newjerseynewsroom.com

(List of nominations included)

BY TOM HESTER SR.

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

UPDATED

Gov. Jon Corzine and Gov.-elect Chris Christie Tuesday reached an agreement on making gubernatorial appointments to major government agencies during the current transition period.

And following the agreement, Corzine submitted 38 nominations to major and minor government posts, including four for state Superior Court judgeships and one to become the next Cumberland County prosecutor.

The Senate Judiciary Committee, which must approve nominations before they can be considered by the full upper house, is scheduled to meet Thursday and would meet again on Monday, if necessary.

Among Corzine's last-minute nominees are Jennifer Webb-McRae of Vineland as Cumberland prosecutor, former state senators Gordon MacInnes (D-Morris) as a member of the Rutgers University Board of Governors and Ellen Karcher (D-Monmouth) as a member of the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority, outgoing state Treasurer R. David Rousseau of Hamilton as a member of the Mercer County Board of Taxation, and former state senate president Carmen Orechio (D-Essex) to be reappointed to the North Jersey District Water Supply Commission.

Corzine also nominated former Republican U.S. Rep. Michael Pappas of Branchburg as a member of the Somerset County Board of Taxation.

Besides the four Superior Court judicial nomination, Corzine nominated seven people to become state Administrative Law judges and four to become state Workers Compensation judges.

The agreement between Corzine and Christie comes the same day that the governor-elect asked Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to postpone a hearing that was sent for Wednesday on Christie's nomination of Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow as the new state attorney general. The hearing will not be held until after the Christie administration takes office on Jan. 19. No new date was set.

The agreement recognizes the prerogative of outgoing governor to make appointments in the last two weeks of his administration but extends to Christie' deference "that should be rightfully afforded any administration as it prepares to work with the Senate to advance candidates to policy-making boards.''

The agreement further recognizes that many current board, judicial, and prosecutorial vacancies resulted from qualified candidates being blocked by political issues and that obstructionism should not be rewarded.

"The Governor-elect and I concur that incoming and outgoing administrations should identify their priority appointments and come to an amicable and balanced agreement, and that's exactly what we've done here," Corzine said. "Today's announcement embraces the principle that the current composition of certain policy-making boards and commissions should remain unchanged so that the incoming administration has the ability to consult with the Senate as to the qualifications of current holdover members and potential future appointees."

Those boards and commissions include the state Board of Public Utilities, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the state Turnpike Authority, the state Sports and Exposition Authority, New Jersey Transit, the Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield Board of Trustees, the State Investment Council, and the state Council on Affordable Housing.

Corzine did not make any nominations to those agencies.

"With respect to the State Investment Council, where the terms of some members will soon expire and vacancies will result, the agreement includes a commitment to work together to quickly address those vacancies,'' Corzine said.

Christie's office did not immediately offer a comment on the agreement.

In early December, Christie objected when he learned Corzine intended to nominate dozens of people to paid and unpaid posts. One of the nominations proposed Ed McBride, Corzine's chief of staff for a state Superior Court judgeship in South Jersey. McBride was not nominated Tuesday.

In response, Christie vowed to use Republicans in the state Senate to block as many appointments as possible.

On Monday, the Democratic-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee approved 6 judgeship nominations and 17 lesser appointments which are expected to gain the approval of the full Senate on Thursday.

In addition to McBride, Christie also is objecting to the reappointment of Sports Authority Chairman Carl Goldberg, and the Port Authority reappointments of David Steiner and Ray Pocino.

"The agreement also keeps in place a fundamental principle with respect to judicial and prosecutorial appointees that I have practiced and that Governor-elect Christie has endorsed during these discussions: that integrity, professional excellence, and reasoned temperament are the most appropriate considerations,'' Corzine said. "The selection process for judges and prosecutors should be conducted independently from consideration of board and commission appointments."

Here are the Corzine nominations:

SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE
Nominate for appointment Robert Kirsch (Westfield, Union)
Nominate for appointment Alberto Rivas (Perth Amboy, Middlesex)
Nominate for appointment Hany Mawla (North Brunswick, Middlesex)
Nominate for appointment Esther Suarez (Wayne, Passaic)
Administrative Law Judge
Nominate for appointment Michael Antoniewicz (North Bergen, Hudson)
Nominate for appointment Robert Bingham (Ewing, Mercer)
Nominate for appointment Leland McGee (Scotch Plains, Union)
Nominate for appointment John Spence, Jr. (Haddonfield, Camden)
Nominate for appointment Kimberly Moss (East Orange, Essex)
Nominate for appointment Tahesha Way (Wayne, Passaic)
Nominate for appointment Tiffany Williams (South Plainfield, Middlesex)
Workers' Compensation Judge
Nominate for appointment George Gangloff, Jr. (West Deptford, Gloucester)
Nominate for appointment E. Elaine Voyles (Carneys Point, Salem)
Nominate for appointment Vicki Citrino (Clifton, Passaic County)
Nominate for appointment Allen Papp (Perth Amboy, Middlesex)
COUNTY PROSECUTOR
Nominate for appointment Jennifer Webb-McRae (Vineland, Cumberland)
ATLANTIC CITY CONVENTION AND VISITORS AUTHORITY
Nominate for Appointment Richard E. Tolson (Ocean City, Cape May)
BOARD OF GOVERNORS-RUTGERS UNIVERSITY
Nominate for Appointment Honorable Gordon MacInnes (Morristown, Morris)
BOARD OF EXAMINERS OF ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS
Nominate for Appointment Susan C. Michielli (Barrington, Camden)
CAMDEN COUNTY BOARD OF TAXATION
Nominate for Appointment Kelly A. Hanson, RN (Cherry Hill, Camden)
Public Member 1 — 1 seat
Nominate for Appointment Barbara Holcomb (Sicklerville, Camden)
CASINO CONTROL COMMISSION
Nominate for Appointment Edward J. Fanelle (Woolwich, Gloucester)
CATASTROPHIC ILLNESS IN CHILDREN RELIEF FUND COMMISSION
Nominate for Reappointment Virginia G. Hammer, RN (Sicklerville, Camden)
Nominate for Reappointment Jane Schreadley Lorber, RN (Scotch Plains, Union)
Nominate for appointment Tracey A. Reed (Succasunna, Morris)
CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION
Nominate for Appointment Vincent E. Giordano (Jersey City, Hudson)
DELAWARE RIVER PORT AUTHORITY
Nominate for Appointment Denise Y. Mason (Camden, Camden)
HEALTH CARE ADMINISTRATION BOARD
Nominate for Reappointment Christine A. Stearns (Ewing, Mercer)
MERCER COUNTY BOARD OF TAXATION
Nominate for Appointment R. David Rousseau (Hamilton Square, Mercer)
MOTION PICTURE AND TELEVISION DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
Nominate for Reappointment David A. Smith (Pennington, Mercer)
NEW JERSEY EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES AUTHORITY
Nominate for Appointment Joshua E. Hodes (Hoboken, Hudson)
NEW JERSEY HEALTH CARE FACILITIES FINANCING AUTHORITY
Nominate for Reappointment M. Ulysses Lee, Esq. (West Orange, Essex)
NEW JERSEY PUBLIC BROADCASTING AUTHORITY
Nominate for Appointment the Honorable Ellen Karcher (Marlboro Township, Monmouth)
NEW JERSEY STATE COUNCIL ON THE ARTS
Nominate for Reappointment Kevin M. O'Brien (Morristown, Morris)
Nominate for Reappointment Carol Ann Herbert (Point Pleasant Boro, Ocean)
Nominate for Reappointment Lana Gold Walder (Short Hills, Essex)
Nominate for Reappointment Joyce C. Goore (East Orange, Essex)
NORTH JERSEY DISTRICT WATER SUPPLY COMMISSION
Nominate for Reappointment Honorable Carmen Orechio (Nutley, Essex)
ORTHOTICS AND PROSTHETICS BOARD OF EXAMINERS
Nominate for Appointment Michael George Moschella (Morris Plains, Morris)
Nominate for Appointment Dennis ODonnell (Haddon Township, Camden)
POLICE AND FIREMEN'S RETIREMENT SYSTEM OF NEW JERSEY — BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Nominate for Reappointment Laurel Brennan (Cherry Hill, Camden)
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY — BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Nominate for Appointment Evangeline Gomez, Esq. (Hawthorne, Passaic)
Nominate for Appointment Thomas McKay, III, Esq. (R-Hainesport, Burlington)
SOMERSET COUNTY BOARD OF TAXATION
Nominate for Appointment Honorable Michael J. Pappas (Branchburg, Somerset)
Nominate for Appointment Gail Rosen (Martinsville, Somerset)
SOUTH JERSEY TRANSIT ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Nominate for Reappointment Anna Marie Gonnella Rosato (Sewell, Gloucester)
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
Nominate for Reappointment Arcelio Aponte (Piscataway, Middlesex)
Nominate for Reappointment Josephine E. Hernandez (Fanwood, Union)
Nominate for Reappointment Ronald K. Butcher, Ph.D. (Pitman, Gloucester)
STATE PAROLE BOARD
Nominate for Appointment Julio A. Marenco, Esq. (North Bergen, Hudson)
Nominate for Appointment James B. Jefferson (Brooklawn, Camden)
THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY — BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Nominate for Appointment Joshua Zeitz (Bordentown, Burlington)
THOMAS A. EDISON STATE COLLEGE — BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Nominate for Appointment Gualberto Medina, Esq., C.P.A. (Little Falls, Passaic)
Nominate for Reappointment Eric Robert Lear, CPA (Titusville, Mercer)