NJ GOP icon, Tom Kean, is skipping Trump’s convention

   Gov. Thomas Kean giving the keynote address at the 1988 GOP convention.

He is widely regarded by Republicans and Democrats as a bipartisan unifier and one of America’s most respected moderate voices on race, education, the economy and terrorism. But, for the first time in 52 years, former Gov. Tom Kean is skipping the Republican National Convention.

Mike Kelly reports today in The Record:

Kean said he harbored too many differences with the immigration and economic policies of the presumptive GOP nominee for president – Donald Trump.


Kean joins other Republican luminaries, like former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney and former New Jersey Gov. Christie Whitman, who are skipping the four-day GOP fest next week in Cleveland.

But Kean’s absence is particularly significant. He was often seen as someone who could find common ground with all factions.

Like this? Use form in upper right to receive free updates

See popular posts from the last 30 days in right column — >>

In an interview in which he reflected on his half-century in GOP politics, Kean, who won praise in 2004 for his evenhanded chairmanship of the 9/11 Commission and is cited in polls as New Jersey’s most popular governor, said he was so disillusioned with Trump and the presumptive Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, that he might not vote for president.


Kean, 81, said that he had met Trump and Clinton over the years and that he liked them personally. But as politicians, he said, he finds both lacking.

He views Trump as a loose cannon who should “listen to people and stop tweeting at 11 o’clock at night.” He says Clinton has a “good heart,” but is “so contrived that it comes across as phony.”

“I’d like to support the nominee of my party but I really don’t know,” Kean said, in an hour-long phone call from his office in Far Hills. “If it comes to the point where you disagree on too many issues, you can’t vote for him.”

Like this? Use form in upper right to receive free updates
See popular posts from the last 30 days in right column — >> 


NJ GOP icon, Tom Kean, is skipping Trump’s convention Read More »

Highlands development critics step up attack on NJDEP

Proposal would quadruple number of septic systems in forested areas of region, which serves as water supply for some 5 million people.

Jon Hurdle reports for NJ Spotlight:

Critics of Christie administration plans to increase the density of residential development in the New Jersey Highlands believe the administration purposely made it difficult for opponents of the plan to get their objections on record by holding only one public hearing on the matter and scheduling it for 4 o’clock in the afternoon.

Thus, about 25 individuals and representatives of environmental groups held their own hearing last night at Montclair State University, expressing their intense opposition and urging the Department of Environmental Protection to withdraw a proposed rule change that would implement the plan.
The group plans to transcribe the comments and submit them before the comment period is over. Elliott Ruga, policy director of the New Jersey Highlands Coalition, said legitimate comments must be answered by the DEP issue by issue.
Speakers assailed the DEP’s plan, which would almost quadruple the number of septic systems allowed in the forested acres of the Highlands, and increase their number by about 50 percent in the region’s unforested areas.
Critics said the proposal, published by the DEP in May, would hurt water quality for the approximately 5 million people that depend on the Highlands for water supply; would open up the protected natural area to developers; and would represent an abandonment of the legislative intent of the 2004 Highlands Act, which protects the area.

Like this? Use form in upper right to receive free updates
See popular posts from the last 30 days in right column — >>

Speakers accused the Christie administration of giving in to pressure from developers and of ignoring the need for clean water for a majority of the state’s population. Organizers of Monday’s event including the New Jersey Sierra Club, Clean Water Action, and the New Jersey Highlands Coalition.
George Cassa, a resident of Tewksbury, and president of the Coalition, accused Gov. Chris Christie of using the proposed rule change to undermine a law that he doesn’t like.
“This is a seemingly coordinated attempt by the administration to pull the Highlands Act apart, board by board,” Cassa said. “He has been relentless in his willingness to abuse the power of his office in the form of DEP.
“As governor, he took an oath of office to uphold the laws of the state of New Jersey, and that oath of office does not allow him to distinguish between the ones he likes and the ones he doesn’t like, said Cassa, 69, who runs a fly-fishing business. “I don’t believe he has any authority at all to end-run the legislature by instructing his executive branch appointees to work in direct contravention of legislative intent.”
DEP Commissioner Bob Martin has defended the rule as a “common sense, science-based approach” to protecting water while creating “reasonable opportunities” for economic growth and jobs.

Like this? Use form in upper right to receive free updates
See popular posts from the last 30 days in right column — >>

Highlands development critics step up attack on NJDEP Read More »

Ex-engineering exec draws jail term for pay-to-play role

A top executive of the politically connected engineering firm toppled by an investigation into illegal campaign contributions will serve nine months in a county jail for his role in the scheme, authorities said.
S.P. Sullivan reports for NJ.com:

Former Birdsall Services Group senior vice president William Birdsall, 67, is also barred for 10 years from bidding on public contracts in New Jersey after admitting to circumventing the state’s pay-to-play laws, according to the state Attorney General’s Office.
Birdsall, of Manchester, is the brother of the firm’s former CEO

William Birdsall

Howard Birdsall, who received a four-year sentence for the scheme.

The Monmouth County firm folded in 2013 after investigators found the Birdsalls and their employees were reimbursed by the company for donations they made individually to New Jersey politicians, in violation of the state’s pay-to-play laws.
Company records obtained by The Star-Ledger that year showed that hundreds of politicians, from mayors and freeholders to major state power brokers, received money from the firm. Those donations came in the form of personal checks from shareholders and firm employees, who were reimbursed through bonus payments and other means, authorities said.
In a statement Monday, acting Attorney General Christopher Porrino said the company “secured millions of dollars in public contracts for which they should have been disqualified, stacking the deck in their favor in exactly the way the law was intended to prevent.”
William Birdsall was also ordered to pay the state $129,115 — the total amount of money he personally donated on behalf of the company — along with a $75,000 public corruption profiteering penalty, authorities said.
Like this? Use form in upper right to receive free updates
See popular posts from the last 30 days in right column — >> 

Ex-engineering exec draws jail term for pay-to-play role Read More »

Delaware Riverkeeper challenges nuke plant permit

The Delaware Riverkeeper Network on Friday challenged the decision by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to issue a renewed permit that allows continued use of cooling water from the Delaware River at PSE&G’s Salem Nuclear Generating Station.


Molly Murray reports for The News Journal:

The legal challenge was filed with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Office of Legal Affairs.
The complaint alleged that the permit would allow PSE&G to use outdated technology to pull water from the Delaware River to cool turbines at two of its nuclear units at the Salem Hope Creek Nuclear complex.
Opponents say it kills billions of fish a year as it draws in water and it has “endangered the Delaware River’s indigenous community of aquatic life.”
Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper and the leader of the regional environmental organization, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, said Friday that the filing is the first step in an effort to reverse the permit ruling.
“We are disappointed by the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection’s failure to recognize the ongoing hazards of permitting the continued use of outdated technology at Salem when there are other proven eco-friendly technologies available,”  van Rossum said. “As protectors of the river and the ecosystem it contributes to, we see it as our responsibility to challenge this action in order to prevent the indiscriminate killing of the fish, eggs and larvae that are vital to a healthy economy. We will not allow NJDEP to abdicate its responsibility to protect our river, our fish, and our communities.”
New Jersey environmental officials in early June issued the final permit that allows the Salem Nuclear Generating Station to continue pulling water from the Delaware River to cool turbines and then discharge the heated water back into the estuary.
The permit request was opposed by environmental organizations in both Delaware and New Jersey, who contend the cooling water withdrawn from the estuary sucks in fish eggs, larvae and fry.
PSE&G, which operates the nuclear facility praised the decision when it was made.
“This is a major milestone for Salem station and this permit reinforces the critical role nuclear plays in meeting key environmental goals as well as the local community and economy,” said Joseph Delmar Sr., a company spokesman. “New Jersey and America’s clean air goals can’t be achieved without carbon-free nuclear power. Just as important is the economic impact of the 1,800 jobs we supply and the millions of dollars we spend each year on goods and services right here in New Jersey.”
In addition, Delmar said, the company has restored 20,000 acres of wetlands along the Delaware estuary. The new permit requires the company to continue the Estuary Enhancement Program.
The permit comes after a decades-long battle over Salem  1 and 2 nuclear plant cooling water demands. The facility is permitted to draw 3 billion gallons of water a day from the Delaware River. The other nuclear reactor on the site – Hope Creek – is equipped with a cooling tower that is visible from the Delaware side of the river.
Like this? Use form in upper right to receive free updates
See popular posts from the last 30 days in right column — >>

Delaware Riverkeeper challenges nuke plant permit Read More »

Guess what popped up in New Jersey? Christie’s cell phone

Gov. Chris Christie. Lawyers for two of Mr. Christie’s former allies believe his cellphone
contains clues about others’ involvement in the George Washington Bridge case.
Photo credit; Win Mcnamee/Getty Images

Well, what do you know. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s missing cell phone that’s dragged the embarrassment of Bridgegate back into the headlines at a time when Donald Trump is considering Christie as a vise presidential running mate — has been found! 


Reporting the details of this only-in-New Jersey political
story in the New York Times is Patrick McGeehan:

NEWARK — After weeks of shrugs and head-scratching, one of the more perplexing mysteries of the investigation into the infamous traffic jam at the George Washington Bridge has been solved: Gov. Chris Christie’s lawyer has the governor’s cellphone.

The whereabouts of Mr. Christie’s cellphone had been the subject of much deliberation as lawyers prepared for the Sept. 12 trial of two of Mr. Christie’s former allies for their roles in an alleged scheme to tie up traffic at the bridge. Mr. Christie has said that he turned the phone over to lawyers who conducted an internal investigation into the plot and that he never got it back.

Like this? Use form in upper right to receive free updates
See popular posts from the last 30 days in right column — >>


On Thursday, a federal judge in Newark quashed the efforts of lawyers for the defendants to obtain the phone or its contents. The hearing, before Judge Susan D. Wigenton of United States District Court, lasted more than two hours and shed no light on who had the phone, leaving defense lawyers scrambling to locate it.

Michael Baldassare, a lawyer defending Bill Baroni, a former executive of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said he believed the phone might contain clues about the involvement of others in the scheme. One of Mr. Baroni’s associates at the Port Authority, David Wildstein, pleaded guilty to conspiring to tie up traffic in Fort Lee, N.J., to punish that town’s Democratic mayor for not endorsing Mr. Christie, a Republican, for re-election in 2013.

The only other people who have been charged in connection with the scheme are Mr. Baroni — whom Mr. Christie had appointed to a top executive position at the Port Authority — and Bridget Anne Kelly, who was one of the governor’s aides in Trenton.

“The harder they fight to not let us see it, the more I think is on it,” Mr. Baldassare said after the hearing, referring to Mr. Christie’s phone. “I think it’s more likely I will be dead of old age before anybody willingly lets me see the governor’s cellphone.”

Mr. Baldassare said he would issue subpoenas to the governor’s personal lawyers and some of his former aides, demanding that they produce their cellphones at trial. Christopher Wray, a partner at King & Spalding and a former federal prosecutor, has represented Mr. Christie in the case.

Randy M. Mastro, right, a partner at the firm representing Mr. Christie, outside the federal courthouse in Newark on Thursday. Photo Credit: Julio Cortez/Associated Press 

A spokesman for the governor replied “yes” when asked on Thursday evening if Mr. Wray had the cellphone. Mr. Wray did not respond to requests for confirmation.

The riddle of what had become of Mr. Christie’s phone swirled just as supporters of Donald J. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, awaited his decision on a running mate. Mr. Christie is believed to be on a short list of candidates whom Mr. Trump is considering.

Read the full story here


Like this? Use form in upper right to receive free updates
See popular posts from the last 30 days in right column — >>

Guess what popped up in New Jersey? Christie’s cell phone Read More »

Golf, hotel, water slide coming to state park near you?

Screw the birds, bears and trees, these Pa lawmakers want
to liven things up and maybe rake in some dough.

Don Hopey reports for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


Pennsylvania’s award-winning parks could be better if golf courses, hotels. inns, restaurants,
amusement parks, water slides and other outdoor sports facilities were available inside the
parks, according to two Republican state representatives who have introduced legislation
that would open the tent flap to such development.
“Fore”
Rep. Brian Ellis, R-Butler, has proposed amending the 1995
Conservation and Natural Resources Act to allow development of all
of those recreational and lodging amenities, along with the establishment
of a new politically appointed Public-Private State Park Partnership Board
to propose and oversee development projects.
And Rep. Jim Christiana, R-Beaver, introduced legislation Monday that
would create the Arnold Palmer Trails Program to obtain a license for the
use of the Latrobe golfer’s name and oversee construction of four in-park
golf courses that reflect “the golf course design philosophy of Arnold
Palmer.”
Mr. Ellis’ proposal, H.B. 2013, which was referred to the Committee
on Tourism and Recreational Development Tuesday and could be rushed
to a vote by the full house, drew strong opposition from environmental organizations,
which said the park development proposals do not support the conservation and outdoor
recreation mission of the parks and could usurp the professional judgement of park managers.
A letter to the house committee members sent Monday by the Pennsylvania Environmental
Council and the Nature Conservancy Pennsylvania Chapter, noted that the state’s 121 parks
are “an incredibly valuable asset” providing a multitude of affordable, healthful outdoor
recreation opportunities, while “conserving important natural, scenic, aesthetic and historical values.”
The letter noted that the state park system, which attracts 40 million visitors a year,
generates more than $1 billion in local expenditures annually, and won a National
Gold Medal for recreation and management excellence in 2009-11 from the American
Academy for Park and Recreation Administration and the National Recreation and Park Association.
Asked if Gov. Tom Wolf supports the parks development legislation, his spokesman,
Jeffrey Sheridan, issued a statement saying, “The administration is engaged in productive
conversations with Rep. Ellis regarding this legislation. We will continue working with him to
reach agreement on the language.”
Mr. Sheridan declined to respond to specific questions about whether the legislation is part
of a budget deal to sell off development rights in state parks and create a new revenue stream,
or the widespread opposition to the proposal by environmental organizations.
Like this? Use form in upper right to receive free updates
See popular posts from the last 30 days in right column — >>

Golf, hotel, water slide coming to state park near you? Read More »