Two Gov. Chris Christie cabinet nominees await confirmation by N.J. Senate

TRENTON -- Two of Gov. Chris Christie’s cabinet picks cleared a Senate panel today, and their nominations now await confirmation by the full Senate. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 12-0 to approve the nomination of Lori Grifa as commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs. Full Star-Ledger coverage of the N.J. Governor-elect Chris Christie transitionSussex County Freeholder Hal Wirths...

Patti Sapone/The Star-LedgerGov. Chris Christie with Lori Grifa, Acting Commissioner, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) during a news conference in the Statehouse in Trenton earlier today.
TRENTON -- Two of Gov. Chris Christie’s cabinet picks cleared a Senate panel today, and their nominations now await confirmation by the full Senate.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 12-0 to approve the nomination of Lori Grifa as commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs.

Sussex County Freeholder Hal Wirths was approved in a 9-0 vote, with three senators abstaining, as Christie’s choice to head the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Senators said Wirths came highly recommended personally, but they had misgiving about his professional qualifications for the job.

"There’s been a lot of concern with respect to your nomination, I think you can tell," said Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Union), the committee’s chairman, before voting to release Wirths’ nomination.

"We got a lot of ... people recommending you for the position, but to look at your resume," Scutari said, "It’s difficult to come to the conclusion that you would be the first person that someone would pick to head the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, with really very little experience in those areas."

The judiciary panel also sought and received assurances that Wirths, a Wantage resident who was a founder of a small bank and owned a furniture store, would avoid any conflicts of interest by resigning his bank and freeholder positions if the full Senate confirms him.

The committee was more sanguine about Grifa and asked her detailed questions about her perceptions and plans to revamp the state’s handling of affordable housing.

"In a perfect system, we’d be providing safe and decent housing for people who need it," Grifa said at one point, citing "a moral obligation" to do so.

A Montclair resident, Grifa is a former New York assistant district attorney who served at as chief of staff under former Attorney General David Samson and was an attorney at the Wolff & Samson law firm.