Clues but No Full Account of Order That Turned a N.J. Town Into a Parking Lot

[mc78andrew]

I have been quiet on this subject and thought I would add an observation.  I worked in NJ state govt and politics for a brief period about 12 years ago.  I quickly left for graduate school and greener pastures after two observations.

One: the people are amateurs.  Stuff like this happens all the time, usually on a smaller scale though.  No innovators are going to come up with bold new ideas to solve major problems at the state govt level.  Smart people who are winners are a rarity and usually leave for something better.  I am not disrespecting everyone in state govt as there are many professionals that take their jobs seriously and perform well, but they are far outnumbered and poorly led by the NJ political class (which is not hard to break into as they are regular folks) from either party. 

Two: like most people, they want to make more money.  The compensation associated with all but a few jobs like the head of PANYNJ is low compared to what you could make in the private sector.  This drives people out like I said in my first point, but also encourages stupid risk taking by those that stay for immediate or future monetary gain.  If you couple this desire with amateur people, you see numerous mistakes from people that were on the "fast track". 

Google Gary Taffat, governor McGreevey's first chief of staff.  There were many instances of him being cited for driving through red lights on the shoulder of US 1 with his red and blue lights going on the dashboard.  He was cited smiling when he would do this meaning he thought this was "cool". That speaks to amateur status.  He was also driven out of the state a few years later for violating several federal laws trying to secure personal payment for billboard leases on state land.  That speaks to his desire to make more money.  Why would someone do this?  He, like Briget, was an amateur. 

Was the governor involved?  Who knows?  Was Obama involved in the healthcare website?  Who knows?  Was Hilary involved in Benghazi?  Who knows?  This is a priceless and classic NJ story that should go on the trophy with other notables from years past. 

[Brandon]

I have been quiet on this subject and thought I would add an observation.  I worked in NJ state govt and politics for a brief period about 12 years ago.  I quickly left for graduate school and greener pastures after two observations.

One: the people are amateurs.

Hell, this is amateurish by Illinois standards.  Here, at least Mike Madigan would've faked some sort of road construction to foul up traffic.  A crew would've been brought out to block off the lanes for "pothole repairs".  Make it look like something is being done when in reality, it's just there to fuck over Fort Lee.

Stuff like this happens all the time, usually on a smaller scale though.  No innovators are going to come up with bold new ideas to solve major problems at the state govt level.  Smart people who are winners are a rarity and usually leave for something better.  I am not disrespecting everyone in state govt as there are many professionals that take their jobs seriously and perform well, but they are far outnumbered and poorly led by the NJ political class (which is not hard to break into as they are regular folks) from either party.

Sounds very familiar.  Have you been to Chicago yet? 

Two: like most people, they want to make more money.

In Illinois, that's what graft and bribes are for.  We had one Secretary of State die with multiple shoeboxes full of cash stored in a hotel.

The compensation associated with all but a few jobs like the head of PANYNJ is low compared to what you could make in the private sector.  This drives people out like I said in my first point, but also encourages stupid risk taking by those that stay for immediate or future monetary gain.  If you couple this desire with amateur people, you see numerous mistakes from people that were on the "fast track".

Here, we call them Chicago Aldermen, or Rod Blagojevich. 

Google Gary Taffat, governor McGreevey's first chief of staff.  There were many instances of him being cited for driving through red lights on the shoulder of US 1 with his red and blue lights going on the dashboard.  He was cited smiling when he would do this meaning he thought this was "cool". That speaks to amateur status.  He was also driven out of the state a few years later for violating several federal laws trying to secure personal payment for billboard leases on state land.  That speaks to his desire to make more money.  Why would someone do this?  He, like Briget, was an amateur. 

Was the governor involved?  Who knows?  Was Obama involved in the healthcare website?  Who knows?  Was Hilary involved in Benghazi?  Who knows?  This is a priceless and classic NJ story that should go on the trophy with other notables from years past. 

New Jersey sounds a lot like Illinois, politically.  Except, while your metro areas have their largest cities off in the adjoining states, we have ours at the center of all that is corrupt in the state.  We even have an unofficial state motto for it: "Ubi est mea?".

[Alps]

What I can't understand, and this is with tongue only partially in cheek, is how that many New Jersey drivers allowed themselves for that many days to be constrained by mere traffic cones?

I have quietly wondered this myself. It's possible a PA police officer was dispatched to watch the cones and make sure they weren't displaced.

[NE2]

The Goog shows popo stationed there in its (normal configuration) street view photos.

[Brandon]

The Goog shows popo stationed there in its (normal configuration) street view photos.

To elaborate,

https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=40.853879,-73.966527&spn=0.001171,0.002642&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=40.854007,-73.966802&panoid=RFpvjRhyO47x2oew4Juxtg&cbp=12,323.98,,0,12.61

https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=40.854084,-73.967015&spn=0.001179,0.002642&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=40.854148,-73.967112&panoid=sFB2JvG8fbCZ-d9IdS4bGw&cbp=12,86.48,,0,10.51

[bing101]

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/12/gov_chris_christie_called_andrew_cuomo_to_complain_about_handling_of_port_authority_lane_closing_sna.html

The Scandal Continues. NYDot and Cuomo's Cabinet may have a case against Christie and Cabinet.

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/12/chris-christie-andrew-cuomo-traffic-101092.html

This is Now edited

[agentsteel53]

cabinet vs cablinet?  who comes up with these!?

[roadman]

cabinet vs cablinet?  who comes up with these!?

Just like "guide rail" versus "guard rail"

[jeffandnicole]

The Gossip Continues. NYDot and Cuomo's Cabinet may have a case against Christie and Cablinet.

Well, not exactly 'continuing' gossip. That was written in December, well before what we found out last week.

[NE2]

Bridget vs. bridge?

[bing101]

The Gossip Continues. NYDot and Cuomo's Cabinet may have a case against Christie and Cablinet.

Well, not exactly 'continuing' gossip. That was written in December, well before what we found out last week.

Well Its now edited

[bugo]

Right...and yes, that's what it said.  But just imagine if the situation was reversed...actually, forget that.  Just imagine if Christie set up a website...Any problems would be magnified.  Daily readers of the website/paper, as one will note in the comment section, are very familiar with the antics of the newspaper company.

The only thing that is "magnified" about Christie is his big, fat ass.

[bugo]

It's quite possible the governor didn't know about it.  I could send emails all day and never inform my supervisor about what I'm sending. 

unfortunately, anytime anything is remotely connected to the governor, it makes it sound like he is the guilty party. 

The Christie *administration* is guilty of the lane closures.  There is no question of this.  The question is whether Tons O' Fun himself ordered the lane closures or if some of his underlings planned it and did it themselves.  If the former is true, then he is an evil, vindictive tyrant who needs to be locked away.  If the latter is true, then he is incompetent and doesn't know what is going on in his administration.  Either way, the Chris Christie brand is damaged goods and this will harm his political career whether he was guilty or not.

[bugo]

Here is a brief take on this incident that I posted elsewhere:

Politically, this is much ado about nothing and appears to be an attempt by the left-leaning mainstream media to take out a potential GOP presidential candidate early in the game. I think it's a stretch to say that this will, or should, be a major sticking point in Christie's campaign if he runs for president. As of now, this appears to be an operation run by a couple of rogue staffers. If Christie had nothing to do with it, I would think that securing the resignations of those who orchestrated it will solve the problem and this will go away in two weeks, to be replaced by some other scandal du jour.

As for the incident itself, I think it's comical that the traffic jams were engineered as political payback for a mayor who didn't support Christie's gubernatorial re-election campaign. The mayor is not the one who suffered. It was the people of Fort Lee who suffered. From all the documents that have been released, it appears as if the mayor worked really hard to get the problem resolved, thus making him look better in the eyes of his constituency. I don't see how the Christie staffers thought that snarling traffic in Fort Lee would be proper revenge on the mayor for not supporting Christie. Their logic was faulty.

If the "rogue" staffers planned out this large conspiracy and carried it out, then the governor does not know (or care) what is going on in his administration.  When you have no knowledge of an out of control administration, it means you are totally incompetent.  It's a serious issue and the buck stops with the governor.  His only chance to be in the White House is if Obama invites him there for a dinner.  He's done.

[bugo]

One thing I haven't been able to find: a map. What lanes were actually closed?

http://www.northjersey.com/fortlee/GWB_emails_Christie_Fort_lee_mayor.html
Traffic using that onramp (and the one from Center Avenue?) was limited to the far right toll lane.

What a shitty design.  It's nothing that open road tolling wouldn't solve.  Why have eastern bridges and toll authorities been so slow in adopting ORT?

Lots of out of state traffic, more so than in Texas where most users are from Texas, etc. Plus in NY people wouldn't pay. The state have very limited ability to force people from out of state to pay, registration suspensions or holds only work in- State.

Remember NY has to use gates on its subway, can't trust people to pay on a proof I payment system.

I still don't see why such a ramp could not be E-Z Pass only or E-Z Pass plus a single cash lane (2 lanes total) to facilitate traffic flow.  We have a lot of out of state users on the Illinois Tollway system, but only some of them need to use the cash lanes.  Plus, this toll plaza is in New Jersey, not New York, so I would think New Jersey laws would apply.  Do they not use cameras to catch toll violators in New Jersey?

Remember - this toll bridge opened in 1931. The lower level opened in the early 60's.  Open Road tolling wasn't a thought back then.  And this isn't the only toll plaza for the bridge.  There are 3 plazas all together.  Most eastern states' toll roads are decades old.  Just retrofitting them for Express tolling is a major and expensive undertaking. 

Oklahoma was able to convert its turnpike system over to Pikepass.  The oldest of these turnpikes was opened in 1953.  I know that OKC is a lot different from NYC, but it can be done if one has the will.

[mc78andrew]

People who work for you can always make bad decisions.  There are controls to prevent it and email monitoring to help you as a supervisor, but if someone is going to do something like this, there is only so much that can be done to prevent it.  Just like all "evil".  Is he Responsible?  Yes!  Is he Culpable?  No!

Have you ever run a large organization?  My guess is no.  You are not incompetent beucase you failed to stop one of your employees from doing something stupid.

Also, you can't know soemthing if people deliberately keep it from you.  Just like Obama and the healthcare website and Obama in Benghazi. Someone made the call not to send in delta force to try and save the ambassador.  It wasn't Obama. Had someone given him the chance, he said he would have.  I'm not sure I believe him on that, but a fact pattern has been established that such a decision was not presented to him.  So he cannot be directly blamed for the poor response even though as the boss he is responsible.  To bad...only 1083 days until 1/20/17.

Besides there is a poll out already that says 70 percent of people haven't changed there opinion of him.  Unless there is a smoking gun, this to shall pass. 

[hubcity]

People who work for you can always make bad decisions.  There are controls to prevent it and email monitoring to help you as a supervisor, but if someone is going to do something like this, there is only so much that can be done to prevent it.  Just like all "evil".  Is he Responsible?  Yes!  Is he Culpable?  No!

Have you ever run a large organization?  My guess is no.  You are not incompetent beucase you failed to stop one of your employees from doing something stupid.

Also, you can't know soemthing if people deliberately keep it from you.  Just like Obama and the healthcare website and Obama in Benghazi. Someone made the call not to send in delta force to try and save the ambassador.  It wasn't Obama. Had someone given him the chance, he said he would have.  I'm not sure I believe him on that, but a fact pattern has been established that such a decision was not presented to him.  So he cannot be directly blamed for the poor response even though as the boss he is responsible.  To bad...only 1083 days until 1/20/17.

Besides there is a poll out already that says 70 percent of people haven't changed there opinion of him.  Unless there is a smoking gun, this to shall pass.

Here's the difference: only one of these is a scandal.

/makin' some popcorn.

[US71]

People who work for you can always make bad decisions.  There are controls to prevent it and email monitoring to help you as a supervisor, but if someone is going to do something like this, there is only so much that can be done to prevent it.  Just like all "evil".  Is he Responsible?  Yes!  Is he Culpable?  No!

Have you ever run a large organization?  My guess is no.  You are not incompetent beucase you failed to stop one of your employees from doing something stupid.

Also, you can't know soemthing if people deliberately keep it from you.  Just like Obama and the healthcare website and Obama in Benghazi. Someone made the call not to send in delta force to try and save the ambassador.  It wasn't Obama. Had someone given him the chance, he said he would have.  I'm not sure I believe him on that, but a fact pattern has been established that such a decision was not presented to him.  So he cannot be directly blamed for the poor response even though as the boss he is responsible.  To bad...only 1083 days until 1/20/17.

Besides there is a poll out already that says 70 percent of people haven't changed there opinion of him.  Unless there is a smoking gun, this to shall pass.

Here's the difference: only one of these is a scandal.

/makin' some popcorn.

Don't forget the cheese flavoring.   

[J N Winkler]

Bridget vs. bridge?

I think she's in hiding.  Others have commented upthread that perspectives on the story are likely to change radically if and when she speaks out, but I suspect that when she was fired, she was given additional strong incentives to keep her mouth shut.

[hbelkins]

Bridget vs. bridge?

I think she's in hiding.  Others have commented upthread that perspectives on the story are likely to change radically if and when she speaks out, but I suspect that when she was fired, she was given additional strong incentives to keep her mouth shut.

I would suspect that she would be covered under any applicable whistleblower protections if she does decide to spill any beans.

I also saw it noted that she used her personal email account to send the "Time for some traffic problems" email. That should have nominally protected her against prying eyes. Government emails are public records; private emails can only be obtained by a subpoena and I would think there would have to be some sort of probable cause to get the subpoena. If she sent that email to the Port Authority guy's government email address, she screwed up and opened up that can o'worms all on her own.



To address some of the comments about Christie and his knowledge of the incident or the actions of his staff, trust me on this as someone who works in a state government organization: In any large bureaucracy, public or private, top executives are well-insulated from the actions of underlings. It's quite easy for a rogue employee to do something and then knowledge of the action takes forever to trickle up to the upper level. It's quite plausible for Bridget Kelly to have orchestrated this without Christie's knowledge or blessing, especially since it appears she lied about it when given the initial opportunity to come clean. I've seen things like this happen often: Something is done without the executive's knowledge; sometimes it's even done in the name of the executive; by an underling with an agenda and the executive has to take action when the rogue or unsanctioned act is discovered.

[bing101]

At some point the Cabinet members will want to release a tell all book about their actions once Christie is out of Office (Governors Seat). Or Leak New Jersey State Documents to Wikileaks if they have too and explain why they did it.

[BamaZeus]

The Goog shows popo stationed there in its (normal configuration) street view photos.

To elaborate,

https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=40.853879,-73.966527&spn=0.001171,0.002642&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=40.854007,-73.966802&panoid=RFpvjRhyO47x2oew4Juxtg&cbp=12,323.98,,0,12.61

https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=40.854084,-73.967015&spn=0.001179,0.002642&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=40.854148,-73.967112&panoid=sFB2JvG8fbCZ-d9IdS4bGw&cbp=12,86.48,,0,10.51

I'm more impressed with the absolute lack of traffic at the toll booth in the first pic.  In the hundreds of times I've crossed the GWB in my life, I don't think I've ever seen it that empty.  I realize they probably did this at sunrise on a Sunday, but still...

That particular "clip" ends at the toll booth itself, because if you follow it through the booth, the car exits a different lane, they're following a different white car and there's much heavier traffic.

[agentsteel53]

she was given additional strong incentives to keep her mouth shut.

[bzakharin]

Here is a brief take on this incident that I posted elsewhere:

Politically, this is much ado about nothing and appears to be an attempt by the left-leaning mainstream media to take out a potential GOP presidential candidate early in the game. I think it's a stretch to say that this will, or should, be a major sticking point in Christie's campaign if he runs for president. As of now, this appears to be an operation run by a couple of rogue staffers. If Christie had nothing to do with it, I would think that securing the resignations of those who orchestrated it will solve the problem and this will go away in two weeks, to be replaced by some other scandal du jour.

As for the incident itself, I think it's comical that the traffic jams were engineered as political payback for a mayor who didn't support Christie's gubernatorial re-election campaign. The mayor is not the one who suffered. It was the people of Fort Lee who suffered. From all the documents that have been released, it appears as if the mayor worked really hard to get the problem resolved, thus making him look better in the eyes of his constituency. I don't see how the Christie staffers thought that snarling traffic in Fort Lee would be proper revenge on the mayor for not supporting Christie. Their logic was faulty.

It wouldn't be the first time something this "comical" was alleged to have happened in NJ. About 3-4 years ago, when Christie decided to cut funding for NJ Transit, NJT announced total closure of all bus service in Morris County (where Christie is from) in alleged retaliation. Thee cut was later lessened, but half the bus routes did not survive (including the only bus line that served Menham, where Christie is from). Does Christie care? How often does he take the bus? It doesn't seem to matter.

[vdeane]

While there isn't yet any direct evidence implicating Christie himself, I'm pretty sure he's guilty here.  He ignored the issue completely until the email leak.  He has a reputation as a vindictive bully.  His speech was uncharistically subdued and his hands, normally very animated, were glued to the podium, and he spent two hours saying little more than "I am sad".  His story is inconsistent.  He fired Bridget on the spot, with no investigation whatsoever.  He refuses to talk to people involved, instead talking with other staffers that presumably don't know anything  And finally, he refuses to open up to independent investigation despite saying he would co-operate fully with any investigation.

These aren't the actions of a man victimized by a staff member who overstepped their bounds.  These are the actions of someone trying to cover something up and draw attention away from it.

EDIT: And he's still saying that it might have been a traffic study.