Hold Me Accountable

In case you forgot: back in late 2005, just after Jon Corzine won election as Governor, his transition office released a tough-talking policy, noting that applicants for state positions will face "intensive vetting and should be prepared to serve an administration with 'zero tolerance' for placing private interests above the public good."

The decision of an outraged Governor Jon Corzine to withdraw his renomination of Superior Court Judge Fred Kiesler for using a racial slur in the courtroom came eight years after his own fledgling political career nearly ended after making an ethnic joke of his own. Kieser, who has been on the bench for seven years, used a “no tickee, no laundry” line – a comment viewed as offensive to Asian American immigrants. Corzine, as a U.S. Senate candidate in March 2000, made a joke about asking an Italian American businessman if he made 'cement shoes." He also made a Jewish lawyer joke.

Corzine made a very public apology and asked for the forgiveness of Italian American and Jewish community leaders. His charitable foundation also made some strategic contributions. Kieser, it seems, doesn’t have a foundation.

The Governor dropped Keiser only after the Senate Judiciary Committee released details of a complaint against the Middlesex County Judge – although the complaint about the ethnic slur was in Keiser's file at the time the Corzine decided to renominate him. Corzine still renominated Jeanne Fox, the wife of his political advisor, to the Board of Public Utilities, despite accusations of ethical improprieties that are potentially more serious and substantial.

Governing in New Jersey received a grade of C, among the nine lowest in the nation, according to a study released by Pew Center on the States, an arm of the Pew Charitable Trusts. New Jersey received a C- on Money, a B- on People, a C+ on Infrastructure, and a C- on Information.

John Lehman, a former Secretary of the Navy and investment banker, says that corporate chieftains don’t always transition well to government – noting that private sector experience isn’t always transferrable to the public sector.   "It's so much more fun to run a company. You say, 'do something,' it gets done. You have the leverage of salary, of firing people," Lehman told Time in an interview. "A CEO takes a long time to adjust to government. They're used to a command situation."

A list of Governor Jon Corzine's Town Hall Meetings:

Middle Township Police arrested former Bogata Mayor and potential ’09 gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan on Saturday outside local school where Gov. Jon Corzine was holding a town meeting to discuss his plan to raise tolls. The school has a ban on signs. Lonegan says he was not carrying a sign. A video of the incident appears to validate Lonegan’s claims.

One Democratic insider predicts that Governor Jon Corzine's plan to make Route 440 a toll road will not be among his legislative successes in 2008 -- if there are any at all.  "Either he's just f##king with him, or its a throw away," the Democrat said about plans to establish a toll road in Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman John Wisniewski's district.  "Either way, its not going to happen."

BEST THREE WORDS OF THE YEAR: Hold Me Accountable

“So I close with a simple pledge: that in the choices I make as you  Governor, I will be guided by one principle – What is best for New Jersey. And, in turn, I ask you – the citizens of New Jersey, hold me accountable.” —Gov. Jon Corzine, in his Inaugural Address, January 17, 2006

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy has made his grievances with the new school funding formula public, going down to Trenton two days ago express his concerns to the governor himself.

But while he acknowledged that he’s always been well-received by Gov. Corzine, he said the school funding formula is just the latest example of this administration giving his city the cold shoulder.

“I’m received very well but I don’t get a god damn thing for our city…. So far this administration has not done a whole hell of a lot for the citizens of Jersey City,” Healy said last night while watching presidential primary returns at a Barack Obama caucus watch party in Jersey City.