian American" references. Corzine is the most responsible governor we've had in decades and his list of accomplishments -- banning dual officeholding, paying down or at least stopping the bleeding of state debt, pushing a successful global warming bill through the legislature, clean needle exchanges, a plan for long-term fiscal responsibility, a state comptroller, the most property tax relief for homeowners in decades, the end of Dem power bosses calling the shots in Trenton -- are manifold and impressive. I look for Corzine's second term to be a real indicator of whether his long-term reform issues, from consolidation of services to substantially paying down the state debt, materialize and become permanent or instead whether Trenton drags its feet and blinks.
Don't you dare blame McG for Zoom-Zoom, Martin
He got many appointments wrong, but McG called that one squarely on the nose.
And in so doing, he provided more than ample public warning to his successors.
Are you kidding me?
Farber
Hazel Gluck
Gabrielle Morris
Asselta
Fox
etc, etc, etc
All embarrassing appointments that caused public furor and shame. Conflicts galore and they were never vetted properly. Makes you wonder who is in charge of the intensive scrutiny Corzine promised.
Corzine's Appointments..or lack there of
Aren't we still waiting for the Republican to be appointed to ELEC?!