transparency 
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Mon Feb 15, 2010 at 12:16:00 PM EST
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Governor Chris Christie came into office trumpeting a new wave of transparency. He was going to let the public see things and decide for themselves. That seems like it was just a talking point until he got into office. From his first cabinet meeting, there were problems:The media was invited into the room while Christie spoke to his cabinet. At the end of his seven-and-half-minute address, Christie said it was time to work.
"We have some work - but the work we have to do is not going to be with all of you," he told reporters, who were ushered outside, the twin doors to the meeting room closed behind them. Wow, a whole seven and a half minutes of transparency? If the media thought things were going to get better, they may have to keep waiting. When Christie gave his budget address last Thursday, they had new guidelines for the press:At a session called for reporters to drill down on the details of Christie's budget fixes, his press handlers tried tightening the leash. They insisted - in fine Washington fashion - reporters could not use tape recorders during the spin session and could not identify the "administraton officials" doing the spinning. They're so transparent, reporters can't even identify who is saying what. We've seen the "administration officials" identification before, but I don't know that it has been a blanket policy on all briefings. Reporters questioned and pushed back on the policy, but were given an ultimatum that it would be their way or no way:You're going to have to just go with it today. Maybe we'll change things going forward. But that is the plan for today . . . We can just do this now, or we can not do it. I'm not kidding." Jonathan Tamari called it a mixed dose of transparency. Kevin Mcardle of NJ 101.5 reminded us what happened the last time an Administration tried to take this approach with the media:In 2002 just after Jim McGreevey took over as Governor, his treasurer and other adminstration officials tried something similar. They said their entire budget briefing would be off the record. This led to a mini-revolt by the State House press corps led by veteran reporter Joe Allbright. The journalists simply packed up their stuff and left behind a dumbfounded group of top McGreevey staffers. That almost happened again today with the transparent "Team Christie." They almost revolted and walked out, but they didn't. The press stayed and played the Christie game again. I only hope they show the same courtesy to the new Governor and his administration that they did to former Governors. It would only be fair for them to hold Christie to the transparency promises he made.
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Mon Feb 08, 2010 at 09:29:00 AM EST
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LEGISLATIVE UPDATES: Last week I wrote about our several year sojourn to bring the many "shadow governments" in New Jersey (such as the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission) into the sunlight along with veto power for the Governor. But this past week has been really interesting. I've had the opportunity to try to translate into law these very fashionable words, "transparency and accountability." I dropped two new bills to update the almost 20 year old Open Public Meetings Act (known as the Senator Byron Baer Sunshine Law) and the Open Public Records Act which we just named in honor of the late open government advocate, Martin O'Shea. Both laws needed to reflect the technology advances which didn't even exist when they were originally passed. For instance, the new OPMA will prohibit texting and emailing between and among elected officials during business meetings. One councilmember will no longer be able to discuss business with another councilmember on his/her blackberry during a meeting. Among other things, the new OPRA law will allow record requests to be filled by email or fax. By calling attention to these bills, we can help foster a culture that elected officials and record custodians will say "Yes" to the public's requests rather than looking for a reasons to say "No". Everything we do is owned by the public in one way or another, and the public's right to know what we're doing should be paramount.
The Senate Health & Human Services & Senior Service Committee, which I now chair, released a bill sponsored by Senator Bob Gordon and I requiring all hospitals to have public conflict of interest policies for Boards of Trustees which must include rules to govern when a member has a conflict in the awarding of hospital contracts. The bill requires the conflict of interest policy to be published on the hospital's web page and sets very strict parameters for board members. Doug Duchek, the CEO of Englewood Hospital, testified in support of the bill and announced that Englewood does not allow any of its board members to sell goods or services to the hospital. Good idea! Let's keep an eye on this one. I have a feeling that there might be a move to try to undermine its intent.
We also dropped the bill to straighten out that awful initiative law which puts a 10 year moratorium on the petitioning for a local government change to go before the voters. Senator Joseph Vitale of Middlesex joined me in sponsoring this reversal of our "lame duck" mistake which was an anti-democratic attempt to thwart some good government reformers in New Brunswick. I know Senator Theresa Ruiz will also sign on as a co-sponsor. Let's ask Senator Jim Whelan to post this asap in the State Government Committee.
So it's been quite a week capped off with a big birthday celebration for me. (February 6th was also Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman's birthday - happy birthday, my friend.) Thank you Blue Jersey for headlining my 75th birthday. The celebrations started when a group of my Bergen political women friends planned a great dinner. We drank plenty of wine; told many good political stories about some Bergen luminaries; and had lots of laughs. The next night was dinner out with son and girlfriend. And Sunday I found time to host my annual super bowl gathering. Wednesday, we're going to L.A. for a few days for a big family celebration. So I plan to enjoy every minute of all these parties. It is a little weird, cause the number of these years seems like they should belong to someone else. Life is still so full of more goals to reach; more adventures to share; the enjoyment of love of family and "best friends"; and most of all fun to share with all of them and with you!! Thank you for making it a special time for me. Thank you for helping to ready the next generation of leaders.
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Thu Jan 21, 2010 at 07:01:11 AM EST
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Any other lurkers out there? -- Promoted from the diaries by Rosi
Hi, everyone,
I have been lurking for about a year and have finally decided to try my hand at blogging in response to the new administration and the debacle of the marriage equality bill. I have been constantly educated and frequently amused by the reporting of this great site and hope I can contribute something.
A much quoted section of Christie's inauguration speech said:
Today, a new era of accountability and transparency is here. Today, I will sign executive orders that will make our finances, our budgeting, and our processes more transparent for all citizens to see.
Based on the executive orders themselves, he's not off to a good start. The very executive orders that are supposed to make the process "more transparent" are not themselves available to the public. They are not available, as of 6:45 this morning, on the state's web site - http://www.state.nj.us/infoban... The signed orders exist - I know because I have a sneaked copy of one (which I hope to blog about the horrific details of later) and I have heard of copies of others floating out there - but are not available to the public.
In fact, not even the news media seems to have been allowed a peek - Tom Hester at New Jersey Newsroom notes that the text of at least half of the executive orders "was not immediately available." http://www.newjerseynewsroom.c...
That note is buried far down in the story, and I haven't seen other references to the lack of transparency in the media, who seem to be content with what they were spoon-fed by the Administration.
One way to try to stifle dissent is to only let the outside world see what you want them to see - a kind of wax paper transparency. Amazing that Christie would, within one day of promising a new era of transparency, abandon that promise.
Looking forward to many more posts ahead and to helping rebuild the promised land that our state has been, and should be once again...
--TPL
UPDATE: As of 8:30 AM on Thursday the Executive Orders are now up at http://www.state.nj.us/infoban... Just in time for the news reporting on them to be over. I will try to post an analysis of what's in there in the next few days.
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Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 06:34:20 PM EDT
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The corruption scandal will not go away. Republicans will continue to use it to bash Democrats at all levels, and Christie will benefit indirectly. Recent evidence suggests that the constant media attention and partisan republican attacks are effectively exploiting the issue to drive up Corzine's negatives and make inroads with independents.
Earlier this week, the Star Ledger editorialized:
Consider CleanGreenNJ's call for a DEP government cleanup
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Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 10:52:07 PM EST
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In January, the Student Government Association (SGA) at Montclair State University (MSU), under the leadership of SGA President Ron Chicken, stopped funding for the MSU student newspaper, The Montclarion. The SGA took this drastic step because the newspaper had used its SGA-funded attorney, Sal Anderton, to pursue action against the SGA for holding closed meetings allegedly in violation of the Open Public Meetings Act. In addition to freezing funding for the paper, the SGA also fired Anderton and demanded the newspaper use the SGA's attorney, Aaron Easley. As part of the SGA's requirement that the newspaper use Mr. Easley, Mr. Chicken also required the newspaper to submit legal inquiries for Easley through Mr. Chicken and was not permitted access to Mr. Easley directly. Hmmm.
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Thu Jan 17, 2008 at 08:51:44 PM EST
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The Party Democracy Act, sponsored by New Jersey State Senators Diane Allen (R) and Loretta Weinberg (D), is a step in the right direction. How the major County political parties operate in New Jersey is largely unknown. Yet, they have a great deal of power, including the ability to fill legislative vacancies as they arise. Reform is needed to create more openness and accountability of our County political parties.
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Thu Jun 21, 2007 at 09:48:46 PM EDT
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Cross-Posted from ShapTalk.com:
You?ve received them. I?ve received them. I?ve even recorded and used them: those automated calls that emanate around election time. As annoying as they may be, they are a quick, efficient, and cost-effective way for a candidate or a resident to bring an issue or a candidacy to the public?s attention. A ban on automated calls amounts to greater incumbent protection as it is usually the incumbent officeholder who has the wherewithal and campaign donations to be able to send out glossy mailings, run radio and television commercials, and afford a sophisticated door-to-door operation. Candidates who take on incumbents have few tools at their disposal to get their message out, especially in areas where the local press is either nonexistent or ?bought and paid for.? As a result, the automated call is one of very few equalizing forces in New Jersey politics, allowing all candidates to reach voters without a significant monetary expenditure. That said, restrictions on automated calls are necessary to curb abuse.
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Mon May 22, 2006 at 08:26:15 AM EDT
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Philly Inquirer, Trenton bureau:Want to know how your state representative voted on a bill? Good luck. Besides calling a lawmaker's office, there is no immediate way to track a lawmaker's voting record. A proposal endorsed yesterday by the Senate State Government Committee, however, could change that. The bill would require the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services to make complete voting records available to the public on the Legislature's Web site. "This bill is another step in the right direction toward making government and its representatives much more transparent," said the bill's sponsor, Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D., Bergen)
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