newjerseynewsroom.com

BY ADELE SAMMARCO

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

More than 500 New Jerseyans packed the Southard School gymnasium Wednesday in Howell to listen to Governor Christie take aim at his opponents while touting a list of government reforms he says he wants enacted now. Blaming the 2008 Corzine administration for the state's budget woes, Christie told the crowd the Garden State was faced with a $13 billion deficit when he arrived that following year.

Christie told the audience at his 93rd Town Hall event, “We’ve now been in office over 1,000 days and there has not been a hint, not a mention, not an accusation of scandal or corruption anywhere in this administration, not one.”

One-by-one, Christie hammered out a series of reforms which included more municipalities sharing services and tighter sick leave standards that have yet to go through the New Jersey state legislature. Currently, the Democrats are the majority party in both Houses. In the Senate, there are 24 Democrats and 16 Republicans and in the General Assembly, there are 48 Democrats and 32 Republicans.

Christie is pumping a new “Christie Middle-Class Reform Agenda – The Fight Worth Fighting” campaign, which officially launched Wednesday.

"You don't collect money anymore without being sick," a re-energized Christie told the crowd as he revealed a toned down version to the flashy New Jersey “Comeback” campaign slogan he unveiled earlier in the year.

However, outside it was a much different tone. Christie was greeted by a group of protesters as town hall attendees were treated to an introductory video of the Governor's achievements inside.

"Property taxes, the centerpiece of Chis Christie's 2009 campaign, have not ceased to rise and we're now looking at almost a 20 percent increase since 2009," said Andy Bace of Hazlet. "In Howell Township alone, there are almost 300 vacant storefronts along the Route 9 corridor. As Monmouth County residents, families and small business owners, we believe it is premature at best, and downright dishonest at worst, that the Governor would come to Howell to tout a 'comeback' that most middle-class families aren't experiencing."

The Garden State hosts a 9.8 percent unemployment rate and is ranked the fourth highest in the country. According to the annual Census Bureau report on poverty, New Jersey fared even worse than the rest of the nation, increasing slightly, while household incomes declined and the number of people without health insurance increased.

Despite the protests outside, Christie continued on with his new campaign inside laying out his top priorities saying he has been successful in getting major items adopted, including teacher-tenure reform and a cap on property tax increases. Yet other items on his agenda he said have been on hold in the Legislature. Nonetheless, the Governor said the state is changing for the better.

“There’s a whole new image of New Jersey around the country,” said the Governor. “We’re no longer the state that is the butt of jokes on late night television.”

While Christie took credit for helping to change the state’s image with his recent keynote address at the Republican National Convention, he pointed to James Wiley, the former head of North Bergen’s Public Works Department, who told a Hudson County judge he routinely used employees to perform personal work for him on taxpayer time and money.

Christie cited Wiley as an example as to why the state needs to take away pension payments and campaign funds for public officials who are convicted of a crime.

He also cited North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco, who is also a state Senator and an assistant superintendent of his town’s school district, as a reason to end the practice of elected officials who hold more than one public post.

“It seems to me, in a state like this, one public job should be enough,” Christie said.

The Governor admitted much has been accomplished under his watch due to bipartisanship, but maintains he is patiently waiting for the state legislature after 736 days of initially introducing his ethic reforms to take action.

“The Empire State Building was built in 410 days. It’s been 736 days and no hearing from the New Jersey State Legislature," said Christie.