Christie’s Town Hall Postponed Due To Weather

State Offices Will Open at 11 am on Tuesday

Photo by Paul Scharff

For the second time in a week the weather has caused Governor Chris Christie to postpone his first Town Hall Meeting since June of last year.

The Town Hall scheduled for Tuesday February 18th at the VFW Hall in Port Monmouth in postponed due to anticipated inclement weather.

Details of the rescheduled meeting will be released on Tuesday, the governor’s office said in a press release.

Additionally, the governor announced that a delayed opening of 11 am for all state offices on Tuesday to allow for ample time for roads, parking lots and sidewalks to be cleared and made safe for travel.

“Tonight’s winter storm is expected to last through tomorrow morning, bringing additional snow and creating hazardous travel conditions for the morning commute,” said Christie. “I strongly encourage all New Jerseyans to drive slowly and exercise caution on the roads tonight and tomorrow morning. I thank our state’s transportation crews and first responders for their tireless efforts to keep our residents safe.”

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Christie Town Hall tomorrow expected to be “A cross between the Jerry Springer and Maury Povich shows”

Photo by Paul Scharff

Governor Chris Christie will likely be tan and relaxed after a holiday weekend in Puerto Rico when he arrives in Middletown for his first Town Hall Meeting since last June tomorrow.

He should be ready for bear.

Christie could get RREM’d tomorrow.

Bayshore residents who overwhelmingly voted for Christie in 2009 and again last November are ready to give up on giving Christie the benefit of the doubt. The politically connected feel he’s taken Republican Monmouth and Ocean Counties for granted.  Those still suffering from the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy feel like Christie has ridden their suffering to national prominence while neglecting his self professed “mission” to rebuild the shore.

The powder keg of frustration with Christie was building before the election and certainly before Bridgegate.   Sandy victims brutalized by the storm feel further violated by the red tape and false starts peddled by all levels of government, banks and insurance companies.

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DCA Fires Another Sandy Contractor

Christie Should Come Clean About RREM Snafus At Town Hall Meeting

The Christie Administration has terminated a contract with a second company it hired to assist survivors of Superstorm Sandy rebuild their homes, according to a report on WNYC.

Governor Christie announcing a second round of RREM assistance, and that fact that federal assistance to rebuild from Sandy will be $17 billion or more short, in Keansburg last week.
Photo by Paul Scharff

URS, a global San Francisco based engineering and construction management firm had a $20 million contract to supervise the rebuilding of New Jersey homes under the Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation (RREM) program.  The contract has been terminated. Homeowners are being informed by state officials that one of two remaining contractors will now supervise the rebuilding of their homes.

RREM provides $150,000 Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) to New Jersey residents as “last resort” rebuilding assistance.  The federal money is supposed to assist residents who have insufficient funds after insurance, other government assistance and private monies are exhausted.  URS was one of three companies hired to supervise home rebuilding, according to the WNYC report.  Residents who were working with URS have been assigned to one of the two other contractors.  The amount of fees committed to the remaining two contractors has not been reported.

While the Christie Administration has received high marks for its administration of assistance to municipal governments and businesses impacted by Sandy, there is growing criticism and frustration over the repeated delays in getting assistance to homeowners.

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Christie Postpones Port Monmouth Town Hall Due To Weather

DCA’s Sandy Relief Public Hearing Not Cancelled, “But Likely Will Be.”

Governor Chris Christie announced via twitter (h/t PolitickerNJ) that the Town Hall Meeting scheduled for tomorrow at the VFW in Port Monmouth has been postponed until Tuesday, February 18, 11 am, due to the anticipated snowstorm. The mobile cabinet meeting as also been rescheduled to follow the Town Hall.

A spokesperson for the Department of Community Affairs said that the public hearing on the second round of Sandy Relief funding scheduled for tomorrow at Brookdale Community College from 4 pm – 7:30 pm has not been rescheduled at this time, but that it is highly likely it will be.  Registered participants in the hearing will get an email from DCA if they hearing is postponed.

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Christie led Republican Governors Association sets fundraising record

Christie led Republican Governors Association sets fundraising record (via NJ.com)

The Republican Governors Association raised $6 million in January, despite what many thought could be crippling problems at home for Chairman Chris Christie. The total haul is more than double what the association has raised during the same month anytime…

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Christie in his element: Governor takes a break from bridge scandal at Q&A in Chicago

Christie in his element: Governor takes a break from bridge scandal at Q&A in Chicago (via NJ.com)

CHICAGO — Gov. Chris Christie today got some relief from the George Washington Bridge scandal in a forum that allowed him to burnish his record and show off his grasp of national issues before a friendly audience. At an hour-long question-and-answer…

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Christie to hold a Town Hall Meeting in Middletown on Thursday

Governor Chris Christie will hold his first Town Hall meeting since June next Thursday morning in Middletown at VFW Post 2179, 1 Veterans Lane (Off Rt 36), Port Monomuth.

The Town Hall is scheduled to begin at 11 am.  Doors open at 10 am.  A mobile cabinet meeting is scheduled for 12:30 pm.

Seating is on a first come first served basis. No bags of any kind are permitted into the venue and personal items are subject to search.

RSVP’s are requested at   [email protected] in order to accommodate sufficient seating.

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Analysis: U.S. Attorney’s Trail Shows Hoboken Charges More Serious

Analysis: U.S. Attorney’s Trail Shows Hoboken Charges More Serious (via NJSpotlight)

With subpoenaed documents trickling in to investigators and a third Christie appointee taking the Fifth Amendment, legal experts are debating which charges Christie appointees are likely to face, how evidence of a coverup could bolster a corruption…

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Christie in Keansburg: Sandy Relief Will Fall $17 Billion Short

Photo by Paul Scharff

Governor Chris Christie came to the bayshore with members of his cabinet yesterday with a sobering message for residents battered by Superstorm Sandy who a waiting for government assistance to rebuild their homes and to comply with new government imposed requirements for those homes.

New Jersey sustained $37 billion in damage from Sandy.  Federal assistance to New Jersey will tap out at between $15 and $20 billion, Christie said.

It’s been 15 months since Superstorm Sandy ravaged New Jersey. The first $1.83 billion in relief from the Department of Housing and Urban Development has been spent or is committed.  Another $1.46 billion is being applied for, but it will be another three months at least before that money starts to flow.

The HUD Community Block Development Grants (CBDG) grants are the last resort funding for homeowners and renters/landlords, designed to fill needs not covered by insurance proceeds, FEMA assistance, Small Business Administration loans and other sources.

Before New Jersey receives the $1.46 billion second round of funding, there is a 30 day public comment period on the CDBG Disaster Recovery Action Plan.  The public comment period runs through March 5.  In Monmouth County, there will be a public hearing on February 13 at Brookdale Community College, Robert J. Collins Arena, 765 Newman Springs Rd, Lincroft from 4pm-7pm.  There will be hearing is Atlantic County at Stockton University on February 11 and in Essex County at the New Jersey Institute of Technology on the 12th.  Written comments can be submitted via email to [email protected] or can be provided by mail to the attention of Gabrielle Gallagher, NJ Department of Community Affairs, 101 South Broad Street, Post Office Box 800, Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0800.  All comments must be submitted by 5 p.m. on March 5, 2014.

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Bridget Kelly Invokes the 5th

Governor Chris Christie and former Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Kelly at a happier time. Photo via facebook

Bridget Ann Kelly, Governor Chris Christie’s former Deputy Chief of Staff who sent the “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee” email to David Wildstein, then New Jersey’s #2 official at the Port Authority of NY/NJ, has invoked her fifth amendment rights and declined to produce the documents subpoenaed by the joint legislative committee investigating “Bridgegate,” the September lane closures at the George Washington Bridge, according to a report at NorthJersey.com.

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