New Jersey Democratic State Committee Chairman John Currie is criticizing Governor Christie for skipping out on his job and neglecting the state’s needs by going on vacation — this time as a massive transit strike looms.
March 8, 2016
(Trenton) — New Jersey Democratic State Committee Chairman John Currie is criticizing Governor Christie for skipping out on his job and neglecting the state’s needs by going on vacation — this time as a massive transit strike looms.
Christie abandoned New Jersey for 261 partial or full days last year, and most of this year, including trips to stand behind presumptive Republican front-runner Donald Trump. Now, as the Governor again walks out on the people he is supposed to serve, New Jersey Transit and 11 of its rail unions are preparing to strike if a new labor agreement is not reached. A business group estimated that the strike could cost New York City $5.9 million per hour.
It is worth noting that Christie’s credibility on related matters is in shambles. First, he violated his signature pension reform law and then sued to claim it was unconstitutional. He also bankrupted the state’s Transportation Trust Fund. Under Christie’s watch, commuters have been forced to sit on broken railways or in traffic on deteriorating roads and crumbling bridges — even ones that the Republican governor’s administration did not illegally close.
“A governor is entitled to a vacation, after he has met his obligations to his constituents, who are entitled to a working governor. However, New Jersey’s failed, absentee governor constantly neglects tough problems — many of his own creation — and then skips town for some undeserved rest and relaxation. That’s not right — not when the regional economy and the commutes of tens of thousands hang in the balance. If Chris Christie is not going to do his job, he should take a much longer vacation and quit,” said John Currie, Chairman of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee.
For months, polls have shown that a majority of New Jersey voters want Governor Christie to resign — a call that at least seven newspapers in the state echoed last week.