Damage Assessment Supports Request Submitted to President Obama to Obtain Assistance for Hunterdon, Mercer, Passaic, Sussex and Warren
Trenton, NJ – ActingGovernor Kim Guadagno today announced that the State is seeking a Major Disaster Declaration, including a request for Public Assistance, for five New Jersey counties most impacted by heavy rain storms and flooding associated with Tropical Storm Lee. The storm conditions arose on September 6 in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Irene, included heavy rainfall in areas around the state, and resulted in significant flooding along parts of the Passaic, Pompton and Delaware Rivers. In response to the situation, the Christie Administration took action under state law, including the issuance of a Statewide Emergency declaration on August 25 for Hurricane Irene that remained in effect through Tropical Storm Lee and the Christie Administration continued to coordinate sheltering efforts, resource requests and evacuation efforts throughout the state.
“I have determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that an effective response is beyond the capabilities of the state and the affected local governments and that supplementary federal assistance is necessary. This series of rain related events commencing on August 14, 2011 followed by Hurricane Irene and culminating in Tropical Storm Lee have put a severe strain on state, county and local budgets,” wrote Acting Governor Guadagno.
Immediately following this storm and continuing through yesterday, a joint preliminary damage assessment (PDA) was undertaken between FEMA and state and local emergency management officials to establish that the state and counties had qualified for disaster assistance. The PDA indicated that the most severely impacted areas of the state, which qualify under Federal standards for a Major Disaster Declaration, are: Hunterdon, Mercer, Passaic, Sussex and Warren Counties. This request revises a September 9, 2011 request for a statewide Major Disaster Declaration, following the specific findings of the PDA. “Therefore, I respectively request at this time a Major Disaster Declaration for the counties of Hunterdon, Mercer, Passaic, Sussex and Warren Counties,” wrote Acting Governor Guadagno.
A letter outlining the State’s Public Assistance request was sent to President Barack Obama through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. A copy of the letter is attached to the release.
Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno will be on the radio with NJ 101.5’s Jim Gearhart tomorrow morning at 7:35 AM and again with John Gambling on 710 AM at 8:05 AM.
The Star Ledger is reporting that the Treasury Department has initiated an investigation into sheriff’s officers in Essex, Monmouth and Union counties who are collecting pensions from the state Police and Firemen’s Retirement System (PFRS) whilecontinuing to perform as law enforcement officers, but with civilian titles, allowing them to “double dip”….collect a pension and a salary for job that would not allow for collecting a pension if it were properly classified.
In addition to the Treasury Department probe, John Scierchio, chairman of the PFRS board of trustees, has asked the Attorney General’s Office to launch a criminal probe into three sheriff’s officers suspected of circumventing pension guidelines, according to the StarLedger.
The three officers are Monmouth County undersheriff Mickey Donovan, formerly the chief warrant officer, Essex County chief warrant officer John Dough, and Union County sheriff’s chief Harold Gibson.
This issue was first raised publically regarding Donovan, who retired from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office in 2005 and was hired as Monmouth’s chief warant officer by then Monmouth County Sheriff, now Lt. Governor, Kim Guadagno in 2008, last October by NJ Watchdog.
NJ Watchdog alleges that Guadagno, as Sheriff, eliminated the chief warrant officer position on September 16, 2008, but then gave Donovan that title a week later, even though he was hired in reality to be the chief law enforcement officer, so that he could collect a pension of $85,000 per year and a salary of $87,500 per year.
In a piece published on April 11, 2011, NJ Watchdog says that Donovan has improperly collected $227,000 in pension payments since 2008. Additionally, he should have contributed $18,000 to the pension system, according to NJ Watchdog.
Guadagno declined to comment when MMM raised this issue with her when it became public in October.
Shaun Golden, then Acting Sheriff, told MMM in October that he had discussed Donovan’s employment status with state pension official months earlier and offered to make any changes they required. There were no changes required at the time. Golden said he told the officials that if they require changes in Monmoth County that they should also look into Essex and Union Counties.
The Chris Christie for President buzz just won’t go away, no matter how strongly the governor declares he’s not running. Pretty soon the state police will consider putting Christie on a suicide watch.
Ann Coulter’s comment at CPAC…that the GOP either run Chris Christie or Mitt Romney will be the nominee and lose…has reignited the smoldering Christie for President banter.
In cable TV and radio interviews today, Coulter has said Christie is the only Republican who can defeat President Obama, and the governor would have her support even though she questions how conservative he is.
From the left, we have Star Ledger columnist Tom Moran, who helped make Christie a national figure with the famous, “You should see me when I’m really pissed” video. Moran wrote a piece for Sunday’s paper/website which was essentially a white flag of surrender from New Jersey’s Democratic establishment.
After comparing Christie to Oprah, detailing the powerful Democratic support Christie has won over in Hudson and Essex counties, and explaining how hopeless it has become for Trenton Democrats to oppose Christie’s reforms, Moran himself endorsed the Christie agenda:
He’s winning this argument because he’s right on the core issue — New Jersey has promised more than it can deliver. Governors all over the country, in both parties, are moving in the same direction out of necessity.
If Christie can win over Moran, maybe Coulter is right.
Perhaps the question should not be, “Is Chris Christie ready to be president?” as he repeatedly protests that he is not. Perhaps the question should be, “Is Kim Guadagno ready to be governor?”
“This was not a Republcian storm or a Democratic storm”
Governor Christie makes his opening remarks to the press after signing a letter to President Obama requesting FEMA disaster relief. The Governor praised his leadership team for the work they did dealing with the strom and praised Senate President Steve Sweeney for his non-partisan partnership. He described the preparation for the storm, the execution of the plan to deal with the storm, and events that occurred during the blizzard.
Governor Christie addresses the circumstances of both he and Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno being away from New Jersey for five days.
“It was not a matter of equipment. It was a matter of the amount of the snowfall and the intensity of the snowfall.” ~ Transportation Commissioner James Simpson
Governor Christie address the inaccurate reports of a decline in the amount of state equipment available to manage storms in the past year. Transportation Commission James Simpson describes the use of the equipment and the conditions he and his team were dealing with.
CLASSIC CHRISTIE
“I made the decision to be a father first.”
This segment is classic Christie. The Governor describes his decision to go on vacation with his family while preparing for the storm. He delivers a counter-punch to Senator Ray Lesniak who has been critical of the Governor and Lt. Governor this week. He addresses the antiquity of the sucession procedure of the State Constitution and he describes working with Senator Sweeney via phone during the course of the crisis.
Coming next year (probably some time over the weekend)….Chrisite slams mayors who blame the conditions in their towns on the State. He singles out Brick Mayor Steve Acropolis in particular.
Happy New Year! Thank you for being a loyal MMM reader in 2010. ~ Art
Seated left to right, Freeholder-elect Tom Arnone, Sheriff Shaun Golden, Freeholer John Curley, Freeholder Deputy Director Rob Clifton and Freeholder Director Lillian Burry listen to Goveror Christie's remarks to the press. Standing left, John Tobia, Director of Monmouth County's Department of Public Works
By Art Gallagher
During a press conference at the Monmouth County Hall of Records this afternoon Governor Chris Christie graded the results of the State’s response to this week’s blizzard a “B+” given the enormity of the storm. He said that 95% of the State roads were cleared by Tuesday afternoon.
The Governor praised the leadership of Transportation Commissioner James Simpson, Colonel Joseph Fuentes of the NJ State Police and Senate President Steve Sweeney who was Acting Governor during the storm.
Christie said that there were no indications of work actions on the part of rank and file state workers on the ground working around the clock to clean the state highways and rescue stranded motorists. “I’m proud of them,” Christie said of the State employees who worked the storm, “They saved lives.”
Christie explained his absence and that of Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno from New Jersey during the storm. “My most important job is husband and father. I think I made that clear to the voters before they elected me. I had promised my children a trip to Disney World at the end of my first year as Governor. ”
Christie explained that Guadagno came to him in August about a two week trip her father wanted to take with his children and grandchildren. “We hope it isn’t, but it is probably Kim’s father’s last holiday with his family. I wasn’t about to tell my Lt. Governor to only take one week.” The Governor acknowledge that the administration wanted to keep the circumstances of Guadagno’s absence private out of respect for the family and that he was addressing it publicly, with Guadagno’s consent, in response to the partisan rancor over both Christie and Guadagno being out of state.
MMM will publish video of the press conference later today and over the weekend.
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.
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.
