12th District Republican candidates Declan O’Scanlon and Caroline Casagrande today criticized Governor Jon Corzine for his recent staff shakeup, saying his decision to make State Treasurer and asset monetization point man Bradley Abelow his chief of staff proves that the Governor is more committed than ever to his controversial asset monetization scheme.

“Apparently the governor has made the sale or lease of the toll roads his number one priority”, said Casagrande. “Why else would you take the State Treasurer-a former Goldman Sachs colleague whose expertise is in finance- and make him your chief of staff, a job which has nothing to do with finance? It’s more obvious than ever that despite the Governor’s talk about leaving it to the people to decide whether borrowing $30 billion and paying it back with huge toll increases is a good idea, he has already unilaterally decided to move ahead. His insistence on moving ahead without consulting the Legislature or the people of the state is troubling.”

O’Scanlon pointed out that it was only weeks ago that Abelow sent what many viewed as a politically charged letter to municipalities regarding the toll roads issue. “This is the same guy who sent a thinly veiled threat to local governments not to oppose the sale of the toll roads, and now he’s the Governor’s right hand man. I think that’s pretty telling.”

O’Scanlon also questioned the move of chief of staff Tom Shea from the state payroll to the public sector, amid reports that he will continue to “consult” with the Governor on the toll road issue.

“This whole scheme has been shrouded in mystery from the beginning”, said O’Scanlon. “The Governor promised to let the Legislature review the plan and reneged. The Legislature voted for a budget which includes open-ended funding for the pursuit of this scheme without having seen a plan. In response to poll after poll showing an overwhelming majority of citizens opposing the plan, the Governor then refused to reveal it before Election Day, a slap in the face to voters looking to make an informed decision. Now we get word that the Governor’s chief of staff will be “returning to the public sector”, yet seemingly doing many of the things he was doing as chief of staff, including work on the Turnpike sale. Why?”

Casagrande concluded by saying “Our opponent, Mike Panter, never publicly opposed the Governors controversial scheme while the Legislature was in session. He voted against Assemblywoman Beck’s motion to remove the asset sale language from the budget. He voted for the budget which gave the Governor carte blanche to continue down this path of borrowing and spending which has gotten New Jersey in the financial predicament it’s in today. His silence in the face of this terrible idea, recent election year conversion notwithstanding, has arguably emboldened the Governor to move forward. Sadly, this is just the latest issue on which he’s been ineffective in advocating for the best interests of the 12th District. I can assure you of one thing; when Declan and I are elected we will not be silent on issues like this which would have a dramatic negative effect on the residents of the 12th District.

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