Housing group: NJ won’t release integrity monitor reports on Sandy contracts

Housing group: NJ won’t release integrity monitor reports on Sandy contracts (via NJ.com)

A housing advocate group today said New Jersey has declined to release integrity oversight monitor reports on Hurricane Sandy contracts that are required by a state law passed last spring but state officials have contended those reports aren’t yet…

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SEA BRIGHT RISING TO HELP REBUILD HOMES

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A New Christie For A New Normal

If Governor Chris Christie’s presidential prospects have been damaged by the Bridgegate scandal and associated investigations, you wouldn’t know it by the amount of television cameras at the Town Hall Meeting in Port Monmouth this morning.  Middletown officials estimate the crowd was about 500 people. There was easily 50 members of the media including reporters, photographers and videographers.

There was no swagger from the Governor today.  No fist pumps, no snazzy introductory video, no in your face insults to hostile questioners.  Christie dodged the only hostile question he heard.  The Youtube moment came not from an idiot or thin skinned reporter, but from a three year old girl who said her house is still broken.

Bridgegate, the controversy over the September lane closures at the George Washington Bridge that has spurred investigations by the U.S. Attorney and a Special Legislative Committee never came up.  The people who came to today’s meeting would gladly trade places with the Bergen County residents who were inconvenienced by traffic jams for four days.  They been without their homes for 16 months.

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Welcome back to Monmouth County, Governor We’ve been waiting

“My message to the federal government, get the resources where they are needed as fast as possible, as hard as possible and for the duration. Because the recovery process, obviously in a place like New Jersey is going to take a significant amount of time….

I told the mayors and the governors, if they are getting no for an answer somewhere in the federal government, they can call me personally at the White House.”  ~ President Barack Obama, October 30, 2012

“On October 29 last year the job changed for me. It’s no longer a job, it’s a mission.

You see a mission is something that is different from a job. A mission is sacred.  It’s a sacred trust that was thrust on me, and you, on October 29 of last year.

And that mission is to make sure that everyone, everyone in New Jersey that was affected by Sandy to return to normalcy in their lives.

I will not let anyone, anything, any governmental entity, or any force get in between me and the completion of my mission.”  ~ Governor Chris Christie, November 5, 2013

Welcome back to Monmouth County, Governor Christie.  We’ve been waiting for you.

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Christie Needs To Throw Down In Middletown

By Matt Rooney, Save Jersey.com

When Speaker of the House John Boehner’s caucus didn’t immediately sign off on a massive, bloated Superstorm Sandy relief package in early 2013, Save Jerseyans, Chris Christie’s outrage could be heard at all ends of the earth.

“We respond as Americans,” Christie bellowed following a congressional adjournment which occurred without a vote, “at least we did until last night… it was disgusting to watch.”

A majority of conservatives were of a decidedly different opinion, ranging from disinterest to feelings of betrayal. Their disgust was reserved for an event that occurred approximately two months earlier, before the Mitt Train officially derailed, when the rockstar GOP Governor embraced President Obama on Garden State soil, a move which public exit polling suggested could’ve helped move the needle in the incumbent’s direction in key 2012 battleground states like Virginia and Ohio. Base political calculation at its worst? Or simply emotions getting the best of an emotional guy?

My take at the time was as balanced as anyone could expect from a conservative blogger: it was foolish to fault Christie for refusing to leave his storm-ravaged state for a political rally, or even for hosting the Commander-in-Chief upon the White House’s request, but I also argued that the Republican Governor’s overly-effusive praise of an as-of-yet-untested federal response was premature at best and would likely prove to be the real mistake with the passage of time.

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Kyrillos Blasts HUD For Keeping Sandy Victims From Rebuidling

State Senator Joe Kyrillos came out swinging this afternoon regarding the news that the Department of Housing and Urban Development denied the Christie Administration’s request to allow victims of Superstorm Sandy to continue to rebuild their homes while they are applying for Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation (RREM) grants.

Kyrillos implored HUD officials and New Jersey’s congressional delegation to do whatever is necessary to allow Sandy devastated residents to rebuild their lives.

“It’s ridiculous, to say the least, that the people of New Jersey are being denied access to grant money because they are trying to rebuild their lives after the worst storm ever,” Kyrillos said. “The people of my district and the surrounding areas were some of the hardest hit and their federal government should not be hindering their recovery. Our home owners should be able to rebuild as they apply for grant money and I urge our congressional delegation to get to work immediately”

Senator Kyrillos added that the people deserve a reasonable return on their federal tax dollars in the form of Sandy grants.

“A lot of good has come out of the $1.83 billion in initial aid to New Jerseyans, but the reality is that more resources are needed for this state to recover from nearly $37 billion in damages,” Kyrillos said. “New York has received about $4 billion more, so the time is now for HUD officials and our congressmen to turn their eyes to our state.”

The Associated Press reported today that HUD denied a Christie Administration request to waive a rule that all reconstruction work must stop when a property owner applies for RREM grants.   The federal government wants be sure that historical structures are protected and that the properties are rebuilt to the new elevation standards.  No work that is completed prior to a HUD approval of the plans will be reimbursed with RREM grants, even if the work complies with the standards.

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Feds Turn Christie Administration Down On Waiver Of Sandy Relief Rules

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has turned down a request from the Christie Administration that the rule requiring that reconstruction work on homes damaged by SuperStorm Sandy stop upon the homeowner applying for Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation(RREM) aid, according to an Associated Press report posted on NJ.com and other outlets.

HUD rules require that the plans for all work on properties receiving RREM grants be evaluated and approved by the government.  Work done without the RREM approval is not eligible for reimbursement under the program, even if the work complies with all requirements.  This process has created a major logjam is funds being awarded and homes being rebuilt.

In an undated letter obtained late Tuesday by The Associated Press, HUD rejected the state’s request.

HUD says the rules, which have been the source of many complaints from homeowners struggling to rebuild after the October 2012 storm, are intended to make sure historically significant properties aren’t damaged or demolished, and that aid is not duplicated among the numerous Sandy reconstruction programs offered by federal and state governments.

Yolanda Chávez, HUD’s deputy assistant secretary for grant programs, wrote to New Jersey Community Affairs Commissioner Richard Constable listing other reasons why the rule can’t be dropped as well.

“If the construction does not meet elevation requirements and must be undone, resources will be spent with no benefit to the recovery,” she wrote.

If you’re going to Governor Christie’s Town Hall Meeting in Middletown tomorrow, expect to hear about this rule and others as the source of the delay in RREM funding, and as an explanation for why the multi-family projects outside of Sandy impacted areas, notably the Belleville and New Brunswick projects that have been in the news, have been approved while Jersey Shore residents are still waiting and not living at home.

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Christie Town Hall Rescheduled For Thursday

The weather reports say it will be too warm to snow on Thrusday and Governor Chris Christie is hoping the third time is the charm.

The twice postponed Town Hall Meeting on Sandy Relief Funds is now scheduled for Thursday, February 20th, 11am, at VFW Post 2179, 1 Veterans Way (Off Rt 36) in the Port Monmouth section of Middletown Township.  Doors open at 10:00 am.  Seating is first come first served.  RSVP’s are requested via email at [email protected].

Joining Christie will be Office of Recovery and Rebuilding Executive Director Marc Ferzan,  Community Affairs Deputy Commissioner Chuck Richman, Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin,  Human Services Commissioner Jennifer Velez,  Economic Development Authority CEO Michele Brown and Banking and Insurance Commissioner Ken Kobylowski.

A mobile cabinet meeting to assist Sandy impacted homeowners and businesses is scheduled to follow the Town Hall from 12:30 till 2:00 pm.

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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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