Gary Rose

A four-hour impasse over public employee benefits reform legislation Monday night in the General Assembly left a number of top Assembly Democrats fuming after several Hudson Democrats held out their votes on the measure causing the delay.  The boycott -- apparently orchestrated by State Senator Nicholas Sacco, who holds three public jobs in addition to his wife's employment with the Hudson County School of Technology, forced Democrats to rely on Republicans to pass the measure, a common occurrence in the Senate but a rarity in the lower House which infuriated veteran Democrats. 

There’s some buzz from the front office that Lisa Jackson, the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, could wind up as Governor Jon Corzine’s new Chief of Staff.    Bradley Abelow is expected to leave after the budget is passed, and sources say that Michellene Davis, Corzine’s Appointments Counsel, is also a possible candidate for the top staff post.

With Gary Rose set to leave his Corzine front office post by the end of the month, there are already a few names being mentioned as possible successors as Chief of the Office of Economic Growth: state Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri; Caren Franzini, the CEO of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority; New Jersey Utilities Association President/CEO Karen Alexander.  A dark horse candidate: former Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Bill Gormley.

Gary Rose, a top aide to Gov. Jon Corzine, is expected to leave his state government post by the end of the month
Gary Rose, one of Governor Jon Corzine’s top advisors and the Chief of the state Office of Economic Growth, will be leaving by the end of the month, according to administration sources. With the state budget process nearing completion, Rose, who was a partner with Corzine at Goldman Sachs, is reportedly headed to a private sector position.

According to the new Quinnipiac University poll, New Jerseyans don’t think Governor Jon Corzine should be forced to release personal e-mails sent to his former girlfriend, CWA Local 1034 President Carla Katz.  More than half of the voters (52%) say they should be kept private, and 39% say they should be released.  Even Republicans have mixed feelings: 46% release, 44% keep private.

There is considerable statehouse buzz that one of Jon Corzine’s top advisors, Gary Rose, will leave his post as Chief of the Governor’s Office of Economic Growth early this summer.  It's not likely that Rose would depart before June 30 deadline for approval of the state budget; if he were to leave before the budget is passed, it would create speculation that he was terminated.

In an interview with The Record last October, gubernatorial advisor Gary Rose said: “I can’t figure this place out.” He wasn’t kidding.

Jon Corzine’s former Goldman Sachs partner, now an influential gubernatorial advisor with the title of Chief of the Office of Economic Growth, stands out as one of the architects of the Governor’s political woes. It’s not that he’s a political outsider as much as his inability to understand that he can’t change the way Trenton works if he doesn’t learn how it works. If Corzine is to be held accountable to the people of New Jersey, then Rose must be held accountable to Corzine.

To some – including a few Corzine loyalists – he comes across as the imperial advisor whose arrogance has cost the Governor critical percentage points in his approval ratings.

Rose has made some powerful enemies: to put it mildly, he doesn’t get along with Senate President Richard Codey and has strained relationships with many legislators. He doesn’t see the importance of party leaders to Corzine, and in some cases, doesn’t even know who key Democratic County Chairs are.

Specifically, Rose’s 2007 failures include the rejection of ballot initiatives to fund stem cell research and reduce property taxes – and the near loss of Corzine’s open space initiative (which received the lowest percentage of voter approval of any open space ballot question in state history.) His economic growth plan has not yet been approved or implemented. Is the latest sign of his success an announcement by Merrill Lynch that they are laying off thousands of New Jersey employees?

Over the last year, Rose has emerged as sort of a New Jersey Rasputin – an advisor who manages to anger nearly everyone, but maintains extraordinary loyalty from the King that he serves.

Just about one out of two New Jerseyans would like to move out of the state at some point to avoid high property taxes, according to a Monmouth University/Gannett poll released today.  44% say they want to “live out their lives here” while another 7% aren’t sure.  That’s not good news for Gary Rose, the ex-Goldman Sachs millionaire-turned-bureaucrat who runs Governor Jon Corzine’s Office of Economic Growth.