newjerseynewsroom.com

Legislation is effort to gain oversight of ‘independent’ authorities

BY TOM HESTER SR.

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Gov. Chris Christie has taken a step to bring about what he feels is needed accountability and oversight of 25 or more so-called “independent” New Jersey authorities, boards and commissions that constitute what he calls New Jersey’s shadow government.

The governor has proposed comprehensive legislation for the Legislature’s consideration.

Since taking office, Christie’s office has aggressively policed the activities of those agencies where the governor has veto authority and he has vetoed meeting minutes 21 times. Christie has also acted to remove commissioners at the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners and the North Jersey District Water Supply Commission, where malfeasance and inappropriate conduct were uncovered.

Extending veto authority to entities lacking gubernatorial oversight would allow the Christie administration to attempt to prevent those abuses before they occur, and ensure public funds are used appropriately and that ethical standards are followed.

The “Shadow Government Reform” legislation would extend gubernatorial veto authority and additional oversight tools to the governor’s office and the state comptroller, establish and bolster Christie’s ability to police the actions of independent agencies, such as the water, sewer and environmental authorities that span multiple counties; county and regional utility authorities; entities with publicly documented waste, fraud or abuse of public resources, and entities with critical responsibilities that currently lack oversight of their operations, spending and budgeting.

Agencies that would be affected by the legislation include: the Cape-Atlantic Soil Conservation District, Cumberland-Salem Soil Conservation District, Delaware & Raritan Canal Commission, Freehold Soil Conservation District, Jersey City Municipal Utilities Authority, Joint Meeting of Essex and Union, Lake Hopatcong Commission, Landis Sewerage Authority, Middlesex County Utilities Authority, Morris County Utilities Authority, Musconetcong Sewerage Authority, New Jersey Meadowlands Commission, North Jersey District Water Supply Commission, Ocean County Utilities Authority, Old Bridge Municipal Utilities Authority, Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners, Passaic Valley Water Commission, Pequannock River Basin Regional Sewerage Authority, Pequannock-Lincoln Park Fairfield Sewerage Authority, Plainfield Regional Sewerage Authority, Rahway Valley Sewerage Authority, Somerset-Union Soil Conservation District, Southeast Morris County Utilities Authority, State Soil Conservation Committee and the Stony Brook Regional Sewerage Authority.

“The writing is on the wall for New Jersey’s shadow government – the abuse stops now,” Christie said. “These entities that for too long have engaged in conduct without oversight, often at the public’s expense, and with a blind eye from members of both political parties, will no longer be able to operate with impunity.

“With this legislation, my administration will be better equipped to continue putting the best interest of the public first by cracking down on waste, impropriety and business-as-usual at these entities, where nobody is watching what is going on,” the governor said. “The abuse that defies good government and the public’s trust and resources is not a Democratic problem or a Republican problem. It is a New Jersey problem that the people sent me here to fix. I urge the Legislature to side with the taxpaying, rate paying and toll paying public, rather than the entrenched interests, and quickly take action to end this shadow government’s defiance of standards of good government.”

Christie said extending or expanding his veto authority is necessary to prevent waste, abuse and unethical conduct before it occurs and rein in the practices of authorities that have continuously flouted his maintains flout his insistence on a high-level of accountability in their conduct.

The legislation would attempt to establish or enhance oversight and accountability at the designated entities through the following mechanisms:

• Provide gubernatorial oversight through veto within a 15-day window and mandatory service of agendas and minutes upon Governor’s Authorities Unit request;
• Expressly provide that board members will serve without compensation;
• Provide the governor with authority to remove a member of the governing body of a regional authority for cause;
• Require financial disclosure statements from the members of the governing bodies of each regional authority;
• Expressly define entities as “regional authorities” so that they will be subject to other forms of state oversight, including executive orders and ethics requirements;
• Explicitly grant the state comptroller the authority to inquire into the finances of the regional authorities; and
• Subject all “regional authorities” to the state Conflicts of Interest Law administered by the state Ethics Commission.