Sunday, August 2, 2009

Gov. Corzine's Newest Campaign Strategy

From The Record:

"Governor Corzine is ordering the state’s comptroller to begin an immediate review of Ridgefield, and also is considering a state takeover of the borough. The moves come as Ridgefield Mayor Anthony Suarez continues to defy the governor’s call for the resignation of all elected officials who were charged with corruption by federal authorities on July 23."

While Corzine is strong-arming the resignation of this federally indicted Mayor, and forgetting ex-Senators Wayne Bryant, Sharpe James and Joseph Coniglio and all the the others indicted under Corzine's watch, why isn't Corzine demandng the resignation of his very own Attorney General? How does corruption this widespread go undetected by the Corzine administration?

Surely the Govenor must be kidding when he says he wants to consider a State takeover of Ridgefield. Even before Bada Sting, the State has demonstrated that it is purely incompetent in fighting corruption, whether intentional or not.

See story here:

http://www.northjersey.com/news/politics/Corzine_considering_state_takeover_of_Ridgefield.html

UPDATE

What the Governor is proposing at this late date could have been done back in January of 2008. From Bob Ingle's column today in the Asbury Park Press:

"In the wake of the big roundup of 44, Sen. Bill Baroni, R-Mercer, is asking the Democrats who run the Senate to vote on his proposal to suspend indicted elected officials.

Two bills have been hung up in the State Government Committee since January 2008. One would make suspension of indicted public officials mandatory and require forfeiture of office for those convicted, another would prohibit public officials from using campaign funds for their defense. They were authored by Thompson and Assemblywoman Amy Handlin, also a Republican."

Also from The Record:

"When asked if the new state actions in Ridgefield are designed to ramp up the pressure on Suarez, Corzine said he would let others 'draw any conclusions.'”

This other's conclusion is that Corzine's actions are nothing more than a campaign stunt and an act to save face in view of the international embarrassment this State has rightly become.

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