Reed Gusciora

GUSCIORA STATEMENT ON CHRISTIE VISIT TO EWING

Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Mercer) today released the following statement in response to Bush Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie’s visit to Ewing to meet with small business owners:

Two days after then-Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano was arrested on corruption charges, Jay Lassiter, a South Jersey political activist, publicly dropped him from his Facebook friends.

"Please don't re-friend me until after you've resigned," Lassiter wrote on Cammarano's wall on July 25 - a message visible to hundreds of the disgraced mayor's Facebook friends. It was supposed to be one of those "who's coming with me?" moments. 

"It didn't go over like I thought it would.  I thought I was going to lead the parade," said Lassiter.  "I actually got snarky notes by Cammarano supporters telling me what a worthless South Jersey piece of (expletive) I was."

Outside of cyberspace, Cammarano, 32, saw his political career come to an abrupt end and his associations evaporate after he was arrested for allegedly taking bribes from an FBI informant posing as a developer. 

But that obligatory public distancing did not extend to Facebook, where many politicians, insiders and media types (including this reporter) remain Cammarano's "friends" - if only out of morbid curiosity over whether he'll update his profile or out of neglect in pruning their own profiles.  

Many politicians have embraced social networking technology, but, as the July 23 corruption sting demonstrates, there is no standard for online etiquette when your online friend has been arrested.  Some politicians (or the staffers who administrate their profiles) do "defriend" ethically troubled Facebook associates, while the thought doesn't cross others' minds.  

Senate President Richard Codey (D-Roseland) is still Facebook friends with Cammarano.

"I think he's suffered enough," said Codey, who added that he tries to be humorous and non-political on his profile.  "I try to be different, as you know if you ever read any of the things I put on there.  I try not to be political, and do different things to get a chuckle sometimes, lighten up somebody's day."

Assemblywoman Alison Littell McHose (R-Franklin Twp) remains Facebook friends with Cammarano, and with former Assemblyman Lou Manzo (D-Jersey City), who was arrested in the same sting.

"I didn't defriend either one of them. That wasn't something I consciously thought about doing," said McHose, who has 1,233 friends.  "I was curious to see whether it would be a means for them to reach out to supporters."

GUSCIORA: CORZINE PLAN ‘ANOTHER CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE’ WAY TO GET PEOPLE BACK TO WORK

(TRENTON) – Assemblyman Commerce and Economic Development Chairman Reed Gusciora (D-Mercer) released the following statement Tuesday on Gov. Jon S. Corzine’s plan to encourage businesses to hire New Jerseyans who have exhausted unemployment benefits:

“With so many having already exhausted their unemployment benefits, the last thing we could do was stand idle, so I’m so pleased Gov. Corzine has come up with yet another creative and innovative way to get people back to work and help businesses thrive..."

WATSON COLEMAN / CRUZ-PEREZ / JASEY / EVANS / GUSCIORA & POU BILL ADDRESSING HOMELESSNESS SIGNED INTO LAW

(TRENTON) – Legislation sponsored by six Assembly Democrats to give counties the ability to establish grant programs to address homelessness was signed into law today by Gov. Jon S. Corzine.

The law (A-3101) is sponsored by Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Mercer) and Assembly members Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D-Camden), Mila Jasey (D-Essex), Elease Evans (D-Passaic), Reed Gusciora (D-Mercer) and Nellie Pou (D-Passaic).

“The number of homeless, in New Jersey – especially women and children – is unacceptably high and may go even higher as more families face the very real and scary prospect of losing their homes to foreclosure,” Watson Coleman said. “State and local governments must work together to provide more funding and better services to provide access to affordable housing and ensure families have another option to living in a shelter or on the street.”

GOP candidate Chris Christie

If Christopher Christie had disclosed that Lambertville Police issued him three tickets in the fall of 2005, Republicans would not have vigorously pursued the resignation of then-Attorney General Zulima Farber during the summer of 2006, argue Democrats who see an emerging pattern of hypocrisy in the latest Christie behind-the-wheel story.

According to police, Christie, the Republican candidate for governor, identified himself as the U.S. Attorney both at a September 2005 Lambertville police stop where he was allowed to drive away an unregistered vehicle - reported last week - and at the scene of a 2002 traffic accident in which a motorcyclist went to the hospital after Christie drove the wrong way down a one-way street, the Star-Ledger reported today.

Farber, who had been named as the state's top law enforcement official by Gov. Jon Corzine, showed up at the Fairview scene of a May 2006 police stoppage in a government vehicle, in an incident that highlighted the Attorney General's failure to satisfy Republican lawmakers who months earlier during her confirmation hearing grilled her about her blemish-heavy driving record. The incident caused her to resign eight months into her tenure and caused some political problems for the fledgling Corzine administration.

Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Princeton), who said he's probably racked up more tickets than any other legislator in the Assembly, said he's never identified himself as an elected official when he gets stopped.
 
"It's a little self-serving for me to mention it maybe, but I just have never felt that you should throw your title around," said Gusciora. "I cringed in both instances - Christie's and Farber's.  It just makes us all look bad."
 
But Gusciora said he believes Christie's story is worse than Farber's, because of what he identifies as the former U.S. Attorney's hypocrisy.

GUSCIORA: $4 MILLION STIMULUS GRANT WILL MEAN REAL SAVINGS FOR STRUGGLING NJ FAMILIES

Grant to NJ Community Action Association Will Save Money in Energy Efficiencies

(TRENTON) – Assemblyman Reed Gusciora today commended the New Jersey Community Action Association (NJCAA) for securing a $4 million grant for low-income residence weatherization.

The grant comes from the state Department of Community Affairs (DCA) through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

“This is money that is going to be put to good use in communities hardest hit by economic hardship,” said Gusciora (D-Mercer). “The weatherization repairs this grant will pay for will improve the ‘green’ profile of low-income neighborhoods while putting extra cash back in the pockets of families who need it most.”

GUSCIORA: PRIVATE SECTOR JOB GROWTH SHOWS COMPREHENSIVE FIGHT AGAINST GLOBAL RECESSION IS WORKING

(TRENTON) – Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Chairman Reed Gusciora (D-Mercer) today released the following statement after new employment numbers showed New Jersey added 13,000 private sector jobs in July:

“New Jersey didn’t create this global economic crisis, but with private sector employment headed in a positive direction it’s apparent the cohesive Democratic strategy to attack the recession from many angles is taking hold.

“Our efforts to maximize job creation through President Obama’s stimulus package and our own economic development initiatives are boosting private businesses and creating jobs..."

GUSCIORA VOICES CONCERNS ON HORIZON'S UNWILLINGNESS TO GO TO MEDIATION

Cites need for national health care option

(TRENTON) - Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Princeton) is dismayed over the lack of a commitment from Horizon to participate in mediation over the failed contract talks that removed Capital Health - Helene Fuld Campus from the State Health Benefits Plan (SHBP).

While the common wisdom is that last week’s arrest of dozens of public officials and political insiders benefits former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie’s gubernatorial candidacy immeasurably, Assembly members Reed Gusciora (D-Princeton) and Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Englewood) are using the turn of events to recount a controversial episode that they hope will take some luster off Christie.  

Gusciora and Huttle, for the third time, called on the State Attorney General and the U.S. Attorney to investigate whether Republican gubernatorial nominee Chris Christie’s friend and ally, John Inglesino, tried to “bribe” Assemblyman Richard Merkt (R-Mendham) out of the race for governor.

“The allegations against Christie adviser Mr. Inglesino by a fellow a Republican are quite serious and demand investigation, especially in light of recent events,” said Gusciora. “A South Jersey mayor is now facing five years in prison for the same type of conduct that Christie’s adviser allegedly engaged in. The public deserves to know – especially in this time of heightened awareness of public corruption – whether or not there was an attempt to affect the governor’s race through bribery.”

(TRENTON) - Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Princeton) responded to the recent allegations of corruption among notable New Jersey public officials.  "These arrests make it clear that New Jersey is in dire need for consolidating local governments," said Gusciora.