Wise Young
01-22-2006, 06:22 AM
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/nation/13680319.htm
Corzine picks not quite a clean sweep
Among his choices are some well-regarded outsiders. But some say insiders he kept are carrying old baggage.
By Kaitlin Gurney and Elisa Ung
Inquirer Trenton Bureau
TRENTON - Former Gov. Jim McGreevey taught the public to judge a governor by the company he keeps.
McGreevey's two top aides used their access to enrich their billboard business even before their boss took office. Two cabinet members stepped down amid scandal, and McGreevey himself resigned after an affair with his homeland security adviser.
No wonder, then, that there is tough scrutiny of the men and women Gov. Corzine is selecting to lead a mission to restore fiscal and ethical integrity to state government.
His appointees include two federal prosecutors, a Wall Street executive, and career environmental and child advocates who have won widespread praise.
But his selection of a political insider for attorney general and the reappointment of some of McGreevey's cabinet have dismayed those who thought the choices belied Corzine's pledge to begin a "new era" in Trenton.
Some say this mix wisely blends outsiders with those who know their way around the Statehouse. But others say the selections bring old baggage into an administration that Corzine had promised would be a fresh start.
"He's giving us a mixed message," said David Rebovich, a political science professor at Rider University. "Is this really a new beginning, or is this the same old talk?"
State Republican Chairman Tom Wilson said he considered the cabinet selections "all about politics" and "the beginning of a string of broken promises."
That is unfair criticism, said Assemblyman Joe Cryan, who is to become the next chairman of the state Democratic Party.
"These cabinet appointments have set a tone that things are different - they're a reflection of the man and a reflection of the times," he said. "Some people are short on experience and they'll have bumps, but they'll molt quickly."
Corzine spokesman Anthony Coley said the governor sought to find experienced professionals as diverse as the "face of New Jersey" to help him restore the state's image. If the best people already were in place, Coley said, Corzine didn't demand "change for the sake of change."
The new governor consulted corruption-busting U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, a Republican, on his appointments - and succeeded in wooing two of Christie's trusted aides to his administration.
The position of chief counsel to the governor, invariably a political hire in previous administrations, went to Stuart Rabner, a career prosecutor who headed Christie's criminal division. Matthew Boxer, known for a corruption raid in Monmouth County last year in which 11 public officials were arrested, has been selected to oversee the state's more than 30 authorities, many of them long known as bastions of pork-barrel spending and patronage.
"Corzine knocked it out of the park with Rabner and Boxer," said State Sen. Bill Gormley (R., Atlantic). "These guys would indict family members if they had to."
Gormley also praised the appointment of Bradley Abelow, who like Corzine worked at Goldman Sachs, as state treasurer. Abelow, who Gormley joked would be the only person in the Statehouse who could lend money to the multimillionaire Corzine, will oversee filling an estimated $5 billion shortfall in the state budget.
Abelow will be aided by Carol O'Cleireacain, formerly New York City's budget director.
Kevin Ryan, who as McGreevey's child advocate had harsh words for the administration's handling of child-welfare crises, has been hired to lead Human Services, the agency he once criticized. Lisa Jackson, a longtime administrator at both the state and federal environmental agencies, has been promoted to head the Department of Environmental Protection.
Corzine surprised many with his attorney general appointment - Zulima Farber, the state's former public advocate, whom McGreevey passed over for the state Supreme Court because a bench warrant had been issued against her for failure to respond to a traffic violation.
After McGreevey Attorney General Peter Harvey, who was widely criticized as being soft on public corruption, many lawmakers expected Corzine to appoint a hard-charging prosecutor more like Rabner.
"Coming after Peter Harvey and at a time citizens are so skeptical of government, to appoint a political operative is dreadful," Rebovich said.
Farber's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing is tomorrow, and senators have promised they will question her closely on her commitment to investigating public corruption.
Corzine has opted to keep seven of McGreevey's cabinet members - and two of former Gov. Richard J. Codey's.
His reappointment of Board of Public Utilities President Jeanne Fox, the wife of Corzine's chief campaign strategist, has raised some eyebrows. The decision to keep Commerce Department Secretary Virginia Bauer also has caused confusion, as Corzine had toyed with abolishing a department that many lawmakers consider unnecessary.
McGreevey's commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs, Susan Bass Levin, who stepped down from her post to work on Corzine's campaign, will return to the agency where she earned the ire of the state's environmental community and the respect of many mayors.
"I was hoping the cabinet would be a breath of fresh air, but there's some stale air there," said Jeff Tittel, executive director of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club and a Levin foe. "The people of New Jersey deserve a fresh start that can articulate his vision without baggage."
Lawmakers wondered last week whether Corzine realizes that carrying out his vision requires cooperation with the Legislature. In his inaugural address Tuesday, Corzine stressed that government must regain the public's trust before he can solve the state's many financial problems.
Some legislators took offense at his tough talk on ethics, and just one day later Corzine backpedaled, explaining that "any sense that a broad brush is being stroked here" was incorrect.
Democrats say privately that Corzine may make missteps like that because his top aides have mostly come from outside the insular world of Trenton politics.
Getting Corzine initiatives through the Legislature will require the blessing of two of the state's most experienced politicians: Codey, the longtime Senate president, and Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts (D., Camden).
"Jon is undergoing a learning process, which he freely admits," Codey said. "He has enough good people around him that will help him sail through rough times."
Team Corzine
Chief of Staff Tom Shea, formerly chief of staff to Corzine's Senate office
Chief Counsel Stuart Rabner, formerly chief of the criminal division for the U.S. Attorney's Office
Chief of the Authorities Unit for the governor's office Matthew Boxer, formerly a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office
Attorney General Zulima Farber, a lawyer and former state public advocate
Treasurer Bradley Abelow, a former Goldman Sachs executive
Environmental Protection Commissioner Lisa Jackson, formerly a DEP and EPA administrator
Human Services Commissioner Kevin Ryan, formerly the state's child advocate
Public Advocate Ronald Chen, formerly dean for academic affairs at Rutgers Law School-Newark
Secretary of StateNina Wells, a lawyer, formerly worked for Schering-Plough
Holdovers
Community Affairs Commissioner Susan Bass Levin, same post in McGreevey-Codey administrations
Commerce Secretary Virginia Bauer, same post in the McGreevey-Codey administrations
Motor Vehicles Chief Administrator Sharon Harrington, same post in the McGreevey-Codey administrations
Board of Public Utilities President Jeanne Fox, same post in the McGreevey-Codey administrations
Agriculture Commissioner Charles Kuperus, same post in the McGreevey-Codey administrations
State Police Superintendent Col. Rick Fuentes, same post in the McGreevey-Codey administrations
Military and Veterans Affairs Adjutant Gen. Glenn K. Rieth, same post in the McGreevey-Codey administrations
Health and Senior Services Commissioner Fred Jacobs, same post in the Codey administration
Personnel Commissioner Rolando Torres, same post in the Codey administration
Corzine picks not quite a clean sweep
Among his choices are some well-regarded outsiders. But some say insiders he kept are carrying old baggage.
By Kaitlin Gurney and Elisa Ung
Inquirer Trenton Bureau
TRENTON - Former Gov. Jim McGreevey taught the public to judge a governor by the company he keeps.
McGreevey's two top aides used their access to enrich their billboard business even before their boss took office. Two cabinet members stepped down amid scandal, and McGreevey himself resigned after an affair with his homeland security adviser.
No wonder, then, that there is tough scrutiny of the men and women Gov. Corzine is selecting to lead a mission to restore fiscal and ethical integrity to state government.
His appointees include two federal prosecutors, a Wall Street executive, and career environmental and child advocates who have won widespread praise.
But his selection of a political insider for attorney general and the reappointment of some of McGreevey's cabinet have dismayed those who thought the choices belied Corzine's pledge to begin a "new era" in Trenton.
Some say this mix wisely blends outsiders with those who know their way around the Statehouse. But others say the selections bring old baggage into an administration that Corzine had promised would be a fresh start.
"He's giving us a mixed message," said David Rebovich, a political science professor at Rider University. "Is this really a new beginning, or is this the same old talk?"
State Republican Chairman Tom Wilson said he considered the cabinet selections "all about politics" and "the beginning of a string of broken promises."
That is unfair criticism, said Assemblyman Joe Cryan, who is to become the next chairman of the state Democratic Party.
"These cabinet appointments have set a tone that things are different - they're a reflection of the man and a reflection of the times," he said. "Some people are short on experience and they'll have bumps, but they'll molt quickly."
Corzine spokesman Anthony Coley said the governor sought to find experienced professionals as diverse as the "face of New Jersey" to help him restore the state's image. If the best people already were in place, Coley said, Corzine didn't demand "change for the sake of change."
The new governor consulted corruption-busting U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, a Republican, on his appointments - and succeeded in wooing two of Christie's trusted aides to his administration.
The position of chief counsel to the governor, invariably a political hire in previous administrations, went to Stuart Rabner, a career prosecutor who headed Christie's criminal division. Matthew Boxer, known for a corruption raid in Monmouth County last year in which 11 public officials were arrested, has been selected to oversee the state's more than 30 authorities, many of them long known as bastions of pork-barrel spending and patronage.
"Corzine knocked it out of the park with Rabner and Boxer," said State Sen. Bill Gormley (R., Atlantic). "These guys would indict family members if they had to."
Gormley also praised the appointment of Bradley Abelow, who like Corzine worked at Goldman Sachs, as state treasurer. Abelow, who Gormley joked would be the only person in the Statehouse who could lend money to the multimillionaire Corzine, will oversee filling an estimated $5 billion shortfall in the state budget.
Abelow will be aided by Carol O'Cleireacain, formerly New York City's budget director.
Kevin Ryan, who as McGreevey's child advocate had harsh words for the administration's handling of child-welfare crises, has been hired to lead Human Services, the agency he once criticized. Lisa Jackson, a longtime administrator at both the state and federal environmental agencies, has been promoted to head the Department of Environmental Protection.
Corzine surprised many with his attorney general appointment - Zulima Farber, the state's former public advocate, whom McGreevey passed over for the state Supreme Court because a bench warrant had been issued against her for failure to respond to a traffic violation.
After McGreevey Attorney General Peter Harvey, who was widely criticized as being soft on public corruption, many lawmakers expected Corzine to appoint a hard-charging prosecutor more like Rabner.
"Coming after Peter Harvey and at a time citizens are so skeptical of government, to appoint a political operative is dreadful," Rebovich said.
Farber's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing is tomorrow, and senators have promised they will question her closely on her commitment to investigating public corruption.
Corzine has opted to keep seven of McGreevey's cabinet members - and two of former Gov. Richard J. Codey's.
His reappointment of Board of Public Utilities President Jeanne Fox, the wife of Corzine's chief campaign strategist, has raised some eyebrows. The decision to keep Commerce Department Secretary Virginia Bauer also has caused confusion, as Corzine had toyed with abolishing a department that many lawmakers consider unnecessary.
McGreevey's commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs, Susan Bass Levin, who stepped down from her post to work on Corzine's campaign, will return to the agency where she earned the ire of the state's environmental community and the respect of many mayors.
"I was hoping the cabinet would be a breath of fresh air, but there's some stale air there," said Jeff Tittel, executive director of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club and a Levin foe. "The people of New Jersey deserve a fresh start that can articulate his vision without baggage."
Lawmakers wondered last week whether Corzine realizes that carrying out his vision requires cooperation with the Legislature. In his inaugural address Tuesday, Corzine stressed that government must regain the public's trust before he can solve the state's many financial problems.
Some legislators took offense at his tough talk on ethics, and just one day later Corzine backpedaled, explaining that "any sense that a broad brush is being stroked here" was incorrect.
Democrats say privately that Corzine may make missteps like that because his top aides have mostly come from outside the insular world of Trenton politics.
Getting Corzine initiatives through the Legislature will require the blessing of two of the state's most experienced politicians: Codey, the longtime Senate president, and Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts (D., Camden).
"Jon is undergoing a learning process, which he freely admits," Codey said. "He has enough good people around him that will help him sail through rough times."
Team Corzine
Chief of Staff Tom Shea, formerly chief of staff to Corzine's Senate office
Chief Counsel Stuart Rabner, formerly chief of the criminal division for the U.S. Attorney's Office
Chief of the Authorities Unit for the governor's office Matthew Boxer, formerly a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office
Attorney General Zulima Farber, a lawyer and former state public advocate
Treasurer Bradley Abelow, a former Goldman Sachs executive
Environmental Protection Commissioner Lisa Jackson, formerly a DEP and EPA administrator
Human Services Commissioner Kevin Ryan, formerly the state's child advocate
Public Advocate Ronald Chen, formerly dean for academic affairs at Rutgers Law School-Newark
Secretary of StateNina Wells, a lawyer, formerly worked for Schering-Plough
Holdovers
Community Affairs Commissioner Susan Bass Levin, same post in McGreevey-Codey administrations
Commerce Secretary Virginia Bauer, same post in the McGreevey-Codey administrations
Motor Vehicles Chief Administrator Sharon Harrington, same post in the McGreevey-Codey administrations
Board of Public Utilities President Jeanne Fox, same post in the McGreevey-Codey administrations
Agriculture Commissioner Charles Kuperus, same post in the McGreevey-Codey administrations
State Police Superintendent Col. Rick Fuentes, same post in the McGreevey-Codey administrations
Military and Veterans Affairs Adjutant Gen. Glenn K. Rieth, same post in the McGreevey-Codey administrations
Health and Senior Services Commissioner Fred Jacobs, same post in the Codey administration
Personnel Commissioner Rolando Torres, same post in the Codey administration