As part of my continuing studies of popular culture (well that's my excuse), I've been watching that dreadful "reality" series The Real Housewives of New Jersey. A cheapo TV channel here in Britain shows the previous series at tea time (darjeeling, ginger cookies and schadenfreude go well together). Who would know that catching up with the misadventures of the Giudice's problems over tax, false statements in bankruptcy proceedings and driving licenses would throw up links up to our favorite inflatable governor! The story goes back to 2011 but it shows a lot about Christie and has some very familiar themes.
One of the "househusbands", Albert Manzo, runs the family's restaurant called The Brownstone in Paterson, Passaic County, NJ. The family home featured on the show is in Franklin Lakes, Bergen County.
The couple originally lived in an apartment over the restaurant from 1984 until they bought the Franklin Lakes house. Despite this they continued to maintain the Brownstone apartment and Albert uses it as his main residence - quite likely if you think about the hours involved if you own and run a hospitality business. He has stated that he and his wife intend to move back to their home town of Paterson once the house is no longer needed to bring up the family. Since 1999 he has made it his official residence shown on his driving licence and has been a registered voter in Passaic county since 1978. Albert made the necessary declarations about a possible dual residence issue to election officials:
Manzo fully declared his living arrangement to the Passaic County superintendent of elections in [April] 2009. A subsequent investigation by two investigators from the county elections board concluded that Manzo’s primary residence was a fully furnished apartment above his popular restaurant and catering hall.
“He showed us a bedroom complete with a TV and a closet filled of clothes, a living room, kitchen, full bath and a private entrance leading to the apartment,” the investigators wrote in a July 2009 report.
The report also notes that Manzo disclosed that he keeps a home in the Bergen County borough of Franklin Lakes, where his wife and son live all the time.
Manzo was unaware of these declaration forms until April 2009, some four months after he appointed by Governor John Corzine to the North Jersey Water Supply Commission (NJWSC). Manzo's term of office was due to end in May 2011 however
on March 16 that year:
In letters issued today, Governor Christie notified Manzo and Cricco that he would immediately commence removal proceedings for cause. "In addition, the Governor... took the necessary steps to suspend the two commissioners without pay pending the resolution of the removal proceedings. Today’s action follows on the heels of Governor Christie’s demand for increased transparency and disclosure outlined in letters sent on February 25 from Chief Counsel Jeff Chiesa to the NJDWSC commissioners and executive director."
Christie's "cause" was his assertion that Manzo lived in Bergen County as shown on TV. Bergen County is not served by the NJWSC and living in its area appears to be a condition of being a Commissioner. But you might have guessed there is rather more behind Christie going after these two commissioners than that.
Christie was in the middle of his "throw out the bums" hard man campaign and shows how he micro-managed his attacks. He was attempting to get through legislation that would allow "oversight" of commissions covering several counties like the the NJDWSC. His statement at the time of Manzo's sacking is "interesting" in hindsight after the revelations about the Port Authority:
“For too long, the unelected, political appointees of these patronage mills have run roughshod over the taxpayers, ratepayers and tollpayers of New Jersey with little or no accountability for their actions, or oversight of their operations that collectively amount to billions of dollars of public funds," saidf the governor. "Early on in my Administration, I made it clear that the status quo at these entities was unacceptable and that the swamp must and would be drained.
"Following through on that promise to the people of New Jersey, I have exercised veto authority 20 times in an aggressive and unprecedented manner to rein in the waste, mismanagement and abuse taking place at the state’s so-called ‘independent’ authorities, boards and commissions. But we can and must go further, and the granting of additional veto authority is a necessary step to strengthen my Administration’s ability to enforce accountability. It’s past time for the entire Legislature to get on board with the bipartisan effort to bring fiscal responsibility, good governance and oversight by extending or expanding gubernatorial veto authority to these entities currently lacking it.”
One of Manzo's real crimes was being a member of a commission that refused Christie's bully tactics to send him their minutes "for approval" prior to the legislation. Now I am a Governor, albeit of a primary school in London but for many years I have either produced or considered minutes of meetings. They are a record so the only "approval" required is that they correctly reflect the business of the meeting. How could Christie do that if he had not been there? Basically Christie was after a line by line veto of any decision made by any of these sub-state wide authorities. He had earlier that year removed all but one of the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission
Another was what we might call the "bipartisanship" which Christie waffled about. Despite being a Republican commissioner by his own statements, Manzo had been put forward for a post of commissioner at the PVSC by State Sen. John Girgenti (D-35) of Hawthorne. Girgenti had annual fundraisers hosted at the Brownstone! Somebody in Christie's office must have "connected the dots". This fits into the pattern of allegations of keeping personal files on potential opponents by his staff, his micro management of the affairs of the state and his use of his gubernatorial powers to persecute others.
I have yet to get deeper into the motives behind these changes however money is not usually far from Christie's mind. In the meantime I have to get ready for one of the school governors' meetings later this afternoon so over to you.