Governor Christie’s Press Briefing In Seaside Park

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Did Christie Throw The Election to Obama?

As someone who has witnessed the destruction of my hometown and the devastation Sandy wrecked upon the lives of so many people I care about, I really don’t care if the partnership that Governor Chris Christie forged with President Barack Obama contributed to Obama’s reelection.

As I embraced my dear friend while we were standing in the wreckage of what used to be her mother’s home while she was crying, “she’s going to die,” the last thing I cared about was politics.

For over a week I’ve witness my neighbors’ possessions be piled into a garbage transfer station that used to be a parking lot and then be loaded into trailers be be trucked away.  Soon many of those neighbors will be living in trailers in a park while someone else decides when, how and if their homes can be rebuilt.

I won’t complain that I haven’t slept in my own bed and there is no power at my house.  I still have a house.  My friends don’t.  My friend, the mayor, his wife and three young children are sleeping on cots in a gymnasium.

I could care less that Christie wept when Bruce Springsteen called him a friend.  I care even less that Obama facilitated the friendship.

I am comforted that Chris Christie is doing his job and doing it well.  I am comforted that he assembled such a competent team to form his administration three years ago and that they work so well together.

I can’t imagine Jon Corzine, Richard Cody, Jim McGreevey, Christie Whitman, Jim Florio, Tom Kean or Brendan Byrne being as hands on or as competent as Christie has been in this crisis.  I also can’t imagine Cory Booker doing the job that Christie has done or assembling as good a team to do it.

Chris Christie is doing his job and doing it well.  He’s witnessed far more of the devastation to New Jersey than I have. I’m pleased that for the last weeks he hasn’t cared about politics either.

Pundits on both sides of the aisle are saying that if not for Hurricane Sandy, Obama may not have been reelected.  That could be true.  But given Obama’s record, the state of the world and the economy, the election should not have been close heading into the last weekend in October.

Obama said he will be a better president as a result of the campaign. He said he heard those who opposed him and his policies.  I hope that proves to be true.  We’ll know soon enough.

I don’t think Chris Christie will be a better governor because he has Obama’s cell number.  I think it is more likely that Obama will be a better president because he has Chrisite’s number.

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Christie Administration Announces Disaster Unemployment Assistance Expanded to All New Jersey Counties Due to Hurricane Sandy

Trenton, NJ – The U. S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced it approved Governor Chris Christie’s request to extend Disaster Unemployment Assistance to cover all New Jersey counties as a result of Hurricane Sandy.

Federal Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) is now available for persons in all New Jersey counties, especially self-employed individuals, who were living or working in the affected counties at the time of the disaster, and who are unemployed as a direct result of the damages caused by the storm.

Most impacted workers may already qualify for regular Unemployment Insurance, which is why anyone who plans to file a DUA claim should first file a regular claim for Unemployment Insurance. The federal DUA is a special program that covers many people who otherwise may not be eligible for regular Unemployment Insurance.

If you are unemployed because of the disaster that began on October 28, you should FIRST file for Unemployment Insurance benefits through the Internet by going to www.njuifile.net. Please note that due to higher than normal volume as a result of Hurricane Sandy, the system is experiencing some delays. As a result, individuals are encouraged to file via the Internet between 6 P.M. and 8 A.M.

The Internet processes claims faster. However, if needed, people may also file a claim by telephone by contacting the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s Re-employment Call Centers at:

North Jersey (201) 601-4100

Central Jersey (732) 761-2020

South Jersey (856) 507-2340

Out of State (888) 795-6672

The FEMA expansion of the DUA coverage creates three separate deadlines for the filing of applications.

A 30-day deadline ending December 3, 2012 is in effect for filing DUA claims involving employment issues arising because of Hurricane Sandy in Atlantic, Cape May, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, and Union counties.

A 30-day deadline ending December 6, 2012 is in effect for filing DUA claims involving employment issues arising because of Hurricane Sandy in Bergen and Somerset counties.

A 30-day deadline ending December 10, 2012 is in effect for filing DUA claims involving employment issues arising because of Hurricane Sandy in Burlington, Camden, Cumberland, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Morris, Passaic, Salem, Sussex, and Warren counties.

The assistance was initially granted last week to people living in Atlantic, Bergen, Cape May, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Somerset and Union counties. FEMA has now included Burlington, Camden, Cumberland, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Morris, Passaic, Salem, Sussex, and Warren counties for DUA coverage.

For additional information regarding Disaster Unemployment Assistance, including a list of frequently asked questions, go to http://lwd.dol.state.nj.us/labor/ui/aftrfile/dua.html.

For more information on FEMA services please call the FEMA emergency number at 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or 1-800-462-7585 (TTY) for the hearing and speech impaired. Information is also available via the Internet at www.disasterassistance.gov and www.fema.gov.

For information on all New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development programs and services visit http://lwd.dol.state.nj.us/labor/index.html and www.Jobs4Jersey.com.

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Christie Announces Hurricane Recovery Assistance For New Jersey Businesses

Trenton, NJ –To support the recovery of New Jersey’s businesses and protect the overall economic interests of our state in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, Governor Chris Christie and Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno have announced a series of business assistance services for those affected by the storm.  Among these vital services are those related to financial support, information on temporary space, and technical assistance for impacted businesses.  Information for all services may be easily accessed through New Jersey’s Business Action Center (BAC) by calling 1-866-534-7789 or through the state’s business portal at www.newjerseybusiness.gov, the“one-stop” shop for business resources. Agents are also available to assist callers that speak Spanish.

“In response to this natural disaster, New Jersey has coordinated a range of multi-agency resources to assist impacted businesses and ensure they are operational quickly,” said Lt. Governor Guadagno. “Providing a thorough and inter-departmental business recovery assistance program is another demonstration of our support for our business community and their workers. The Business Action Center can help businesses tap into a variety of resources that will help them begin to recover from this catastrophic storm.”

The business recovery assistance services are designed to support businesses and workers who may be temporarily unable to perform their jobs due to the storm.  These services include:

• Guarantees of up to $500,000 for     commercial lines of credit to businesses that need access to cash to     improve their damaged property while awaiting insurance proceeds, with all     related New Jersey Economic Development Authority fees waived.
• Grant awards for businesses to     assist with on-the-job training costs for new workers hired specifically     to assist in disaster-related activities, such as landscaping and tree     removal, construction, insurance claims, building supplies sales,     materials transport, utility work, call and claims centers staffing, and     infrastructure clearing and repair.
• Availability of the Business     Resource Centers at any of the currently operational local One-Stop Career     Centers across the state as temporary hubs for businesses to access     telephone and internet services as well as for job seekers and     displaced workers seeking workforce development and unemployment     assistance – Temporary Hubs     for Affected Business to Access Telephones and Internet Services
• The availability of Disaster     Unemployment Benefits to provide income security for those displaced     workers suffering temporary storm-related job loss.
• Dispatch of Rapid Response team     members to identified Disaster Recovery Centers to assist displaced     workers.
• Availability of services throughNew Jersey Youth Corps to assist non-profit, public and governmental     entities in a variety of ways for disaster relief and clean-up.

In addition, BAC’s Business Call Center is also the one-stop resource for more information on how to get businesses back up and running.  The Call Center staff can assist with the following services:

• Arranging business facility inspections for buildings suffering major flood damage, as such conditions require structural integrity inspections before utility service can be restored.  These inspections are handled in local code enforcement offices and by local code enforcement officials.   Anticipating an enormous increase in such work, the Department of Community Affairs has mobilized all qualified personnel to assist local governments in this effort.
• Advocating for businesses seeking information from local utilities to restore electric, phone, gas and water services.
• Advocating with insurance carriers to file and expedite claims.
• Providing information on how to qualify for federal recovery assistance, and
• Connecting businesses to the other county and local business services and to the services offered by the Small Business Administration and Small Business Development Centers that include assistance with insurance claims, as well as loans and business plan revisions.

Since October 28, 2012, the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness (OHSP) has staffed a Private Sector Desk at the Regional Intelligence Operations Center (ROIC), which has served as the primary point of contact for critical private sector industries leading up to, during and after Hurricane Sandy.  OHSP staff operating the Private Sector Desk at the ROIC can be reached at 609-963-6810.

For further information about best practices in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, please visit www.ready.nj.gov for continual updates.

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Governor Christie’s Hurricane Sandy Briefing in Westwood

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Governor Christie’s Hurricane Sandy Briefing in Keansburg

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Christie and Guadagno To Visit Monmouth County Volunteers and Residents This Afternoon

Governor Chris Christie and Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno are scheduled to arrive in Monmouth County at 3PM this afternoon.

The governor will hold a press briefing on storm recovery efforts at 3:45 PM at Bolger School, 100 Palmer Place, Keansburg

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Governor Christie Releases Power Utility Companies’ Revised Plans for Service Restoration

 Governor Called for Plans Yesterday to Give Affected Families Certainty and Accountability for Getting Their Power Back On

Trenton, NJ –Governor Chris Christie today released revised power restoration plans received from the three major power utility companies in the state in order to create greater certainty, transparency and accountability for New Jerseyans.  PSEG, Jersey Central Power and Light and Atlantic City Electric provided plans at the Governor’s request to show restoration projections at the municipal level for the next 2 days  in order to give New Jersey households and businesses, who continue to be affected by power outages, greater certainty as to when their power needs will be met.

“While progress has been made in restoring power to many businesses, households, and critical infrastructure in the aftermath of Sandy, there are still over 1.25 million customers without power,” said Governor Christie. “So many New Jerseyans have demonstrated significant patience and resilience through the storm and this initial recovery period, and it is our obligation to get them back online and with the certainty of a timeline they can reliably plan their lives around in the coming days.”

PDF copies of revised service restoration plans from PSEG, JCP&L and ACE can be found attached to this email.

The public can access these plans and see when service is expected to be restored in their area by visiting the State of New Jersey website, www.nj.gov, clicking on the Hurricane Sandy Information Center, and selecting the link to the power utility company that serves their region.

The plans can also be accessed at the below websites:

ACE: http://www.scribd.com/doc/112013858/ACE-Outage-Report-as-of-11-3-12

JCP&L: http://www.scribd.com/doc/112013859/JCP-L-Outage-Report-as-of-11-3-12

PSE&G: http://www.scribd.com/doc/112013860/PSEG-Outage-Report-as-of-11-3-12

As of 7:00 a.m. this morning, 1,269,564 customers remained without power statewide, down from a high of 2.7 million through the storm and its immediate aftermath. Governor Christie has met personally with each of the CEOs of the three major utility companies and continues to talk with them daily to discuss restoration efforts and create accountability for New Jersey customers. Each utility company has a representative on-site at the State Police Regional Operation and Intelligence Center (ROIC) to work with state government and emergency management officials, develop action plans and troubleshoot problems as they occur.

There are currently over 16,000 mutual aid/work crews both from in state and out of state on the ground in New Jersey working to reestablish power. Additional crews continue to come in to New Jersey from out of state to assist with the effort.

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Christie: Utilities companies will provide town by town power restoration information

Governor Chris Christie will announce this afternoon in Little Ferry that all New Jersey utilites are providing the State with town by town information with expected restoration times which will be posted on the State website.

MMM will provide a link to the site when it goes up.

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Christie Orders Odd-Even Gas Rationing To Relieve Ease Lines

Trenton, NJ – Governor Chris Christie took action to prevent a fuel shortage and ease the problem of extended wait times and lines at gas stations by signing Executive Order 108, declaring a limited state of energy emergency with regard to the supply of motor fuel and implementing odd-even rationing for gasoline purchases in 12 New Jersey counties.  Odd-even fuel sales will take effect in the following counties at noon on November 3, 2012: Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Morris, Monmouth, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union, and Warren.

“As New Jerseyans continue the long process of recovering from Hurricane Sandy, it’s imperative that our families have secure, reliable access to essential supplies like fuel. Right now, the impact of the storm, particularly the continuance of widespread power outages, has created the disorderly sale of gas – including long lines, out of operation stations, and stations facing shortages,” said Governor Christie. “This system will ease the strain on those gas stations still operating, while we work to bring more online for the public to access fuel, in a manner that is fair, easy to understand, and less stressful.”

Once in effect, all retail dealers of motor fuel will be required to only sell motor fuel for use in a passenger automobile bearing license plates, the last number of which is an even number, on even numbered days of each month. Likewise sales will only be permitted to passenger automobiles bearing license plates ending in odd numbers on odd numbered days of the month.  Specialized plates – or those not displaying a number – will be considered odd numbered plates.

Governor Christie and Attorney General Jeff Chiesa pledged to aggressively and vigorously enforce the order to ensure compliance and the effectiveness of the policy in the affected counties.

“The orderly and reliable sale of gas to our residents is essential to maintaining a steady and reliable source of power for both transportation and the maintenance of essential services at home.  With the challenges we face in the storm’s aftermath, we will be vigilant in enforcing this odd-even system, as we ease the stresses on the system,” said Attorney General Jeffery S. Chiesa. “I encourage all New Jerseyans to abide by this system – motorists and retail dealers alike – to ease wait times and improve access for everyone.  Those who choose to disregard this order will be prosecuted to the fullest extent permitted under the Governor’s state of emergency authority.”

These sales provision will remain in effect for as long as the Governor’s limited declared state of energy emergency is in effect in those 12 counties.

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