Jeanne Fox

Gov. Jon Corzine, above, has reappointed three members of the New Jersey State Investment Council.

Gov. Jon Corzine has again nominated Jeanne Fox as President of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.  Fox had been reappointed last year, but the nomination stalled after then-Senate Judiciary Chairman John Adler (D-Cherry Hill) declined to post it for a committee vote.  Sources say that the new Judiciary Chairman, Paul Sarlo (D-Wood-Ridge) will back Fox for another term at the BPU.

Jose Claxton, Montgomery Cerf, and Erika Irish Brown have been reappointed by Corzine to the New Jersey State Investment Council, which has lost an estimated $25 billion of state pension funds since July.

Corzine has also resubmitted the nomination of Bergen County Executive Dennis McNerney to the Local Unit Alignment, Reorganization and Consolidation Commission.  State Sen. Gerald Cardinale (R-Demarest) has been blocking McNerney's appointment.

The dismissal of a lawsuit by a whistleblower doesn't lessen the impact of evidence showing mismanagement and political motivated maneuvering at the Board of Public Utilities under President Jeanne Fox.

Superior Court Judge Andrew Smithson is expected to rule on a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed against Board of Public Utilities President Jeanne Fox today.  If the lawsuit, which alleges that a whistleblower was punished for reporting a potentially illegal an $80 million ratepayer-funded Clean Energy account established by Fox, is dismissed, look for the Senate Judiciary Committee to put her nomination for a second term on their agenda soon. 

Last July, Senate Judiciary Chairman John Adler, then a candidate for Congress, said the panel would not consider the Fox nomination until after the trial of whistleblower, which ended with a hung jury last September.

There will now be some pressure on the new Judiciary Chairman, Paul Sarlo, to allow the committee to consider her nomination.  The panel is scheduled to meet on Monday - the first under Sarlo's leadership.

Statement from Senator Jennifer Beck (R-12) on the hung jury in the BPU whistleblower trial:

"While a jury may have been divided on whether Jeanne Fox retaliated against an employee who identified mismanagement at the BPU, the State Auditor and Treasury Department have confirmed in no uncertain terms the vastness of her mismanagement. It's time for Chairman Adler to end this circus and her tenure of mismanagement."

Reconfirmation Hearings Would Focus on General (Mis-)Management and Whistleblower Trial

Senator Jennifer Beck (R-12), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called on Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman John Adler (D-6) to commence the long-delayed reconfirmation hearing of New Jersey Board of Public Utilities President Jeanne Fox.

Jeanne Fox doesn’t have the votes to win Senate confirmation for another term as President of the state Board of Public Utilities, according to Senate Democratic sources.  The Senate Judiciary Committee has no plans to post Fox’s nomination for a vote, leaving her in holdover status for now.  Gov. Jon Corzine nominated Fox in February.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman John Adler, a candidate for Congress in New Jersey’s third district, has said he won’t consider the Fox nomination until after the trial of whistle-blower who claims retaliation for reporting a potentially illegal an $80 million ratepayer-funded Clean Energy account established by the BPU President. 

Continues Call for Corzine to Find Better Candidate to Lead BPU

Senator Jennifer Beck (R-12) is continuing her call for Governor Jon Corzine to nominate a person with experience, knowledge and no political baggage to lead the Board of Public Utilities.

With Gary Rose set to leave his Corzine front office post by the end of the month, there are already a few names being mentioned as possible successors as Chief of the Office of Economic Growth: state Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri; Caren Franzini, the CEO of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority; New Jersey Utilities Association President/CEO Karen Alexander.  A dark horse candidate: former Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Bill Gormley.

Rudderless BPU Hurts Consumers

Senator Jennifer Beck, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Governor Jon Corzine today asking him to withdraw his re-appointment of Jeanne Fox to the Board of Public Utilities (BPU). The BPU is the regulatory agency that sets the rates consumers pay for electricity, natural gas, water, telecommunications and cable television. The letter is attached.