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WHAT DID SHERRY SAY TODAY? Tue, Aug 31, 1999'Name Game' has McCarthy overtones The New Jersey Black and Latino
Legislative Caucus said their goal on Monday was to continue to expose
racism in the State Police. But the State House session sounded more
like the Joseph McCarthy Hearings on Un-American Activities of the
1950's during which anti-Communist zealots had demanded that people
"name names."
"Can you give us the names of known racists," asked
Assemblyman Joe Charles, D-Jersey City, the chairman of the caucus, as
he questioned several minority troopers before his committee.
"Can you tell us the number of known racists who were promoted
on the Williams list," asked Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson-Coleman,
D-Trenton, referring to the trooper promotions list generated by former
Superintendent Col. Carl Williams in his last year as top trooper.
The chairman also asked anyone in the audience who "had names of
troopers involved in unfair or improper practices, to let us have those
names."
The legislators pressed for the troopers to point fingers at other
troopers who were not there to defend themselves.
The legislators' push to name names resulted from anger they felt
over letters mailed to minority troopers last week, from acting
Superintendent Michael Fedorko, that cited State Police policies
prohibiting the troopers from speaking out.
These letters being sent out just a few months after the minority
troopers had gone to court and won the right to speak publicly.
Lt. Daniel Cosgrove, a spokesman for the State Police, said the
letter was
"no tactic to put the fear of God in these guys. They already
said they were going to testify."
Personnel Dept. spokesman Bob McHugh said Monday that most state
departments have formal or informal policies which require that
employees refer all media inquiries to the appropriate press office.
But state Sen. Wayne Bryant, D-Camden, called the State Police policy
letter "garbage" and Assemblyman Leroy Jones, D-East Orange,
said it was written "to frustrate the proceedings" of the
caucus.
Racism is a very ugly thing. Racism in law enforcement is even uglier
because it means that officers who are supposed to protect citizens from
harm and mistreatment can't be trusted by people who aren't white.
That's why it was so chilling to watch the minority legislators
stampede over the rights of people who were being portrayed by hearsay
as "known racists."
Assemblyman Herb Conway, D-Burlington City, made a strong point when
he asked the troopers if they had ever seen a written directive ordering
racial profiling.
All of the troopers answered no, though several said they were given
verbal directives. None said when or where.
Sgt. Vincent Belleran, who has successfully sued the State Police,
said he would "love to give names, incidents, times, places and
dates" of racism.
"I have information that the State Police doesn't have,"
Belleran said, though he didn't say what he had, why he had it or where
he got it.
When asked to name "known racists who had been promoted"
Belleran identified two men who apparently had demonstrated their racism
by "retaliating" against him.
After the hearing, Belleran told me that there were a number of
minority troopers who opposed the action of the officers who testified
Monday.
"You don't have to be white to be a racist," Belleran said.
Charles said his goal was "a cleansed list" of promotions,
referring again to Williams' list -- cleansed of all racists.
He didn't say, however, who should decide which racists should be
cleansed.
But the best demonstration of the "McCarthyite" thinking of
the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus came from Assemblyman Bill
Payne, D-Newark, who said the caucus had asked civilian employees also
to come forward and testify about racism in the State Police.
"The fact that not a single civilian employee has come before us
is an indication of the kind of intimidation that they face," said
Payne.
Maybe. Maybe not.
The Black and Latino Troopers Coalition made a strong presentation
that stood in stark contrast to the "McCarthyite" approach of
the minority legislators.
Using specific data, the troopers presented an air-tight case that
minorities were not being actively recruited by the State Police and are
systematically passed over for promotion
They proposed an aggressive action plan that would substantially
increase the numbers of minorities who enter the State Police academy
and establish legitimate promotion criteria.
"All we ask for is fair and equal treatment," said Trooper
Fred Womack, speaking for the coalition.
"Fair and equal treatment" should be a given in the State
Police...and also in the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus. Thursday,
August 26, 1999 Before Gov. Christie Whitman left for vacation last week, she announced that she expects to move forward with the nomination of Special FBI Agent Carson Dunbar as the next Superintendent of the State Police as soon as she gets back. Whitman's critics have been predicting that she will pay a big political price next year in her race for the U.S. Senate for failing to act soon enough to squelch racial profiling when it reared its ugly head in the state police. Some of those same Democratic critics are now whispering that Torricelli should not have helped Whitman make a deal with the U.S. Dept. Of Justice to create a leave of absence for Dunbar. If Dunbar is nominated and approved, he will be the first African-American to head the state police. Whitman will get credit for making a bold move regardless of what Dunbar manages to achieve in that role. Currently, there are no African-Americans in top management at the state police. So the whispering Democrats are wondering why Torricelli is helping make Whitman look good on this one. Torricelli met with New Jersey Attorney General John Farmer and helped break through a stalemate by crafting a proposal for U.S. Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder that would allow Dunbar to keep his pension and address the conflict of interest questions Holder had regarding the consent decree that his department has filed against New Jersey. Whitman dealt directly with Attorney General Janet Reno in the final stages of the negotiations. Torricelli called for Reno's resignation a few months back and their relationship is rocky. But some sources say it was Torricelli who pressed Holder to put partisan concerns aside and make a deal with Whitman regarding Dunbar. Former governor Jim Florio, who could be running against Whitman in the U.S. Senate race next year said he supported Torricelli's decision to help Whitman. "The motivation should be to get a good person," Florio said. Jon Corzine, the other leader Democratic contender also said he would "defer" to Torricelli's judgment on Dunbar until they had more information. But Democratic political strategist Steve De Micco said he didn't think it would make any difference. "It turns out that Dunbar is not a controversial appointment at all," De Micco said. However, De Micco still believes Whitman will pay politically for racism in the state police. "Christie Whitman is in a terribly precarious position," De Micco said. "She's screwed it up with every constituency. The State Police has no confidence in her now and the African-American community is once again looking askance at her." But Whitman spokesman, Peter McDonough, said it was the right thing to do and "in the long run there is no political benefit to anyone dragging their feet over this." Even in politics, its almost always nice to be helpful. Regardless of whether voters end up loving or hating Whitman over this issue, Torricelli will end up looking good. BLAME GAME: N.J. pols react to Bush cocaine question In case anyone was wondering, State GOP Chairman Chuck Haytaian told The Trentonian on Tuesday that he'd never used drugs and he never plans too. "At 61, I'm too old for that kind of thing," Haytaian laughed, "but people can ask whatever questions they want to ask." Haytaian went on to say that he was disappointed that the most serious question the press could think to ask Texas Gov. George W. Bush was whether or not he had used drugs. But Tom Giblin, the State Democratic chairman, said that while he rarely asked candidates about their personal backgrounds on the local level, it is sometimes necessary to check on potential candidates to see if they have criminal records. New Jersey Sen. Bob Torricelli says the firestorm surrounding the Texas governor and the cocaine question are Bush's fault. "Sen. Torricelli believes this is a legitimate line of questioning because Bush voluntarily opened portals of his private life when he thought it would help him," said Torricelli spokesman Richard McGrath. "But now he wants to close down the discussion when he thinks it could hurt him." According to McGrath, Torricelli argues that Bush can't have it both ways. But lots of Democrats seem to think they can have it both ways, especially if they can make the innuendo work in their favor. That can be the only explanation for Sen. Tom Daschle, D-South Dakota's suggestion last week that the press wasn't being as hard on Texas Gov. George W. Bush about cocaine as they were on President Bill Clinton's sexual escapades in his office. Daschle knows that for those of us in the media, there is nothing more disconcerting than an accusation of favoritism. Most reporters would rather be charged with being inaccurate than be accused of treating one politician nicer than another. So minutes after Daschle laid out his challenge, the press went after Bush on the cocaine question in the same way they'd go after Julia Roberts if she said she was actually going to marry Richard Gere. Unlike the Clinton sex scandal, which happened on public property and was paid for with taxpayer dollars, there is no evidence that Bush has ever used cocaine or abused any drug or alcohol since he's been a public servant. There are lots of stories of Bush's twenty-something party days. Party stories follow almost every politician but reporters learn quickly that the stories are lies as often as they are true. Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt learned that lesson last year when he offered a million dollars for information about congressmen fooling around. Flynt smoked out two guys. There are 535 people in Congress, mostly men, and yet Flynt only found two guys who had fooled around. The total number of official Congressional playboys is about eight. Haytaian points out that the media has not pressed Clinton on rape allegations that were made against the president about the same time Bush may or may not have used cocaine. Haytaian calls the Bush attack "gotcha politics" and he doesn't expect it to stop even though he says Bush shouldn't have to answer drug questions. Maybe that's because Haytaian has seen the Democratic double standard before. In 1997, Jersey Democrats publicly attacked Haytaian because the state settled a sexual harassment case against him even though he denied the allegations. In 1998, many of the same Democrats laughed off Paula Jones' charges of sexual harassment against Clinton even though they were far more serious than the charges against Haytaian. Haytaian is on the record saying he's never used drugs. Any Democratic politician who wants to join him is welcome to give us a call.
Thu,
Aug 19, 1999 The Whitman administration quickly dismissed State Sen. John Adler's charges, made earlier this week, that the governor tried to kill the investigation surrounding the 1997 merger of HIP New Jersey with PHP Healthcare Corp., both of which went bankrupt shortly after the merger. Adler told The Trentonian on Tuesday that Whitman and Senate President Don DiFrancesco, R-Scotch Plains, have pressured Senate Health Committee Chairman Jack Sinagra, R-East Brunswick to stop holding hearings on the matter. "The governor doesn't schedule Senate Committee hearings," said Whitman spokeswoman Jayne O'Connor. O'Connor also said that the HIP-NJ merger had been thoroughly reviewed by the Whitman administration. "We've taken steps to protect consumers and prevent this from happening in the future," O'Connor said. DiFrancesco spokeswoman Rae Hutton said that Sinagra has proposed legislation which would close the loopholes that allowed the merger to go forward without state regulation. Three pieces of the HMO reform legislation, which is co-sponsored by Democrats Sen. Richard Codey, D-West Orange, and Sen. Joe Vitale, D-Woodbridge, would give the state expanded oversight over health service delivery organizations and require a line of reserve capital before a sizable merger could be made. Codey is the Senate Minority Leader and Vitale serves with Adler on the Senate Health Committee. Hutton charged that Adler is advocating the usage of tax dollars to fix the HMO problem. "When he [Adler] says he wants to figure out a way to undo the harm to doctors and hospitals, is he proposing some kind of state paid bail out?" Hutton asked. In a letter to Sinagra last week, Adler said that in addition to reform legislation, it was important to address problems that resulted from the HIP-NJ bankruptcy which left some of the state's hospitals and doctors without payment for services they had provided. Senate Democratic spokesman Jim Manion said that the governor and Senate Republicans were trying to distract the public from the political motivations behind the HIP-NJ and PHP merger which Adler wants investigated. "The damage appears to have been done in October 1997 when all of Whitman's people wanted the HMO problem to go away," Manion said, noting that Whitman was running for re-election in November of that year. "That's the glaring piece of evidence that has to be examined in greater detail and that's at the heart of what Sen. Adler is driving at." Sinagra held one hearing last spring where officials from the state Department of Health, along with Banking and Insurance Commissioner Jaynee LaVecchia, maintained that the HIP-NJ merger with PHP was a last-ditch effort to save the failing HMO. It was possible to make the deal -- which the officials said went through in July, not October -- with limited scrutiny because the state's laws regulating HMO's are outdated. The laws regulating the HMO's were passed in 1973. Thurs, Aug 19, 1999Torricelli Flame Update: Is New Jersey Senator Bob Torricelli's latest lady friend playing hard to get, or is the senator playing the field? Wednesday's Washington Post reports that MSNBC Anchor, Laura Ingraham, issued a non-denial denial of a story which appeared in Monday's Trentonian romantically linking her to Torricelli. The Post coyly dismissed the news of the budding liaison, saying Ingraham and Torricelli had not "locked lips" and quoted Ingraham refusing to comment on the personal lives of anyone in Washington, "except in the Oval Office." Matters of the heart are always off the record, and both Torricelli's office and MSNBC have refused to confirm or deny their relationship. The Post reported last week that Torricelli was still involved with Patricia Duff, the most recent ex-wife of Revlon mogul, Ron Perleman. Torricelli told the New York Times this spring that he and Duff had talked about marriage. Torricelli also discussed marriage with New Jersey Monthly reporter Sal Paolantonio. In the September issue, released on Wednesday, Paolantonio reports that Torricelli spoke to him about the downside of an extended bachelorhood. Torricelli is 48. Duff is 45. Ingraham is 36.
Wed,
Aug 18, 1999 State Sen. John Adler, D-Cherry Hill, said Tuesday that Gov. Christie Whitman and Sen. President Don DiFrancesco, R-Scotch Plains, were trying to "kill the investigation" into the controversial merger of HIP-New Jersey and PHP Healthcare Corporation in 1997 which resulted in 190,000 people losing their healthcare. Adler said on Tuesday that he believes the Whitman administration has pressured State Sen. Jack Sinagra, R-East Brunswick, who chairs the Senate Health Committee, to back off committee hearings where questions were raised regarding the state's handling of the giant health care deal. "It is in the interest of Senate President DiFrancesco and the governor to kill the investigation," Adler said, adding that Whitman and DiFrancesco's political interests are "sychronistic" because of Whitman's probable run for the U.S. Senate next year and DiFrancesco's potential ascension to her office. "I don't think it's Sen. Sinagra's instinct to back off. He's under a lot of pressure," Adler said. HIP-NJ went belly-up shortly after the merger leaving doctors and hospitals throughout New Jersey unpaid for months of health care services. Sinagra held one hearing on the HIP-NJ merger in May in which Banking and Insurance Commissioner Jayne LaVecchia, First Assistant Attorney General Paul Zoubek and Health Commissioner Christine Grant testified, although only LaVecchia was actually on the job when the deal was approved. Sinagra said he would schedule a second hearing in June to question mid-level managers in the Health and Banking and Insurance departments, who had reportedly raised questions about the merger before it went through. But the second round of hearings was never scheduled and Sinagra told reporters last month that he did not plan to convene another hearing until the Legislature meets again in the fall. Sinagra was not available for comment on Tuesday but Senate Majority spokeswoman, Rae Hutton, said that Sinagra has not backed down on the issue. "A package of bills came out of those hearings that address a number of questions that were raised there," Hutton said. "They heard enough at the first hearing to know where they needed to go for reform." Hutton pointed to three pieces of legislation introduced on July 1, including one which would require that future health maintenance organization mergers be subject to a public hearing. The proposed legislation would also require the licensing of all entities that oversee healthcare delivery in New Jersey. During the May hearings, both Democrats and Republicans pointed out that part of the problem was that PHP Healthcare Corp. was not licensed by the state and thus not subject to governmental oversight. "We anticipate that these bills will get top priority in the fall," Hutton said. "The goal is to prevent another HMO from having HIP's problems." But Adler says there are other issues which must be addressed, including the scores of doctors and hospitals who have not been paid since HIP-NJ's demise. "We need to figure out a way to undo the harm to doctors and hospitals," Adler said. "We also need to get to the bottom of this governmentally." Whitman's office has maintained throughout the controversy that the healthcare merger was a last ditch effort to save HIP-NJ which would have been successful if PHP had not welched on the deal. Wed,
Aug 18, 1999 Unfortunately, their good liberal principals sometimes cloud their sense of fairness. Just look at their latest attack on Whitman for appearing in state sponsored television commercials. Gusciora and Cohen have charged that Whitman is using hundreds of thousands of dollars in state money and business development funds to put her name and image on television during So far, the response from the Whitman camp has been, "yeah...so?" Whitman is right to ignore them. Starring in television commercials is what governors do in New Jersey. Its no different than putting their name on the "Welcome to New Jersey" signs Granted, other governors have not done as much television as Whitman, but that's only because they didn't have the opportunity. Television has evolved radically in the years since Whitman has been in office. When former governors Jim Florio and Tom Kean were in charge, the three major New York City networks were still running the world of New Jersey television. Now, a half-dozen cable networks provide a twenty-four hour information flow to people in the Garden State and Whitman has become part of the information that is flowing. Add her cable The real television problem that Gusciora and Cohen ought to be talking about is that the thirty-second mini-dramas that promote politicians like Whitman are feeding the proliferation of Whitman didn't start small idea politics, President Bill Clinton did. Even though the economy was good in 1996, and welfare was reformed, political strategists chalk up much of Clinton's re-election success to his stomping around the country advocating small ideas like school uniforms and a blocker chip for cable television. Small idea politics worked out just as well for Whitman. She may have won office in 1993 because of her thirty-percent tax cut proposal, but she was able to squeak by in 1997 because Whitman tells kids to buckle up and wear a helmet when they're biking. She sounds sure and confident when she urges teenagers to avoid drugs and assures adults they can get help if they need a job by calling the state employment office. The unfortunate truth is that the public has come to a point where they can hardly stomach politicians in large doses. Political discussions and debates of political ideas are avoided by almost everybody. Its hard to know if Whitman would choose the battlefield of big picture politics to the daily television wars of micro-politics if she had a choice. Her efforts to do big things, like reform education at the local level, never got much traction. Even when she tried breaking her ideas into small, bite size doses, like getting rid of principal tenure or holding school board elections in November, she didn't have much luck. The problem with small idea politics can be seen in the current lack of interest regarding the income tax debate that just finished up in Washington. People tune out when the subject involves billions of tax dollars over the next five years, even though those billions are being taken out of everyone's paychecks. Good government types have insisted for years that the answer to the public's short attention span is free television time for every candidate so they can drone on at length about all the big things they'll do if they get elected. But if they do that, nobody will watch. Gusciora and Cohen are smart guys. Perhaps they can come up with a better plan. Tue, Aug
17,1999 Hamilton has become the hottest political spot in the state and the fall election could become a litmus test for the nation. Gov. Christie Whitman's political career could rise or fall there. Vice President Al Gore could be facing the same fate as former Vice President Hubert Humphrey if Democrat Glen Gilmore doesn't get enough votes to take over Hamilton City Hall. According to this political domino theory, the next wave of leadership will be determined by whether or not Hamilton voters believe those politicians who say they didn't know there were any slot machines at the Barons Athletic Association. Another way of thinking about it is that the Hamilton Mayor's Race is the New Jersey version of the Iowa Straw Poll. The vote in Hamilton will be the first indication of whether or not voters are still furious at Republicans because of the Clinton impeachment or have decided to give the GOP credit for the great economy and forget about how they couldn't stand Henry Hyde. Both sides are spinning nonstop. "They think they can put up a trial lawyer who has lived in the township for three years against a lifelong resident who has served as Officer Friendly in the town and gotten more votes than any other member on the City Council?" Haytaian said. "They're wrong." "Haytaian is the same man who said Rush Holt was dead in the water, had Jim McGreevey ten points behind and who got kicked in the butt by Frank Lautenberg," said McManimon's campaign manager, Jaimee Gilmartin. Both parties have brought in the big guns. GOP bosses including Senate President Don DiFrancesco, Assembly Speaker Jack Collins and Haytaian came to Hamilton last winter to strategize when Rafferty decided to step down. They pressured Sen. Peter Inverso, R-Hamilton, to run for mayor but he didn't want to do it. George W. Bush may be coming in the fall. And Democrats may bring in Clinton to raise money. They're getting cash from all over. Brad Lawrence, McManimon's media consultant, said on Monday that Democratic financial backing will make sure "Hamilton is competitive for Democrats, even in the worst set of circumstances." But Prunetti's campaign manager, John Holub, says the Democrats are all talk. Both sides say they've got polls that show they're in the lead because voters like where they stand on the issues...traffic, development and schools, but they won't say how big a lead and they won't show you the numbers. Neither side has made a very convincing case about what they might do about traffic, development or education that might actually make a difference. Folks in Hamilton and the rest of the world are patiently waiting for a plan. Torch Has New Flame Sen. Bob Torricelli may have a new steady girlfriend. And The Trentonian confirmed Wednesday the New Jersey congressman has definitely dumped the old one. Or perhaps she dumped him. The media reports are conflicting. Word of the changing of the guard comes as Torricelli's photo appeared in the Style Section of Tuesday's Washingon Post next to that of the blonde and gorgeous Patricia Duff, a political socialite who has established a personal fortune by marrying wealthy men. According to the Washington Post report, Duff, 45, was turning over a new leaf in dating the relatively un-wealthy Torricelli, who the report described as her "latest high profile romancer." The respected Washington paper of record insists that Torricelli and Duff have been dating for over a year and quotes Torricelli as saying he has "tried to be a comfort" to Duff, who is caught up in a bitter custody and money battle with Ron Perelman, the multi-millionaire and legendary womanizer who owns the Revlon Corporation. But Washington party goers confirmed Wednesday that the Torch was seen over the weekend with a new flame, conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham, a thirty-something cerebral blonde who once served as a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Torricelli appeared on Ingraham's show, "Watch It with Laura Ingraham" in July but it is not clear if the couple had already begun dating. Morning talk show guru Don Imus caught their joint appearance and called Ingraham on the air to check out why New Jersey's junior senator was blatantly flirting with her. Ingraham did not confirm any relationship with Torricelli on the air and her spokeswoman at MSNBC, Cameron Blanchard, told the Trentonian Wednesday that "MSNBC doesn't comment on the romantic lives of our anchors." Torricelli's office likewise does not comment on the senator's personal life. Meanwhile, the New York Post reported earlier this month that Duff has been showing up in the Big Apple with a series of men who were not Torricelli. Torricelli, who is divorced, disdains the media attention that his personal life consistently attracts, but his love life has been deemed news worthy since he began dating the controversial Bianca Jagger in the early 1990s. Jagger drew Torricelli into several Latin American policy issues that increased his foreign affairs profile. In a profile published this spring in the Washington magazine Capital Style, Torricelli was lauded by his ex-wife, Duff and Jagger for his support and understanding during their respective relationships. The article was entitled "Torricelli After Dark." Fri, Aug 13, 1999 Adler fights for HIP hearing State Sen. John Adler, D-Cherry Hill, wrote a scathing letter Thursday to his colleague, state Sen. Jack Sinagra, R-East Brunswick, who chairs the Senate Health Committee, demanding that he convene summer hearings into the bankruptcy of the HIP Health Plan of New Jersey. "It is time we end this summer vacation from a very serious responsibility ... to identify the root causes of the HIP disaster," Adler said. At a preliminary hearing in May, lawmakers heard testimony from Banking and Insurance Commissioner Jaynee LeVecchia regarding the state's approval of HIP's takeover by the financially-troubled PHP Heathcare Corp. Shortly after the merger, HIP went belly-up and over 190,000 HIP subscribers in New Jersey were left without health insurance. While most of these HIP-refugees have been enrolled in alternative care by the state, it still isn't clear what happened to all of the funds forwarded to the HMO by its subscribers. During the May hearing, Sinagra said that his goal was to determine what went wrong, so the same mistake would not be repeated. He also promised a second round of hearings in June where, he said, additional questions regarding the troubled HMO could be raised. But the second round of hearings were never scheduled, and Sinagra told reporters last month that he was now waiting until September to convene his committee -- because lawmakers would not be willing to deal with the issue in the summer. But Adler said Thursday that immediate action was necessary because millions of dollars are still owed to doctors for medical services that were delivered, but never paid for. Adler also criticized Whitman for spending "exorbitant fees" to a Texas based consultant to dismantle HIP. Sinagra did not return a call to his office Thursday. Thu, Aug 12, 1999BACK TO WORK!: Christie returns after Texas jaunt Gov. Christie Whitman is back on the job Thursday after a brief vacation as Senate candidate Christie Whitman. Whitman hopped a jet to Houston on Tuesday on a semi-secret mission to shmooze some movers and shakers in Texas. Whitman picked up about $75,000 in contributions from folks in the Lone Star State who support her run for the U.S. Senate next year, according to Charlie Smith, executive director of the Whitman for Senate Exploratory Committee. Whitman returned to New Jersey on Wednesday morning. Whitman's office confirmed that the governor was out of state on Tuesday, but would not verify if she was campaigning. Her official schedules indicate that she is on vacation. But Smith said that the governor attended a cocktail reception and dinner given in her honor by several Texas businesspeople. Smith pronounced the evening a success. "This was just a two-event trip which the governor enjoyed," said Smith, who also said it was likely Whitman would return to Texas. Whitman's campaign finance chairman, Lewis Eisenberg, accompanied Whitman on the trip. Smith said that Whitman was not joined in Houston by Texas Gov. George W. Bush, due to scheduling conflicts. According to the Bush Presidential Exploratory Committee, the Texas governor is preparing for the Iowa straw poll on Saturday, but he was in Texas on Tuesday. He left on Wednesday morning to campaign in Oklahoma. Whitman is expected to be back on the job Thursday, primarily working in the western rural counties of New Jersey that have been hit hardest by the drought. Whitman's office has taken steps in recent days to assure that New Jersey farmers have access to both drought relief and federal grants to assist them in surviving the crop damage.
Mon,
Aug 09, 1999 Late Friday evening, sources in Washington who have been watching the
political spectacle surrounding Gov. Christie Whitman's efforts to
appoint Special FBI Agent Carson Dunbar as State Police superintendent,
upgraded their prognosis.
Insiders first said Whitman faced a "huge problem" in her
attempt to get U.S. Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder to sign off on a
deal that would allow Dunbar to take a leave of absence from the FBI so
he wouldn't lose his pension.
But those sources are now saying the deal is "doable" and
it appears that Holder and all parties involved are committed to finding
a resolution to the problem which surfaced when Whitman virtually
selected Dunbar for the top trooper spot without checking with the feds
about the details of his employment package.
Attorney General John Farmer reportedly met with Sen. Bob Torricelli
late last week to craft a compromise proposal to present to Holder that
would address the pension problem as well as any conflict of interest
concerns that could surface as the Department of Justice pursues a
consent decree order against the New Jersey State Police. Under pressure
from some New Jersey Democrats and minority community leaders, the
Department took steps earlier this year to pressure the New Jersey State
Police to take action against racial profiling by troopers as well as
more aggressive minority recruitment and promotion.
The details of the proposal are not clear, but they likely involve
the revised chain of command at the State Police which Whitman unveiled
on July 2 that underscores civilian control of the force through the
Attorney General's office. The tricky part will be to assure that Dunbar
is not the de facto federal monitor of the State Police reforms he will
be empowered by Whitman to enact.
If Dunbar takes a leave of absence from the FBI, the state will also
likely agree to pay all costs to maintain his federal pension status.
Whitman watchers in Washington attribute the Dunbar hold-up to the
governor's bumbling approach to politics and bureaucracy.
Farmer is acting governor as Whitman is out of the state.
Administration spokeswoman Jayne O'Connor said on Saturday that no
announcements regarding Dunbar's appointment are expected until at least
Monday.
The Department of Justice has made no comment regarding the
negotiations, although Joseph Valiquette, a spokesman for the FBI office
in New York where Dunbar works, said last week that the FBI has
implemented leave of absence agreements for special agents in the past,
although he called the procedure "rare." Fri,
Aug 06, 1999 Rev. Reginald Jackson, executive director of the Black Ministers
Council, said Thursday he supports Gov. Christie Whitman's choice of FBI
agent Carson Dunbar as the new State Police superintendent and he thinks
it's time for him and his fellow critics to back off the governor.
Jackson has been one of Whitman's harshest critics throughout the
controversy surrounding racial profiling by the New Jersey State Police.
But Jackson told The Trentonian Thursday that the situation has
changed.
"At this point, we need to give the governor and the attorney
general room to work this out," Jackson said.
"They've clearly made steps to find someone who has a
perspective from the outside and they need time to put this
together."
But Jackson also said Whitman should get rid of some of the top
management in the State Police before Dunbar takes over.
"There are some other personnel changes which need to be made
and I would hope the administration would do that before Dunbar comes on
board," Jackson said without naming names of troopers he believes
should be relieved of duty.
He also said Dunbar should be free to bring in people he trusts to
serve with him.
Whitman acknowledged on Wednesday that Dunbar is her first choice to
head the state police.
U.S. Department of Justice officials in Washington are negotiating a
contract which would allow Dunbar to keep his federal pension while
running the state agency.
Jackson said he had no reason to believe that U.S. Deputy Attorney
General Eric Holder was delaying Dunbar's appointment for political
reasons.
"From my knowledge of Eric Holder, I don't think he'd do
anything to hold this up," Jackson said.
He called Democratic efforts to interject politics into the
negotiations "silly and foolish."
But Jackson admitted there was "genuine concern" that the
State Police create a situation that does not compromise Dunbar. The
Department of Justice is carrying out a consent degree against the New
Jersey State Police regarding racial profiling, minority recruitment and
hiring practices.
Jackson called on others who have been fighting racial profiling to
"help bridge the gap between the State Police and the minority
community."
He said the next "thorny issue" which must be faced by the
minority community is the grand jury decision regarding the April 28,
1998 shooting on the New Jersey Turnpike.
Three young minority men on their way to a basketball clinic in North
Carolina were wounded when officers stopped their rental van and fired
away as the vehicle lurched backwards toward them. The cops found no
drugs or weapons in the vehicle.
"Our fear is that there will be no indictments. This has taken
so long. Fifteen months," Jackson said.
"The O.J. Simpson jury didn't take that long." Gov. Christie Whitman would like to make history by appointing the
first African-American as superintendent of the New Jersey State Police.
But her five-month search for that person has been riddled with
political grandstanding and now it appears that Clinton administration
forces may have entered the game.
Whitman said on Wednesday that she'd like to offer the state police
superintendent job to Carson Dunbar, a 47-year-old special agent for the
FBI who lives in Ramsey. But it's not clear if U.S. Attorney General
Janet Reno will let the governor do it.
Whitman said the federal sign-off is all that is holding up her job
offer to Dunbar, who doesn't want to take a pay cut or lose his federal
pension if he comes to work for the State Police.
That could be a little tricky, according to Joseph Valiquette, the
spokesman for the FBI office in New York City where Dunbar works.
"It has been done before, but in rare circumstances. There is no
process in place," Valiquette said.
If Dunbar remains a FBI employee, even on paper, he technically works
for the Department of Justice, which is monitoring the New Jersey's
State Police to make sure they comply with a federal consent decree to
root out racial profiling and improve minority recruitment and hiring
practices.
That would mean that Dunbar could be working for both sides, which
would appear to be a conflict of interest unless the parties iron out
some other kind of arrangement.
"The ball seems to be in Janet Reno's court," said
Valiquette.
State Sen. Bill Gormley, R-Mays Landing, who chairs the Senate
Judiciary Committee which must approve the state superintendent nominee,
says his committee undoubtedly will question any agreement that might
evolve between the state and the feds regarding Dunbar's contract.
"No nomination has been made yet," Gormley said. "Why
don't we wait and see what the conditions would be."
Gormley said he has heard of no legislative opposition to Dunbar's
appointment.
For his part, Dunbar also has downplayed the situation, saying the
speculation is premature.
He told The Associated Press yesterday that he hadn't talked to
anyone in the Whitman administration about the job in at least a week
and that she hadn't told him he was her choice.
Meanwhile, Whitman spokesman Pete McDonough downplayed the
significance of the Department's delay.
"This is probably more of a bureaucratic policy problem than
anything else," McDonough said.
But the Justice Department isn't above playing politics in New
Jersey. They've done it before. In a clear effort to undercut the
Whitman administration's efforts to deal with racial profiling, Justice
Department officials met with several Democratic lawmakers. State Sen.
Shirley Turner, D-Lawrenceville, attended one such meeting last spring
regarding racial profiling just before Whitman released her first report
on the allegations.
President Bill Clinton even managed to drag himself away from a big
fund-raiser for Sen. Bob Torricelli in early March to meet briefly with
several African-American lawmakers who were complaining that Whitman had
failed to take strong steps against racial profiling.
Turner said Wednesday she believed First Deputy Attorney General Eric
Holder, who has been overseeing the New Jersey racial profiling
investigation as well as the Dunbar negotiations, is well-versed on New
Jersey law enforcement issues, although Turner has been annoyed with
Holder recently because he hasn't provided her with information she
requested regarding his investigation into the New Jersey State Police.
Last week, Whitman called Torricelli to ask for help in negotiating
with the feds, a move which annoyed the senator because it made it seem
that he had signed off on Whitman's nominee. But Torricelli's staff said
Wednesday that they were keeping their hands off the negotiations.
Here at home, there's also the problem with the salary. Reportedly,
Dunbar will be offered $110,000 for the top trooper job, about $12,000
more than the state is paying First Deputy Attorney General Paul Zoubek,
the guy who is supposed to be directly supervising the State Police
superintendent.
Roger Shatzkin, spokesman for the Attorney General, said that there
are several people in the Department of Law and Safety who make more
money than their bosses, including the state medical examiner.
But if Whitman really wants to assure that the State Police is in
civilian control, shouldn't it be clear who the real boss is?
The governor has insisted repeatedly that all the hoopla that has
surrounded the search for a new state police superintendent will be
forgotten once she finds the right person for the job.
Now, she says she's got that person, but the questions are still
glaring.
Wed, Aug 4, 1999 Who would have thought that New Jersey Senator Bob Torricelli would turn out to be a tax fighting hero. Last week Torricelli fought both President Clinton and the Republican leadership to get The tax debate is currently stalemated between the $792 billion Republican tax proposal which has passed both houses and Clinton's $300 billion counter proposal which doesn't really cut taxes much. Even though Clinton has said he will veto their plan, the Republicans are hoping their big tax cut will win back public support for them. Things haven't been going very well for the GOP ever since they acted like self-righteous toadies in their failed attempt to get rid of President Clinton. Polls show that the public believes Democrats can handle almost everything better than Republicans except foreign policy. The big GOP tax cut that was passed last week is supposed to be a step toward turning that around. But so far, the reviews have not been that good. Leading the charge for the GOP, Senate Finance Chairman, William V. Roth, R-Delaware, said that tax dollars "must be returned to the taxpayer" but what he really means is rich people. Rep. Bill Archer, R-Texas, said his party wants to protect people who ultimately get stuck with tax bills, particularly those earning over $200,000 a year. But according to a Washington Post analysis, three quarters of all taxpayers pay more in payroll taxes than they do in income taxes. So seventy-five percent of the public won't benefit at all from the Republican's giant cut. A little magazine called "Tax Notes" didn't help the GOP either. It recently blasted through the myth of the "death tax" which the Republicans have been whining about for the last couple of years. According to "Tax Notes" most "moderately wealthy Americans" who die with $600,000 "Tax Notes" also points out that estate taxes encourage some good things like charitable contributions and financial planning and are paid only by those most able to pay. Torricelli's spokesman, Richard McGrath, says the Torricelli tax cut plan eliminates the death tax cut the Republicans are pushing. Both Democrats and Republicans are ready to eliminate the so-called marriage penalty which raises tax rates when couples combine incomes and rise into higher brackets. But Torricelli focuses on tax relief items that benefit regular people including expanding the lower, fifteen percent tax bracket to include families who earn up to $72,000, a modest two-income salary in New Jersey. His plan would also increase the IRA contribution limit from $2,000 to $3,000 and create a small capital gains tax exclusion on the first $1500 for joint filers. Torricelli says both moves would increase the national savings rate which has dropped dangerously low because baby boomers aren't socking anything away. Torricelli's legislation never made it into the debate because Republican leaders remain convinced that the public won't read between the lines regarding their big tax cut and they'll score lots of political points with it even after Clinton vetoes their bill. New Jersey's other Senator, Frank Lautenberg stood firm with the president on the tax cut bill. But in the political long run, it is likely that Torricelli will still win. Demonstrating leadership on the tax issue puts more gloss on what is fast becoming the Torricelli legend. His common sense approach to tax reform will help make him a policy leader in his party as well as a political fundraising guru. Torricelli has been known to whisper to friends that, unlike Bill Bradley, he has not ruled out the vice presidential spot on the Democratic ticket with Gore. Torricelli's tax plan could serve a dual purpose...effectively separating the Democrats from Clinton and giving them a guy on the ticket who isn't drop dead boring. Nobody in New Jersey expected Torricelli to become a tax cutter, particularly after he launched his Senate career by casting the deciding vote against the Balanced Budget Amendment. But perhaps he's what the Democrats need to get the country to go for Gore next year. A guy
like Torricelli is always full of surprises. |
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Copyright©1998 Sherry
Sylvester
