SAYREVILLE — Gov. Chris Christie took his newest battle with state lawmakers today to the hometown of Democratic Party Chairman Assemblyman John Wisniewski. Christie has picked a new piece of his agenda to chastise lawmakers for not passing after his last round of town hall meetings focused on pension and benefit changes for public employees. Those changes were approved...
Gov. Chris Christie speaks at a town hall meeting in Chesilhurst in this January file photo. Today, the governor's town hall tour stopped by Sayreville, where Christie championed several issues, including limiting political donations by public employee unions.SAYREVILLE — Gov. Chris Christie took his newest battle with state lawmakers today to the hometown of Democratic Party Chairman Assemblyman John Wisniewski.
Christie has picked a new piece of his agenda to chastise lawmakers for not passing after his last round of town hall meetings focused on pension and benefit changes for public employees. Those changes were approved by lawmakers this spring.
Christie outlined a series of bills he's supporting that would require lawmakers to disclose more of their personal financial information, limit political donations by public employee unions and stop politicians from holding multiple offices.
Christie berated lawmakers for not working over the summer, joking several times about them not being in Trenton and saying they should return on vote on his proposals before "they dare ask you for your vote."
Tom Hester, Jr., an Assembly Democrats spokesman, said the governor is ignoring the state's unemployment rate and is "out of touch" with working class residents.
"Plus, let’s face it — this governor preaching on ethics is laughable," Hester said in a statement. "New Jerseyans know that someone who travels secretly around the country to raise money, endorses the efforts of covert conservative groups and uses taxpayer-paid state police property for personal and political use cannot be taken seriously."
In discussing his call for more legislative disclosure, Christie made clear that he was aware he had traveled with Wisniewski's hometown, calling him out by name and mocking the assemblyman's press releases and last name.
"Assemblyman Wisniewski, who is the chairman of the Democratic Party, the leader of all the Democrats in New Jersey, why wouldn't he be right out front saying here, this is what I have, here is how I earn it?" Christie said. "Instead, he's hiding. All he does every day is put out nasty press releases about me."
Christie said all the press releases sent out by Wisniewski do is teach him how to pronounce his last name, not add to the public discussion.
"I have disagreed with the governor's policies and make no apologies for airing that debate," Wisniewski responded in a statement. "I think that's a debate the public is entitled to hear. I'm sorry if the governor would prefer that I just salute and say 'yes, sir,' but that's not the way government works. He still hasn't adjusted to the shift from being prosecutor to being governor; he still bullies people as if they were hostile witnesses and still insults people. I think that's a shame."
Christie also on multiple occasions during the town hall meeting took an opportunity to lambaste state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen), who offered a bill this week that would require the governor to notify the Legislature when he is leaving the state. The disagreement about him leaving began when a secretly-recorded audio of Christie addressing a group in Colorado in June surfaced months later and it was revealed he hadn't publicly disclosed attending the event.
Christie, who has disagreed with Weinberg on several occasions, called the bill "idiotic" and "political," and that she is "wasting money" sending out press releases about the bill.
"She wants to attack, she wants to criticize, she wants to cloud over the real issues that we're confronting right now," Christie said.
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