TRENTON — After a contentious hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee narrowly approved Ron Gravino as a commissioner on the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. During a hearing that lasted almost five hours, Democrats also approved 31 other nominees by Gov. Chris Christie, most of whom did not testify. Gravino, who was approved by a vote of 7-5, with two abstentions,...
State Sen. Nicholas Scutari questioned Ron Gravino while reviewing his nomination for commissioner on the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. The committee narrowly approved Gravino as a commissioner.TRENTON — After a contentious hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee narrowly approved Ron Gravino as a commissioner on the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.
During a hearing that lasted almost five hours, Democrats also approved 31 other nominees by Gov. Chris Christie, most of whom did not testify.
Gravino, who was approved by a vote of 7-5, with two abstentions, was treasurer for Reform Jersey Now, which was run by some of the Republican governor’s closest advisers and pushed his legislative agenda. Democrats noted the organization, Reform Jersey Now, took donations from companies that do hundreds of millions of dollars of business with the state, including the Turnpike Authority.
“You know that there were contractors that gave money to your organization, Reform Jersey Now, that do work for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority?” said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Nicholas Scutari (D-Union).
Reform Jersey Now targeted some Democrats — including at least one on the committee — with fliers, radio ads and automated telephone calls to get them to support Christie’s agenda, including his “tool kit” package to help towns curtail property taxes.
The organization’s volunteer advisory board includes several prominent Republicans, including Christie confidante Bill Palatucci. Its spokesman is Michael DuHaime, Christie’s chief strategist for his 2009 gubernatorial campaign. It raised about $624,000 in total and ceased operations at the end of last year.
Other Democrats questioned why Gravino did not disclose his work for the group on his April, 2010 questionnaire, even though he was brought on as treasurer the previous month.
“What you have here is an application that does not reflect the present day status or the involvement of the nominee,” said state Sen. Nia Gill (D-Essex).
Gravino is an accountant well-known as a treasurer for many Republican campaigns.
Republicans were outraged at the line of questioning, arguing that Gravino — a former chairman and CEO of the New Jersey Highway Authority — should be asked about highways, not Reform Jersey Now.
“Is this what this committee has come to?” said state Sen. Joe Kyrillos (R-Monmouth). “I just wanted to make sure this was a committee for the Senate, and not the Democratic State Committee.”
Things got especially heated after the committee observed a moment of silence for U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and the other victims of Saturday’s shooting in Tucson. Scutari mentioned Reform Jersey Now and political violence in the same breath.
“You want to tie the shootings to Reform New Jersey,” said state Sen. Kevin O’Toole (R-Essex). “What you just did is despicable.”
Scutari said he was not trying to make that association.
Gravino's nomination was tabled earlier in the day while Democrats considered other nominees. He was brought back at the end of the hearing so the committee could approve it.