Assemblywoman Amy Handlin named to Bridgegate Investigation Committee

Assemblywoman Amy Handlin

Assemblywoman Amy Handlin (R-Middletown) has been named to the Special Assembly Committee that will investigate the September lane closures on the George Washington Bridge that have dominated the state and national news for the last week since The Record published emails that revealed that Governor Chris Christie’s then Deputy Chief of Staff, Bridget Ann Kelly, ordered the lane closures with an email to Port Authority’s then Director of Interstate Capital Projects, David Wildstein.

During her public service career as an Assemblywoman, Monmouth County Freeholder and Committeewoman in Middletown, Handlin has earned a reputation as a ethics hawk and outspoken critic of governmental excesses.

Handlin is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Monmouth University and the author of Crony Capitalists in our Backyards: Who they are, What the do and How to fight back.

Joining Handlin on the twelve member committee are eight Democrats; Chairman John Wisniewski, the Assembly Transportation Committee Chair who has spearheaded the Bridgegate to date, Marlene Caride (Bergen/Passiac), Lou Greenwald (Mercer), Gordon Johnson (Bergen), Paul Moriarty (Gloucester), Linda Stender (Union) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (Mercer).

The other Republicans on the committee are Michael Patrick Carroll (Morris), BettyLou DeCroce (Morris), and Holly Schepisi (Bergen).

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Report: Holmdel Bomb Scare Was A Hoax

The bomb scare at St. John Vianney HIgh School reported earlier today was a hoax, according to a report on Holmdel-Hazlet Patch.

Acting-Monmouth County Prosecutor Chris Gramiccioni says a bomb threat that forced the evacuation of St. John Vianney High School Wednesday was a hoax.

“We’re looking at it hard and believe it to be a hoax and we will be investigating it thoroughly,” said Gramiccioni.

Gramiccioni said the Holmdel Police Department received a call at 10:39 a.m. indicating that a bomb was on the premises of St. John Vianney and that the caller was carrying a weapon. Following the call, the school was locked down and students and staff were evacuated.

Responding to the scene were Holmdel, Hazlet and Matawan police departments, State Police, and the Monmouth County Emergency Response Team. Gramiccioni said the FBI also offered to assist.

No weapons or explosives were found after the school was swept twice. The school was cleared at 2:45 p.m.

“It was an unsubstantiated threat and appears to be a hoax,” said Gramiccioni.

If you have any information regarding the incident, call the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office at 800-533-744

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Possible Bomb Scare At Holmdel School

From the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office:

Holmdel – St. John Vianney High School has been evacuated due to a possible bomb threat. The school has been safely evacuated. All students and personnel are safe.

MOCERT is currently conducting a room to room search of the building. Once this completed the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office’s K-9 Unit along with other law enforcement K-9s will search the building for possible explosives.

Please keep clear of Line Road and the surrounding area in Howell, in order for law enforcement officers to perform their job.
Parents can pick-up their kids at St. Benedict’s School. Buses will be divert to that location.
#MCSONJ

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If Frank Pallone was in charge…..

…..maybe New Jersey, New Jersey would have would have been stuck in your head last summer instead of Stronger Than The Storm .

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Quinnipiac Poll: New Jersey Voters Don’t Believe Christie Ordered GWB Lane Closures

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Christie’s Pals, Springsteen and Fallon, Spoof Bridgegate

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Pallone Lied To HUD Inspector General When Asking For #Stronger Than Storm Audit

Christie was not first choice as star of #STTS campaign

Congressman Frank Pallone during the 2013 Democratic U.S. Senate Primary Debate

Congressman Frank Pallone lied to the Department and Housing and Urban Development’s Inspector General when he asked that they audit the Christie Administration’s 2013 post-Superstorm Sandy Shore Tourism ad campaign.

In his August 8, 2013 letter to HUD Inspector General David Montoya, Pallone said:

Recently released documents relating to the bidding process and contract award for this marketing campaign show that the contract was awarded to a firm that is charging over $2 million more than the next lowest bidder to develop the marketing plan.  The winning firm is being paid $4.7 million for their work, while a comparable firm proposed billing the state $2.5 million for similar work.  This large discrepancy between the competing proposals raises concerns as to whether these federal funds are being spent in the most cost effective manner, and should be reviewed by your office.

I am also concerned that the winning bid proposed including Governor Chris Christie in the advertisements, while the lower cost proposal that was not selected did not.  As you know, the Governor is running for reelection this year in a high profile race.  It is inappropriate for taxpayer-funded dollars that are critical to our state’s recovery from this natural disaster to fund commercials that could potentially benefit a political campaign.  In these sensitive circumstances, even the appearance of a conflict of interest should be avoided.

The fact that this particular proposal was chosen despite an obvious conflict of interest, in addition to the higher costs, raises serious concerns with the entire process.  I fought hard for passage of the Sandy aid package in Congress by assuring my colleagues that this funding was critical to our recovery and that it would be spent responsibly without waste, fraud and abuse.  Many in Congress objected to this funding precisely because of concerns their citizens’ tax dollars would be misspent.  In that regard, the state’s mismanagement of taxpayer funds for this marketing campaign is extremely troubling, especially when there are so many New Jersey residents still in need of assistance to recover and rebuild from this historic storm.

But the firm behind the #STTS ad campaign, MWW of East Rutherford, said their proposal was $2.745 million under the $25 million budget and $1.47 million lower than the runner-up’s bid.  MWW said their proposal offered the lowest hourly rate of all bids.

(Vote Here: Which song would Frank Pallone choose for the New Jersey Tourism ad?)

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Governor Chris Christie’s 2014 State of the State Address As Prepared for Delivery

Trenton, New Jersey, January 14, 2014

Lt. Governor, Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, Legislators, friends, fellow New Jerseyans:

The last week has certainly tested this Administration. Mistakes were clearly made. And as a result, we let down the people we are entrusted to serve. I know our citizens deserve better. Much better.

I am the governor and I am ultimately responsible for all that happens on my watch – both good and bad.

Without a doubt we will cooperate with all appropriate inquiries to ensure this breach of trust does not happen again.

But I also want to assure the people of New Jersey today that what has occurred does not define us or our state. This Administration and this Legislature will not allow the work that needs to be done to improve the people’s lives in New Jersey to be delayed.  I am the leader of this state and its people and I stand here today proud to be both.  And always determined to do better.

Now I come before you once again to report on the state of our state.

And today, the state of the state is good, and getting better.

(View the entire State of the State address here)

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Reports of Christie’s Political Demise Are Greatly Exaggerated

New Jersey and national Democratic politicos who are dancing with glee over the ‘damage” they think they are inflicting on Governor Chris Christie’s second term effectiveness and his presidential ambitions might as well enjoy the moment.  Reports of Christie’s political demise are greatly exaggerated.

Starting today with his State of the State address (which can be viewed live here at MMM at 3PM) Christie’s comeback will begin.  A comeback that the governor starts with a 59% job approval rating, according to the Monmouth University/USA Today-Monmouth/Ocean Edition Poll released yesterday.

The poll that was taken Friday through Sunday, indicated that even with the onslaught of negative publicity that Christie has gotten locally and nationally, New Jersey residents don’t care about Bridgegate with regard to how they view Christie.  His job approval rating is net positive 27%.  His personal approval rating is down to net positive 16%, but his negatives haven’t moved since Patrick Murray last asked the approval question in November when the net positive number was 31%.  28% had a negative opinion of Christie is Murray’s pre-election November survey. 28% expressed a negative opinion in the survey published yesterday.  The 15 point drop in Christie’s net personal approval rating is the result of New Jerseyans waiting for the full Bridgegate story to come out.  Those who said they have “No Opinion” of Christie personally, increased by the exact 15 points from November to January and the 15 point drop in those who said they had a favorable personal opinion.

Even though New Jerseyans think Christie knows more than he is saying about Bridgegate, we are giving him the benefit of the doubt.  We still like him.   If a smoking email surfaces that proves he knew of the George Washington Bridge lane closures, and what they were really about, he’s toast.  If such an email exists, it will probably come out. If it doesn’t exist, Christie will come out of Bridgegate a stronger political force than he was last Tuesday, before The Record published the damning emails.

Christie knows if such an email exists.

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The State of The State

Governor Chris Christie will deliver his State of the State Address to the newly sworn State Legislature this afternoon at 3PM.

View the address live here:

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