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BY PETE MCDONOUGH JR.

COMMENTARY

It appears the impasse over last minute appointments by outgoing Governor Jon Corzine has been resolved. Corzine has acceded to Governor-elect Christie's request that no long term policymaking positions be filled nor long term contracts be executed; Christie has agreed to allow Governor Corzine's to fill languishing vacancies among the ranks of Superior Court Judges, prosecutors and a handful of other posts.

It was a fair compromise, and one that shows the best of Chris Christie and Jon Corzine.

When Jon Corzine was elected as governor in 2005, then-Acting Governor Don DiFrancesco agreed to not make any lasting appointments during the lame duck period. In an act that holds a bit of irony, DiFrancesco held vacant the seat on the Board of Public Utilities that is now occupied by Jeanne Fox, the wife of Corzine's chief political strategist, and packing the BPU was among the appointments the Corzine administration had in mind for the lame duck period.

But, sometimes this kind of detente is hard to find.

Christie Whitman, as governor-elect in 1993, made a similar request to outgoing Governor Jim Florio. Her request was honored, by Florio, but not by his independent authorities. The Sports Authority, wanted no part of agreeing with the new governor's wishes, and rammed through a six-figure, multi-year contract to keep Bob Mulcahy as its president. Former Governor Brendan Byrne, who served on the authority at the time, and in whose cabinet Mulcahy once served, pushed hard for the contract.

Byrne acknowledged the validity of Whitman's request, but noted, "The governor-elect should have a right to make that selection, but I think we also have an obligation to send a message that we operate this authority as a private business."

The contract was signed, then-governor Jim Florio refused to veto the minutes of the Sports Authority and Mulcahy's $175,000 annual contract was extended for two years.

The authority's last minute maneuvers were probably unnecessary. Mulcahy's qualifications for the job were never in question, so his contract probably would have been renewed anyway. But that wasn't the point. The fact was that the authority was trying to lock-in a long term contract that would affect the incoming administration.

Whitman got the last laugh two years later when the naming rights for the Brendan Byrne Arena were sold to Continental Airlines for $29 million and the former Governor's name was forever erased from the Meadowlands skyline.

Both Jon Corzine and Chris Christie had logical and defensible positions in the appointments face-off. Jon Corzine's term didn't end in November; it runs all the way until January 19th. The constitution is clear; he has the authority to nominate anyone he wants.

On the other hand, Chris Christie was elected to replace Jon Corzine. The voters rejected Jon Corzine and his policies. Surely, it defies common sense and common decency for Corzine to name people to policy making positions that will extend into the next administration.

Corzine could have avoided much of the contention over appointments if he hadn't dragged his feet on making nominations. Indeed, the current governor seemed gun shy about sending nominations to the Senate in the election year. By waiting until the lame duck session, Corzine set himself up for public ridicule and a political skewering.

The agreement struck between Governor Corzine and Governor-elect Christie will serve everyone's interests. As a part of the deal, Chris Christie will ask Republican Senators to not block certain appropriate nominations, like the nomination of Corzine's chief of staff, Ed McBride, to be a superior court judge in Burlington County. Hold-over appointments like that of Sports and Exposition Authority Chairman Carl Goldberg will remain in their current status and are likely to get replaced shortly after the new governor takes office.

Corzine got to save face in this agreement. No one will remember the self-inflicted aspect of the vacancy problem and he gets to name a handful of qualified loyalists to fill some of those slots.

Christie preserved his ability to pick all of the people who will serve on critical boards, commissions and authorities during his tenure. Importantly, Christie also showed that he knows how to stand his ground and still strike a compromise.

That's a skill that has been missing from Trenton for at least the last four years, and a skill that will surely be tested in the next.

Pete McDonough Jr. is an adjunct professor at the Eagleton Institute of Politics. He formerly served as director of communications for Gov. Christie Whitman.

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