TRENTON — Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman John Wisniewski said he plans to hold a hearing on the state’s response to last week’s blizzard some time late this month. Wisniewski said he wants to know why large sections of some state highways, such as Route 18, were left unplowed, and plans to ask state Transportation Commissioner James Simpson to testify....
Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D) reacts outside the governor's office at a press conferencein October 2010.TRENTON — Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman John Wisniewski said he plans to hold a hearing on the state’s response to last week’s blizzard some time late this month.
Wisniewski said he wants to know why large sections of some state highways, such as Route 18, were left unplowed, and plans to ask state Transportation Commissioner James Simpson to testify.
“Was it a personnel issue? Was it an equipment issue? Was it a lack of planning issue? Was it an issue that we were overwhelmed by the forces of mother nature? I don’t know,” said Wisniewski. “Why were some municipalities able to dig themselves out and the state wasn’t?”
Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) is the state Democratic chairman.
The snowstorm gave way to a political storm last week, as Democrats criticized Republican Gov. Chris Christie and Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno for both being out of state as the snow was falling. Christie spent the week at Disney World with his family, and Guadagno was on a cruise with her family, including her ailing father. Senate President Stephen Sweeney, a Gloucester County Democrat, was left in charge.
“The administration works for the governor. The fiction we create when we have acting governors. Everyone in that administration is working for Chris Christie,” said Wisniewski.
On Friday, Christie held a press conference where he praised the state’s efforts, grading it with an A for effort and a B for results. He said those snowed in at home who don't live on state roads should look to their local officials, who he said should "buck up and take responsibility for the fact that they didn't do their job."
Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said Wisniweski’s call for a hearing appears to be partisan.
“It’s political. That’s what John Wisniewski’s job is by definition. He’s head of the Democratic State Committee,” he said.