Governor Chris Christie Takes Action to Ensure that New Jersey Communities Receive All Possible Aid for Storm Expenses

Governor Chris Christie signs his letter to President Obama requesting FEMA disaster relief this moring at the Monmouth County Hall of Records. Assembly Members Mary Pat Angelini, Caroline Casagrande and Dave Rible, background.

Trenton, NJ – 

To help New Jersey municipalities and counties recover costs from this week’s severe winter snowstorm, Governor Chris Christie today signed a letter to President Barack Obama seeking a major disaster declaration to secure federal funding and ensure New Jersey communities most affected by the storm receive all possible resources to address extraordinary and unforeseen costs from the snow emergency.

“My pledge is to do all we can to help our municipalities and counties in the aftermath of the blizzard, to clean up and to ease the storm’s financial impact,” Governor Christie said.  “I want New Jersey to be in the best possible position to receive disaster aid through a prompt application to the federal government and FEMA.

”In the face of such a ferocious and unusual winter storm, our Department of Transportation, State Police and other agencies mounted an effective response, maximized resources and worked tirelessly for days. The eastern municipalities and counties most impacted also did the best they could under very difficult circumstances. There are always concerns about how things could have gone better, but the fact is this was a rare and unanticipated force of nature that hit our state, and we owe our thanks to all those who worked tirelessly to get us through it.”

Also today, Governor Christie announced the distribution of more than $11.18 million in FEMA disaster aid from successful applications following major storms earlier this year.  Distribution of payments to municipalities and counties began yesterday and will continue through Monday.  Payment amounts to some of the hardest hit counties from those storms include, for example, $386,344 to Camden County, $308,936 to Burlington County, $291,612 to Gloucester County, $284,561 to Atlantic County, $278,638 to Cumberland County and $278,091 to Salem County.  Payments for amounts ranging from thousands of dollars to tens of thousands of dollars will go to dozens of other municipalities and counties.

In his letter to President Obama, the Governor noted that storm conditions in 13 counties exceed the standards set to qualify for federal disaster assistance.  The qualifying counties are Atlantic, Bergen, Cape May, Cumberland, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset and Union.  New Jersey, through data being collected by the State Police Office of Emergency Management, will provide additional supporting information following the completion of a Preliminary Damage Assessment pursuant to FEMA’s Snow Assistance Policy.

The snowfall, which began the morning after Christmas, broke many of the historic records established and maintained by the National Weather Service and National Climatic Data Center, as described in an attachment to the Governor’s letter.

“In light of these severe conditions, federal assistance is critical to properly and fairly mitigate the financial impact of this major snowstorm on State and local budgets, which are both currently under tremendous pressure due to severe economic conditions,” Governor Christie wrote in his letter to the President.

Governor Christie urged counties and municipalities to prepare damage and cost assessments as quickly as possible to move the aid application process along as expeditiously as possible. 

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So what went wrong and who is at fault?

 It snowed too much too fast.  That’s what went wrong in New Jersey this week.  New York too.

It wasn’t a personal snowstorm, yet naturally many, if not most, people relate to the aftermath of a storm out of their personal concerns.   The numb minded media, especially the Asbury Park Press editorial board, who is once again is living up to their Neptune Nudniks moniker, granted a full page in the print edition to selfish rants, 12 pages on their website, contributing to an online frenzy of wind-bagging. 

The Nudniks are contributing to directly to the frenzy with yet another editorial premised on inaccurate information and assumptions.  They say the storm was predicted days in advance.  Hogwash.  Forecasts as late as Saturday night were predicting snow falls in Central Jersey in the 12-18 inch range.  It wasn’t until just a few hours before the storm hit that any forecaster was talking about accumulations of 25-30 inches with 55 mph winds.   Folks in Buffalo or Syracuse might be expected to be prepared for the type of storm we got, but the truth of the matter is that New Jersey’s various governments don’t have the equipment or the personnell to handle the this type of weather quickly.   That is why the clean up is continuing now, 48 hours after the snow stopped falling.

The Nudniks started their editorial rant accusing road crews of “surrendering” to the storm.  

I was out Sunday night to plow my properties.  The DOT crews were out.  The visablity was terrible.  It was dangerous to be plowing.  It was snowing too hard too fast.

If they were not still out there cleaning up, I would suggest those crews dump truck loads of snow that they surrendered to at APP headquarters in Neptune.  Cancelled subscriptions should suffice for cooler heads. 

It snowed too much to fast.  That is what happened.  There have been lots of rumors and comments that there have been job actions and sick outs in some towns and maybe the state.  Given how well Monmouth County’s crews performed vis-a-vis many towns and the DOT, you have to wonder.  Investigations should take place and corrective action taken where appropriate.   However the APP should be tracking down the validity of those rumors rather than wind-bagging that road crews “seem to have” quit on the storm.

The media driven brouhaha over Governor Christie and Lt. Governor Guadagno being out of state at the same time is as absurd and insulting as the Nudniks’ assumption that road crews quit.

As published elsewhere and confirmed by MMM, Guadagno and her brothers are spending what is most likely their last Christmas holiday with their father who is suffering from Stage 4 prostate cancer.  The trip was planned and booked months ago with Christie’s approval.  Shame on the pundits and politicians who have been trying to score points over Guadagno’s absence.

Once the news about why Guadagno is “on vacation” at the same time as the Governor gets around, watch he feeding frenzy on Christie step up.   I’m looking forward to his first press conference back.  I hope he shames the mindless numbskulls of the press.

There’s little going on in Trenton this week.  That’s why it was a good week for the Governor to take his family to Disney World.   Guadango’s situation made the decision to take a vacation delicate.  Senate President Steve Sweeney’s good character made the vacation doable.  But various pundits and political hacks won’t care.  Let the Christie kids give up one more thing because their Dad is tough to lay a political glove on.

Does anyone really doubt that Christie would have returned to New Jersey given the “state of emergency” if it was possible?  The airports were closed. They are just opening today.

Christie’s presence would not have made a difference in how the snow was cleaned up, or not cleaned up.   His leadership from the bully pulpit would have made a difference though.   He would have told the media the truth. It snowed too much too fast.  We’re doing the very best that we can and we’re working about the clock, he would have said.  He would have done a much better job than New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg did when he told NY that everything is OK and that they should go shopping.  Christie would have told people to remain calm and safe; to look out for the elderly and disabled.   And the media would have had something responsible to write about, rather than create a frenzy over the fact that it snowed too much too fast.

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Mulshine: It’s Guadagno’s fault if his cat poops on the rug

By Art Gallagher

Paul Mulshine says he will blame Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno if his cat poops on the rug.  Really, he said that.

Mulshine’s cat usually poops outdoors, but the usual spot, probably on a neighbor’s property, is snow covered and the pussy won’t go where it usually goes.  Mulshine wasn’t prepared for the storm.  He couldn’t navigate the snow covered roads to get kitty litter so his pussy would have a warm place to do it.

Guadagno is at fault because she’s on vacation out of state at the same time Governor Christie is out of state, leaving Senate President Steve Sweeney in charge as Acting Governor.

Mulshine speculates that Guadagno vacationing at the same time as Christie could be the end of her political career.  He quotes Rick Shaftan as saying that “nothing will screw up your poll numbers more than snow.”  Shaftan, who is famous for talking to Mulshine and for running Steve Lonegan’s 2009 gubernatorial primary, noted that former New York Mayor John Lindsay lost the 1969 GOP primary due to mishandling a snow storm.  Lindsay was reelected on a third party line. 

If Shaftan, Lonegan, Mulshine and the ideologues were in charge of the NJ GOP, like they want to be, a third party candidate could get elected in New Jersey too.

Mulshine and Shaftan speculate that Guadagno wants the GOP nomination to run against U.S. Senator Bob Menendez in 2012.  Yet another example of ideologues who can’t count. 

If the NJ GOP mounts a top tier talent challenge to Menendez in 2012 we’re in deep trouble as a nation.  Barack Obama will be on the top of the Democratic ticket in 2012.  The only way a Republican is going to win a state wide race in 2012 is if Obama is unelectable in New Jersey.  If that is the political environment in 2012 the economy will be in worse shape than it is now.  Obama’s poll numbers are over 50% in NJ now, as bad as things are.

Mulshine and Shaftan have a strange bedfellow in windbag Senator Ray Lesniak who called in from Florida to criticise Guadagno and Christie for leaving Sweeney in charge of cleaning up the snow.

Sweeney assured Christie he wouldn’t create mischief while keeping the Governor’s seat warm.  If Christie didn’t trust Sweeney to keep his word, other arrangements would have been made.  If Sweeney breaks his word, other arrangements will be made in the future.  

The constitutional purpose of the Lt. Governor’s office is to prevent one person from controlling two-thirds of the state government, as was the case when Dick Codey was Governor and Senate President after Jim McGreevey’s resignation and when Don DiFrancesco held both offices after Christine Whitman’s resignation.  The current banter is nonsense.

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Conservative Conundrum

By Art Gallagher

Paul Mulshine wrote a blog post last week wherein he wittingly or not shed light on the puzzle of New Jersey’s conservative ideologues.

Mulshine was tauting a post by the blogger formerly known as Manly Rash that suggested that NJ GOP Chairman Jay Webber should be replaced because he canceled a meeting of the State GOP Committee.  Conservatives have been upset that the NJGOP has not adopted the GOP’s 2008 National Platform, particularly its pro-life planks. 

The various NJ Tea Parties and Steve Lonegan’s Americans for Prosperity had planned to demonstrate at the scheduled meeting in order to gain support for various proposed resolutions before the committee,” Support for the Governor’s reforms at the DRPA, Joining the lawsuit against Obamacare, Stopping the implementation legislation for Obamacare in New Jersey, Support for New Jersey Citizens’ right to privacy when flying (TSA pat-downs), and Repealing the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) which is New Jersey’s own version of the Obama administration’s “Cap and Trade” energy tax,” according to Rash.

Webber said he canceled the meeting because he and other members were busy in Trenton with the legislature in session.  The ideologue conservatives adopted a conspiracy theory that Webber cancelled the meeting to silence them.

This conservative blogger supports each of the initiatives that Rash wrote of and supports the pro-life plank of the National GOP platform.  This conservative blogger also supports Jay Webber and Governor Chris Christie.  The latter has earned me the RINO label from some.  I’ve even been nicknamed Arlen.

Mulshine says, conservatives are supposed to stand on principle.  He says Webber violated principle when threw his support to Chris Christie in the 2009 GOP Gubernatorial primary over Steve Lonegan.   The principle of “Lonegan was perhaps the cheapest skinflint ever to run for office in this great state. He really meant to cut state government.” 

The principle that Webber, Christie, and even Senator Mike Doherty who has earned the Loneganites scorn, are guilty of violating  is the principle of irrelevancy. The cutting your nose off dispite yourself principle.

Yet Mulshine surprised me in his blog post.  Despite his nearly constant criticism of Christie for not fulfilling all of his campaign promises in 11 months, Mulshine wrote this line that demonstrates that he can occassionally see beyond his blinders:

“Webber, despite his conversion, is a huge improvement on Tom Wilson, the prior chairman, who agitated for driver’s licenses for illegal aliens. And Christie, despite his flaws, is a huge improvement over Jon Corzine.

But this is just another reminder that the New Jersey Republican Party has a long way to go.”

My apologies to Tom Wilson.

The New Jersey Republican Party does have a long way to go.  However, it has come further in the last year under the leadership of Christie and Webbler than any observer could have predicted.   Had Lonegan been the GOP nominee in 2009, a battle that Mulshine and many other ideological conservatives keep fighting 18 months after they lost it, Jon Corzine would still be governor.  Much of the progress the GOP made this year, in New Jersey and nationally, would not have happened.  More importantly, much of the progress New Jersey made this year would not have happened.

The conundrum of conservative ideologues is that they are more likely to be right, “standing on principle” and lose as they watch life get worse than they are to work with those they agree with on most issues and win.

It’s easier to be right and be a wind bag than it is to win and do the hard work of correcting decades of damage while in the minority.  Rash says leadership is standing on principle.  Yet, thanks in large measure Christie’s work this year, Democrats in Trenton are adopting smaller government principles.  Which is more effective leadership?  Going down in defeat while being right  and then wind bagging or having your political adversaries shift their agenda?  I’ll take the latter.

As we head into 2011 with the entire State Legislature up for reelection, ideologues have a critical choice to make.  Based upon history one might expect them to undermine the progress by targeting otherwise “safe” Republican legislators in primaries with more ideologically pure opponents.  All that would accomplish is to put safe seats at risk.

The smarter and more difficult choice would be to work with, rather than against, those they agree with most of the time to pick up Democratic seats in the legislature.  The ideologues would serve New Jersey better by focusing their criticism on potentially vulnerable Democrats and shifting their focus, even if only temporarily, away from RINOs.  

If the “hard right” can move public opinion in New Jersey to the right, as was done nationally this year, RINOs and Democrats will follow.

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Governor Christie Signs Key Reform Agenda Legislation to Transform System on Long-Overdue Arbitration Reform

Trenton, NJ – Fulfilling a critical element of his Reform Agenda, Governor Chris Christie today signed comprehensive arbitration reform legislation as part of a wider set of far-reaching reforms designed to curb property tax costs for hard-working New Jerseyans.  The measure is the result of a bipartisan agreement reached on December 9 with legislative leadership to change the long-overdue interest arbitration reform process by providing municipalities with the tools they need to rein in property tax costs and live within their means.

“Today, Trenton is demonstrating what can be done when we work together to find substantive solutions to the issues facing the hard-working taxpayers of our state,” said Governor Christie. “Working with Senate President Steve Sweeney, Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean and Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce, we are delivering meaningful and substantive reform to New Jerseyans, transforming the interest arbitration process and providing a long-term solution that will help local governments keep property taxes down and costs under control.

“Our work, however, is not done, and I urge the legislative leadership to keep the momentum going by acting on other critical pieces of the tool kit of reforms that will ultimately help to keep property taxes low. New Jerseyans can no longer afford inaction and delay which is why the legislature must move on real, comprehensive civil service reform as I have proposed, not a watered-down version,” concluded Governor Christie.

The civil service bill proposed by the legislature falls short by, among other things, not offering municipalities the option to opt-out of the antiquated and burdensome civil service requirements. As proposed by Governor Christie, arbitration and civil service reform get at the root of the problem faced by many local governments struggling to live within their means – ever-expanding operational costs.

Also awaiting legislative action is Governor Christie’s conditional veto of Senate Bill 2220, which would more effectively stop the abuse of sick and vacation benefits and prevent future use of sick days — meant for employees who are sick — as supplemental cash payouts for employees who already have generous pensions. Among improvements to the original bill, the conditional veto would phase out the practice of distributing cash payouts for sick days by prohibiting supplemental compensation for sick days that accumulate after the effective date of the legislation.  It would also suspend supplemental compensation for any employee under indictment for a crime that involves or touches his or her public office and mandate the forfeiture of any supplemental compensation if convicted.  The Governor continues to urge the legislature to act quickly to adopt the substantive changes in the conditional veto.  The news release outlining the Governor’s conditional veto can be found HERE.

The bipartisan agreement signed into law today mirrors Governor Christie’s call for a meaningful cap that matches the tax levy cap of 2.0. This 2 percent cap will be applied to all salary items, such as across the board and cost of living increases, step increment payments and longevity pay. In addition, there will be no additional exceptions for non-salary economic terms moving forward. The agreement also created a prohibition on allowing non-salary economic issues to be arbitrated above the cap, unless already included in an existing contract. This is an important provision because arbitrators will no longer be able to create new cost items in successor contracts.

The Christie Bipartisan Agreement on Interest Arbitration Reform signed today:

·       Provides a meaningful cap of 2 percent on arbitration awards that will be applied to all salary items, such as the cost of across the board and cost of living increases, step increment payments and longevity pay.

·       Has no Exceptions for Additional Non-Salary Economic Terms Moving Forward. The agreement prevents arbitrators from awarding any new economic items moving forward. The agreement creates a prohibition on allowing non-salary economic issues to be arbitrated above the cap, unless already included in an existing contract. All salary items are subject to a maximum 2 percent cap. This is an important provision because arbitrators will no longer be able to create new cost items in successor contracts.

·       Eliminates Accruing Labor Costs By Creating a Fast Track Arbitration Process. The agreement transforms the system by putting in place concrete deadlines to help eliminate delays in the arbitration process, from contract negotiation to the receipt of the actual award. Traditionally, once a contract expires, labor costs continue to mount until a new contact is reached. Enforcing deadlines and speeding up the process will ensure timely implementation of new contracts and the cap on interest arbitration awards. Effective January 1, 2011, there will be a concrete deadline of 45 days from the filing of a request for interest arbitration to the date of award, without any extensions.  All appeals must be decided within 30 days, if arbitrators do not comply with the 45 day deadline, they will be penalized financially.

·       Caps Arbitrator Pay. The agreement will cap arbitrator compensation at $1,000 per day and $7,500 per case. Capping arbitrator pay will further incentivize speedy resolution of arbitration cases.

·       Increases Ethical Standards and Training for Interest Arbitrators.

·       Randomizes the Selection of Interest Arbitrators.

The legislation also creates a Task Force to examine the impact of interest arbitration reform and the effectiveness of the cap on restricting municipal spending. The taskforce will study the impact of the cap on taxes, services, expenditures, public safety, recruitment, retention and professionalism. The Governor will directly appoint four members and two members will be directly appointed by the Senate President and Assembly Speaker. The Task Force will provide its recommendations no later than December 31, 2013.

Since September, Governor Christie has been traveling the state to talk about the importance of enacting a tool kit of reforms to help local government leaders directly address cost drivers and manage within Cap 2.0 without adversely impacting core government services. Hundreds of mayors and local elected officials across political parties have voiced their support for the tool kit, and underscored the tool kit’s importance in helping them manage their local budgets. 

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Christie Commutes Brian Aitken’s Sentence To Time Served

By Art Gallagher

This afternoon at 4:30 Governor Chris Christie signed a commutation order of Brian Aitken’s prison sentence of seven years for illegal possesion of firearms to time served effective today.  The Governor order that Aitken be released from prison as soon as administratively possible.

According to numerous news reports, Aitken had purchased his firearms legally while a resident of Colorado and was transporting them pursuant to instructions he had received from the New Jersey State Police while moving back to his native New Jersey when he was arrested in January of 2009.  The judge presiding over Aitken’s trial did not allow the jury to consider the exemption to New Jersey’s firearm carry law for transporting weapons between residences.

Christie’s commutation order can be viewed here.

There is a statement of the Free Brian Aitken facebook page that reads as follows:

It’s official—Governor Christie has commuted Brian’s sentence and he will be home before Christmas!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU everybody. If it wasn’t for your letters, phone calls and support this never would have happened. What a joyous Christmas this will be. Thank again from the bottom of our hearts. Brian Aitken has been freed!

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Chris Chrisite: The Day of Reckoning is Here

By Art Gallagher

Governor Chris Christie was featured prominently in the 60 MINUTES segment, State Budgets: Day of Reckoning last night.  See InTheLobby for a synopsis and links to the broadcast and extra footage.

There were two key phrases Christie used that caught my attention when talking about the state’s pension and retiree health care obligations. 1) Christie said that most of the general public is incredulous that there are still people still getting pensions.  Most of us have 401K’s that have been hammered and we don’t know how we are going to fund our retirements. 2) Christie said, as I have heard him say before, that while public employees are up in arms now, if he doesn’t take the necessary actions to reform the pension and benefits system, it won’t exist in 10 years.

I hope the second comment is not an indication that Christie is going to try to save the pension and benefits system.  It is beyond saving and it is not appropriate to try.

As Christie’s two least favorite conservatives (besides Sarah Palin), Paul Mulshine and Rick Merkt wrote in September, if the state pension system was a private pension system the federal government would have shut it down already.

If the federal government is not going to do the right thing regarding the insolvent state pension systems throughout the county, New Jersey and Chris Christie should lead the way.  Scrap the pension system.  Distribute the money in the system equitably to its beneficiaries’ retirement accounts and let’s move on.  Set up 401K type retirement programs for government workers and retirees.

The private sector has already handled this crisis and have given the states a model for how to do it. It’s not fair and it won’t be pretty, but it has to be done.  All we need is a leader with the courage to do it. 

I believe Chris Christie is that leader.  I hope I am right.

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Christie Throws NJN A Lifeline

Christie Administration Takes Action to Move Forward Transition of New Jersey Network

Governor signs NJN transition legislation, names new authority members, suspends employee layoffs

Trenton, NJ – Moving forward with the next steps in securing the future for public broadcasting in New Jersey, Governor Christie today took several actions aimed at carrying out the Administration’s goal of transitioning New Jersey Network into an independent broadcast entity that will continue to serve a New Jersey-centric programming mission, without taxpayer subsidy. 

These steps include: the signing of the New Jersey Public Broadcasting System Transfer Act; the direct appointment of three members to the reconstituted New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority, as provided for in the Act; and, the temporary suspension of layoffs for NJN employees while the transition process develops.

“Today, we are taking the next steps to secure the future of New Jersey public television as an independent public media organization able to stand on its own without any continuing taxpayer subsidy,” said Governor Christie.  “In addition to our work already underway, these actions today pave the way for New Jersey focused programming to continue uninterrupted while New Jersey Network’s transition to a free-standing institution is completed.”

Governor Christie signed S-2406, the New Jersey Public Broadcasting System Transfer Act, a bill modeled on the Christie Administration’s proposal submitted to the legislature in September to accomplish the conversion of New Jersey Network from a government body to an independent entity, either to a non-profit corporation or through an agreement with an existing public broadcasting entity.

The Department of Treasury will be responsible for implementing the law, aspects of which is already underway, including:

·         compiling an inventory of the authority’s and foundation’s assets and liabilities;

·         identifying the methods or mechanisms required to transfer assets and liabilities;

·         receiving and approving proposals for the transfer of any or all of the authority’s or foundation’s assets; and

·         assuring that the successor to NJN can fulfill the responsibilities of a maintaining a New Jersey-focused public broadcasting operation.

In addition, Governor Christie today named the following three individuals to serve on the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority, effective immediately:

·         Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff

·         John Inglesino, Rockaway, New Jersey

·         Anthony Della Pelle, Morristown, New Jersey

S-2406 provides for the current membership of the Authority to be sunset and reconstituted.  These appointments represent the three direct appointments authorized by the Governor under the new statute.  Two additional members will be appointed to provide for the remaining membership, one by the Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester/Cumberland/Salem) and one by the Assembly Speaker Sheila Y. Oliver (D-Essex/Passaic).

Finally, Governor Christie also announced that the layoff plan for NJN employees, initiated in September in accordance with existing collective bargaining agreements, Civil Service Commission rules and regulations, and with the goals of moving NJN from a government body to an independent entity, will be temporarily suspended to provide for the continued temporary operation of NJN while the transition is completed.

Senate sponsors of the legislation are Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester/Cumberland/Salem) and Joseph Kyrillos Jr. (R-Monmouth) and in the Assembly it was sponsored by Assemblymembers Lou Greenwald (D-Camden), Alex DeCroce (R-Morris and Passaic) and Upendra Chivukula (D-Somerset/Middlesex).  

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Governor Chris Christie Announces Solution to Keep Standardbred Racing at the Medowlands

Trenton, NJ – Governor Chris Christie today announced a break-through agreement to keep live Standardbred racing at the Meadowlands beginning in January via a secured short-term financing plan to bridge the gap to a potential long-term solution that will make the Meadowlands racetrack a privately run, self-sustaining venture without taxpayer subsidies.

The agreement meets the Governor’s foremost requirement that operating and purse subsidies for Standardbred racing come to an end.   To ensure that racing at the Meadowlands can continue uninterrupted on its January schedule, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA) will extend operations, secured by simulcast racing revenues, through only March 31, with no costs being absorbed by state taxpayers.

In the meantime, the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association (SBOA) or its designee will be guaranteed exclusive rights to negotiate a $1 per-year lease for the Meadowlands racetrack for up to five years, with a renewal option.  If, at the end of March a lease agreement and self-sustaining operating plan is not in place, all parties agree that the NJSEA will suspend standardbred racing at the Meadowlands Racetrack, with the possible exception of the Hambletonian Meet in August 2011.

“It has been my goal all along to keep horse racing alive in New Jersey and at the Meadowlands with a renewed, financially-sound business model that meets the fiscal realities faced today by both the horse racing industry and the state,” Governor Christie said.  “Given the economic realities, my first interest and priority lies with taxpayers of New Jersey and ensuring the future of the sport is no longer reliant on millions of dollars in subsidies year after year.  Today, we have reached a mutually beneficial agreement for the near term, and a framework for a long-term solution to move the industry forward on an independent and self-sustaining financial foundation.”

“I am excited to find a way to operate the Meadowlands and several off-track wagering facilities in the private sector,” said Jeff Gural, a New York racetrack owner-operator and real estate developer.  “I think the structure that is being proposed will be well received by our customers, as we intend to produce the highest quality horse racing product in the standardbred industry.  I’ve been successful in Upstate New York at Tioga Downs, where we have been able to attract new and younger customers. We will use the same marketing strategies for the Meadowlands and hope for the same results.”

“We are thankful real estate entrepreneur and harness racing enthusiast Jeff Gural came to our aid during the final stretch of discussions with the Christie Administration,” Tom Luchento, president of the SBOA, said.  “The deal with the Governor to save Standardbred racing at Meadowlands will provide our industry a lifeline and give us time to implement innovative changes that will foster self-suffiency.  The time is now for the State of New Jersey and Meadowlands Racetrack to regain their status as the world’s premiere standardbred racing venue.”

All parties involved have agreed that the state will no longer subsidize harness racing at the Meadowlands.  If a long-term lease agreement and operating plan for self-sufficiency is not reached by March 31, 2011, all parties agree that a good faith effort will have been made by the standardbred industry and the Christie Administration to reach an agreement and avoid closure of the Meadowlands Racetrack.

The state’s short-term funding for the first quarter of 2011 operations will be guaranteed by the SBOA’s pledge of its right to simulcasting revenue at the Meadowlands from April 1, 2011, until the state recoups its costs.

Among the lease parameters agreed to today:

• The NJSEA will assign up to four off-track-wagering (OTW) locations, including Bayonne (but not Woodbridge), all of which would operate contingent on private operation of the Meadowlands Racetrack.

• The OTW locations would pay the NJSEA 10 percent of net OTW earnings.

• There will be no ongoing subsidies for purses or racing operations.

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Christie To Make Announcement Regarding Standardbred racing at the Meadowlands

By Art Gallagher

Governor Christie’s office has called a press conference for 3PM to announce a “significant development concerning Standardbred racing at the Meadowlands”

Bob Jordan at Capital Quickies is reporting that a deal has been made with Jeffrey Gural, the owner of two New York horse tracks, to lease the Meadowlands Racetrack.

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