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BY TOM HESTER SR.
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
UPDATED
Republican gubernatorial challenger Chris Christie Wednesday unveiled his 10-point plan to halt corruption and it includes calls for the elimination of dual job holding by elected officials and public employees, a complete end to pay-to-play, the suspension of officeholders charged with crimes, and the prohibition of the use of campaign funds for criminal defense costs.
"It is time to surge forward with the resolve to fight for our principles, end corruption and be held accountable for changing our state,'' Christie said.
Christie, who was U.S. Attorney for New Jersey from 2002 to December, is credited with successfully prosecuting 130 public officials. While a Monmouth University/Gannett poll released this week showed corruption is not a major issue with potential voters, both Christie and Gov. Jon Corzine's camps have tried to use it to tarnish each other's image.
"New Jersey can no longer afford to ignore the serious financial and emotional burden inflicted by corruption,'' Christie said. "New Jerseyans deserve meaningful ethics reform to put an end to ethically questionable political practices that have tainted our state. When Governor Corzine campaigned on the promise to bring in a new era of ethics reform, it was welcomed news for a state marred by a culture of corruption. However, since then New Jersey has seen a lot of talk and very little action.Christie's plan promises legislative and policy changes in 10 areas:
Eliminate dual office holding: The plan states, "Dual office holding is simply wrong. Grandfathering" these conflicts for current dual office-holders in the Legislature, as was done by Governor Corzine, was another timid action by a politician afraid of upsetting Trenton's powerbrokers.'' Christie said he would attempt to end the practice in New Jersey through legislation immediately after taking office.
Eliminate dual public employment: "Double-dipping politicians must stop taking advantage of the state and its funds by simultaneously holding salaried elected positions and government jobs. One publicly funded job and pension is plenty.'' Christie said he would ban the practice of one person holding a full time government job while also holding a salaried elected position.
Require forfeiture of public pensions for corruption convictions: "When public officials betray the public's trust by participating in acts of corruption, they forfeit their right to receive benefits. Christie said his administration would require any elected or appointed official convicted of a crime connected to their official position to forfeit their pension benefits.''
Require strict disclosure of conflicts of interest in the Legislature: "Good governance requires transparency. To build public trust, part-time legislators must submit to strict and complete disclosure of any conflicts of interest due to outside employment and income.'' Christie said he would propose legislation requiring members to either recuse themselves from actions affecting their private sector interests or disclose these interests prior to voting on piece of such legislation.
Establish an elected state auditor to be an independent watchdog: "New Jersey needs a public watchdog independent of the interests of the governor or the Legislature and accountable to the voters.'' Christie said he would seek an independently elected auditor with broad authority to investigate all levels of government and to consolidate other ineffective watchdog agencies under this office's control.
End pay-to-play for everyone: "The partisan politics which exclude certain groups, such as labor unions, from pay-to-play restrictions enforced on other interest groups have deepened public cynicism.'' Christie said he would remove partisan politics from the issue by proposing legislation to extend the pay-to-play ban to all groups at all levels of government.
Strictly prohibit the use of campaign funds from criminal defense costs: "The citizens of New Jersey do not contribute to political campaigns with the intention of funding the future criminal defense of corrupt politicians.'' Christie said he would fight to explicitly prohibit any public officeholder from using campaign funds of any kind to pay for costs associated with criminal defense proceedings.
Suspend all public officeholders charged with a crime: "Allowing public officeholders to vote on legislation and to receive a public salary while they are under indictment creates a public spectacle and is an embarrassment to New Jersey.'' Christie said he would propose legislation to immediately suspend any public officeholder charged with a crime and, if convicted, require the forfeiture of their office.
Require a new, detailed annual disclosure form of all public officials: "Public officials should be required to disclose the same information as federal officials to give a more detailed picture about their financial interests.'' Chris said he would fight to change the current disclosure form to provide greater transparency to New Jersey voters.
Require mandatory forfeiture of convicted officeholders' campaign accounts: "Convicted public officials should have no say over the money contributed to their campaigns in good faith by the citizens of New Jersey.'' Christie said he would attempt to have the Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) seize the campaign accounts of convicted officeholders with any remaining funds being donated to New Jersey charities at ELEC's discretion.
State Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen), the Democratic lieutenant governor candidate, was unimpressed with Christie's plan.
"Christie's ethics talking points don't seem to break any new ground,'' she said. "And they also don't mention how he got his job from George Bush because he raised money for his campaign, or how he handed out multi-million dollar contracts to friends and people who could help him, which is classic pay to play. Christie's ethics talking points are lacking in credibility."
Earlier Wednesday, before Christie made his plan public, Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes said he finds the candidate's talk of ethics reform hard to believe.
"During his campaign for Morris County freeholder, according to the (Morristown) Daily Record, Christie said that 'put[ting] out to bid all contracts for consultants and professionals' was one of his major campaign themes,''
Hughes said. "Christie said that 'This one of the major things I'm running on. It makes common sense. It's good government. Let the chips fall where they may and get the best people at the best price.' Then, after being sworn into office, Christie promptly broke the central promise of his candidacy and voted for no-bid contracts for his campaign contributors.''
Hughes said that in 2001, after raising over $350,000 with his brother, Todd Christie, for President George W. Bush's campaign, Christie was appointed U.S. Attorney for New Jersey. Hughes said shortly after his appointment, Christie spoke out against no-bid contracts, telling the Asbury Park Press that "the biggest problem in corruption in New Jersey is no-bid contracts. If you look at all of these cases that we do, they almost always center around no-bid professional contracts."
"Christie not only broke his promise to crack down on no-bid contracts, but was also the only U.S. Attorney in the nation to unilaterally hand out no-bid contracts,'' Hughes said. "Christie gave his mentor, Herb Stern, and his longtime friend, John Inglesino, a $10 million no-bid contract to serve as a federal monitor. He then gave John Ashcroft, his former boss in the Bush Administration, a no-bid contract worth $52 million and in the same case handed out a multi-million dollar contract to David Kelley, the former U.S. Attorney who spared his brother on stock fraud charges.
Hughes continued, "After engineering these no-bid contracts and receiving campa ign contributions for his gubernatorial bid from their recipients, Christie pledged in April that he would refuse 'future contributions' from individuals he had appointed to monitorship'. Despite this promise, the Associated Press reported that Christie's campaign raised $100,000 from a fundraiser hosted by John Inglesino, who benefited from no-bid contracts from Christie.''
