Why the people of San Diego should care about what is happening in New Jersey. As the saying goes all politics is local. There are some things about the politics of development coming to light from the New Jersey George Washington Bridge (GWB) traffic scandal, that could play out right here in San Diego. The question people want to know about the GWB lane closure is why? No one is buying that it was some petty political payback from Gov. Chris Christies office to the Mayor of Fort Lee because he refused to endorse the Gov. in his re-election. That dog dont hunt. So what is happening in Fort Lee? Well there is a billion dollar land redevelopment. Steve Kornacki who knows New Jersey politics very well brought that fact to the discussion last week. This morning on Up with Steve Kornaki, Dawn Zimmer (the mayor of Hoboken NJ) accused two top officials in the administration of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) of threatening to withhold Hurricane Sandy aid from the hard-hit city unless she supported a development project backed by the governor and the port authority. Go to the Up w/ Steve Kornanki site and watch the interview, its awesome. The Mayor (Dawn Zimmer) said that she was twice told in person that her city needed to approve the development project in order to receive funding she had requested for post-storm rebuilding projects. MSNBC also obtained e-mails and other documents showing that, in the same months that Sandy aid was under consideration, Hoboken officials were under considerable pressure to approve the proposal from the New York-based Rockefeller Group to develop a stretch of the city. The bottom line is the Rockefeller Group has not got the deal the way they want it and Hoboken has not got its share of the Sandy relief aid (our federal tax dollars) to rebuild. Now I dont know if or what laws were broken, but the town of Hoboken NJ was devastated by super storm Sandy. We have a social contract as a nation, if a town, city, state, or region is devastated by a disaster we all pitch in to help rebuild it (#occupysandy). The country has done its part with at least $25 billion dollars of our tax money for New Jersey. If it is not a crime to blackmail a mayor to approve a development project in order to get that citys share of federal tax dollars to rebuild, it should be. So why should the people of San Diego care about New Jerseys business? 1 We pay federal taxes. Do we approve of this abuse of power? 2 Governor Chris Christie wants to be the next President of the U.S. Is that the behavior and abuse of power we want from our President? 3 We are about to elect a new mayor and the driving force (that is to say the money) in this city is in development. Which candidate is more likely to stand up to the development money interests, and the political pressure (the way that Dawn Zimmer the Mayor of Hoboken did), in the best interest of the people of San Diego? In my opinion the best thing coming out in the GWB lane closure scandal is we are getting to see the real political powers that be in the state of New Jersey. For example David Samson. To lobby on its behalf, the Rockefeller Group hired the politically influential law firm Wolff and Samson, which is run by Port Authority Chairman David Samson, a long time and very close Chris Christie ally. A Wolff and Samson lobbyist working on behalf of the project was Lori Grifa, a former Chris Christie aide who had also worked with the city on the project in the governor’s office. Its this revolving door from big business to jobs in political offices and back that bread this kind of corruption and abuse of power. The city of San Diego has its own versions of the NY/NJ Port Authority. There is the San Diego Association of Governments (abbreviated SANDAG). It is an association of local San Diego County governments. It is the metropolitan planning organization for the County. Its made up of policy makers consisting of mayors, councilmembers, and a County Supervisors. It has capital planning and fare setting powers for the countys transit systems. And there is Unified Port of San Diego. Their Mission Statement: The San Diego Unified Port District will protect the Tidelands Trust resources by providing economic vitality and community benefit through a balanced approach to maritime industry, tourism, water and land recreation, environmental stewardship and public safety. How many of the top officials in these organizations routinely move from developers to public service and back to get deals done? Who is (are) the David Samson(s) in San Diego? We have several huge development projects in San Diego, and its the (sometimes dirty) backroom deals that never see the light of day. The San Diego Chargers want a new stadium. It is very important to the people, the city, and county of San Diego to keep our beloved NFL franchise. Our NFL team is HUGE money to our local economy. Imagine if we had some disaster like an earthquake. Imagine a developer who has plans to build that stadium and has very close ties to Gov Jerry Brown. Imagine top aids from the Governors office telling our mayor we will get our federal funding to rebuild our city when he approves the developers plan for the new stadium. Which candidate, Kevin Faulkner or David Alvarez is more likely to play ball with the developer? Is either one willing to stand up for the people of San Diego the way that Dawn Zimmer (the great mayor of Hoboken NJ) stood up to Chris Christie and his cronies?
Posted on: Sat, 18 Jan 2014 22:25:42 +0000
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