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Governor wants more accountability for tollpayers

Gov. Chris Christie Thursday again exercised his authority over the Delaware River Port Authority by vetoing actions the agency took at it Aug. 18 and 25 meetings.

The governor maintains five operation changes taken by DRPA commissioners at the meetings did not go far enough and did not comport with the directives stipulated in his July 29 and August 16 letters to the authority.

In his previous letters to the authority, Christie called for wide-ranging, specific changes to "restore the public's confidence in the authority," and specifically warned that he w ould veto action that failed to conform to those standards.

"Doing only enough to get out of the headlines and away from the ethical cloud that has formed over the authority is simply not good enough,'' Christie said. "Attempts to pass off half measures, watered-down resolutions and double standards as real reform raises serious questions about the leadership and commitment to accountability at the authority.

"The reforms I called for, along with (Pennsylvania) Governor (Ed) Rendell and numerous other public officials, represent only a baseline of reform needed at the authority,'' the governor said. "Failure to comply with these basic and common sense directives will not restore the tollpayers' confidence in the activity of the DRPA. The public will not accept activity in place of real action and neither will I. The board and leadership at DRPA must do better."

The authority oversees four toll bridges and a commuter rail line that link New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Christie's first veto, for the minutes of the Aug. 18 meeting, specifically addresses the following DRPA resolutions:

• Requiring the authority to create an audit committee chaired by the Pennsylvania Auditor General, who would oversee an independent finance performance and forensic audit every two years.
• Requiring all meetings of the authority commissioners to be open to the public and requiring the agency to follow the requirements of the Pennsylvania Right to Know Law.
• Resolution implementing a post-employment restrictions policy for authority commissioners, officers and directors.
• Requiring the authority to hire an independent counsel to conduct a legal inquiry into the "True-Up" provisions of the authority's insurance contracts.
• The governor's second round of vetoes stem from the Aug. 25 meeting:
• Establishing a policy prohibiting officers and employees from performing political activities while on the job.

New Jersey Assemblyman Domenick DiCicco (R-Gloucester), a critic of the authority, said he supports Christie's actions.

"I fully concur with the governor's rejection of the authority's half-hearted efforts at providing meaningful reform,'' DiCicco said. "Substantive changes are needed in order to make the DRPA operate more effectively. Some of the weak responses by the DRPA is further evidence of why the bi-state legislation proposed by Pennsylvania State Representative Mike Vereb and I needs to be codified in the authority's charter.

"The decisions coming out of this agency also reinforce my call for a change in leadership at DRPA,'' DiCicco said. "The feeble attempt at pacifying the public with these inconsequential changes passed off under the guise of reform is a poor reflection on those in charge and is a reflection on their ability to lead. It is time for a changing of the guard at the authority."

Christie's vetoes of the DRPA actions are the 12th and 13th actions he has taken against the activity of various state authorities and commissions since taking office.

— TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM