Governor Christie’s Hurricane Sandy Briefing in 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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Swimming River fix holding. It will a while before the power comes back on. Stay off the roads on Tuesday

Most of Monmouth County will be without electricity for at least a few days, but water should not be an issue.

On a conference call lead by Governor Christie this evening, BPU President Robert Hanna said that New Jersey American Water Company reported that the temporary fix to the Swimming River Water Treatment Plant which failed last summer is holding up well.  No problems in delivery water are anticipated.

Ongoing storm conditions will prevent JCP&L from getting to work on restoring power.  Winds of over 85 mph are expected throughout tonight and into tomorrow morning, according to Jim Hayes of the National Weather Service-Mt. Holly, who was also on the call.  While Sandy made landfall near Atlantic City, the worst winds are expect in Northeastern New Jersey down through Monmouth County.  The 5000 out of state utility workers standing by will not be deployed until after the winds subside to around 25 mph, according to Hanna.

The high winds will cause storm surges 4.5-7.5 feet higher than expected.  North Coastal Monmouth County from Sandy Hook south will experience record levels of surges and flooding.

DOT Commissioner James Simpson urged all New Jersey residents to stay off the roads tomorrow except for a genuine emergency.  Treacherous road conditions from fallen trees and utility lines are reported throughout the state.

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Christie Hurricane Briefing @ 5:30

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Governor Chris Christie Requests Pre-Landfall Emergency Declaration for New Jersey in Anticipation of Hurricane Sandy

Trenton, NJ – Governor Chris Christie this morning formally requested that President Barack Obama declare a pre-landfall emergency for New Jersey. This declaration would allow the State to request funding and other assistance for actions taken in advance of Hurricane Sandy, which is expected to make landfall in New Jersey late Monday evening.

“We have taken this action to assist communities which have taken extraordinary measures to insure the safety of the public during this very serious and dangerous storm,” said Governor Christie.

“The National Hurricane Center predicts that Hurricane Sandy will move along the New Jersey coast beginning on or about October 28, 2012, bringing the potential for severe weather conditions, including heavy rains, high winds, dangerous storm surges and stream and river flooding that may threaten homes and other structures, and endanger lives in the state,” added Governor Christie.

Hurricane Sandy is expected to bring flooding, high winds and heavy rain across the state over a period of 36 hours starting early Monday morning.

A copy of the Governor’s letter to President Obama is attached to the here.

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NJ Judges: We’re the .005%

Never mind the 1% to 99% rhetoric that has worked its way into our lexicon since the Occupy movement moved into Zuccotti Park.  With yesterday’s 3-2 decision that judges are exempt from New Jersey’s pension and health benefits reform, our State’s judiciary have declared themselves the .005%.   They are the truly elite. The 400 of New Jersey’s 8.8 million citizens. They don’t have to share in the sacrifice.

As Governor Christie said in Atlantic City yesterday,

“What we did, the administration and the Legislature, was demand that everybody in public employment pay their fair share for the benefits they’re going to get like people in the private sector do every day. And I cannot believe that we’re going to permit one small sector of folks (to be exempt), who consider themselves special, and who by the way granted themselves this special treatment themselves. That doesn’t make any sense to me.’’

“If you’re a police officer, or a fire fighter, or a teacher in this state, and you’re paying more for your health benefits and your pension, I’ve got a feeling you’re pretty frosted if it turns out that a group of judges decides for the whole group of judges that they don’t have to pay their fair share.’’

Hat tip to Capital Quickies

Christie told NJ 101.5’s audience on his monthly Ask the Governor show last night that if the legislature puts a Constitutional Amendment on the ballot this fall, he will campaign for it.  That will be the easiest campaign in the history of the world.   There will likely be 3.9 million New Jerseyans voting on November 6.  There are about 400 judges.  If all of the judges got all of their family members and friends to vote against the Constitutional Amendment, would that add up to even 10,000 votes?   I don’t think so.

As Senator Joe Kyrillos said yesterday, “Judicial independence does not mean judicial supremacy and exceptionalism.”   If the legislature acts by August 6, and it looks as though they will, the people of New Jersey will be sending the Judicial branch an overwhelming reminder that they work for us.   In America, even in New Jersey, the people are Sovereign. “All political power is inherent in the people.”

Even though there is not much time, the legislature should consider recommending other changes to Article VI, Section VI of the State Constitution to the people, since we’ll be making changes to the clause anyway.

Is seven years too long before a Judge is reviewed and reconfirmed?  How about 3 or 4 years?   Is tenure after 7 years, if reconfirmed, until mandatory retirement at age 70 still appropriate? How about a review and reconfirmation every 4, 5, or 7 years until retirement.   When the retirement age of 70 for judges was affirmed by Constitutional Amendment in 1978, the average life expectancy in the United States was 73.5.  Now, the average life expectancy is 78.  Why not increase the mandatory retirement age to 75 or 80? How about establishing a voluntary retirement age before being eligible to collect a pension at 70. Those would create some pension savings.

The Judiciary has given the Legislature an opportunity to make substantive adjustments to the .005%’s superiority and exceptionalism.

As Governor Christie told a Town Hall meeting audience in Garfield on May 2, it is extraordinarily difficult to hold judges accountable in New Jersey.   Now would be a good time to make some changes.

If you agree, contact your legislators and the governor.   Pass this column on and ask others to do the same.  Time is short.

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Judge Escandon no longer ruling on divorces.

Multiple divorce litigants with cases before Judge Paul X. Escandon have told MMM that they have been informed by Monmouth County Court personnel that Escandon will no longer be hearing their cases.

Judge Lawrence M. Lawson, the Assignment Judge of the Monmouth County Vicinage, confirmed the change in Escandon’s assignment.

Escandon will be hearing non-matrimonial cases, those of unmarried couples with children and/or property who need the Court’s involvement to resolve their differences and post-divorce cases that he currently has, according to Lawson.  All family court judges will hear post divorce matters that are 12 months old or more.

Lawson said that the change is the result of his reassigning Judges to cope with the Court’s four vacancies and the temporary elevation of Judge Michael Guadagno to the Appeals Court.

A group of thirty women lead by former Long Branch resident Rachel Alintoff have been fighting get to Escandon recused from their cases and removed from the bench for several months due to what they say is a pattern of improper and illegal rulings regarding custody and support in favor of their wealthy estranged husbands.  There complaints have ranged from revoking custody without a hearing to emanicipating a disabled teenager in order to void child support.

Alintoff brought her plight to Governor Chris Christie’s attention at a Town Hall meeting in Garfield on May 2.   Since then the Advisory Committee on Judical Conduct has initiated an investigation into Escandon’s rulings based on Alintoff’s complaints and those of at least ten other women and one man.

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Governor’s press conference

Governor Chris Christie will hold a press conference this morning following a the signing a of bill that will regulate and subsidize the solar energy industry.  The bill signing is scheduled for 11:15.

The press conference can be viewed live here:

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Christie: Europe will be a picnic compared to looming crisis if leaders only focus on politics

Governor Chris Christie told an audience at the Brookings Institute this morning that the U.S. economy will make Europe look like a picnic if our national leaders continue to play politics with the economy and look only as far as their own terms, rather than tell voters the truth.
 

Christie was also critical of New Jersey’s Democratic Legislature for failing to provide tax relief in order to make New Jersey more competitive with its neighboring states.

The Governor said that New Jersey voters have a sense of humor as evidenced by electing a conservative Republican governor while retaining a Democratic legislature.  “I think they just wanted to see what would happen,” Christie said.

Christie’s entire address to Brookings can be viewed here.

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He REALLY doesn’t want Romney to ask him to run for V.P.

Governor Chris Christie had a SITUATION in Seaside Heights last night.

He exchanged harsh words with a heckler on the boardwalk and pursued his taunter who preferred to keep walking rather than engaging in a confrontation with the ice cream cone wielding executive.

Someone recorded the exchange and sent the video to TMZ.

The Governor’s office has yet to comment.

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