Judge: N.J. must turn over pension records involving former Guadagno assistant

[George II]

Source: Bergen Record

TRENTON — A New Jersey judge this week ordered the state Treasury Department to hand over most of the documents requested by a blogger who is investigating the pension deal for a top assistant to Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno when she was the Monmouth County sheriff.

The ruling Tuesday by Administrative Law Judge Linda Kassekert won't be the last word in the records battle between investigative journalist Mark Lagerkvist and the state government. The judge has scheduled a hearing on whether the state Treasurers Office withheld the records unlawfully. If she finds it did, the state will have to pay his legal fees.

The whole decision can be reviewed by the state Government Records Council after she decides that matter.

Lagerkvist, a reporter for the nonprofit news blog NJ Watchdog, has been looking into Guadagno's 2008 hiring of former Prosecutor's Office investigator Michael Donovan. Under the deal, he got a non-law enforcement title that allowed him to keep collecting an $85,000 state pension on top of his $87,500 salary. Guadagno has said the move saved taxpayer money.

Read more: http://www.northjersey.com/news/Judge_NJ_must_disclose_records_in_pension_deal_of_top_assistant_to_Guadagno_as_Monmouth_County_Sheriff.html

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The incidents of corruption keeps piling up - almost looks like Christie searched people with questionable character for his administration!

[bucolic_frolic]

1. You have Nailed It

"almost looks like Christie searched people with questionable character for his administration!"

When you can find people with skeletons in their closets, they are easier to control - you've
got something on them!

Kudos to your astute observation!

[Jack Rabbit]

2. The enormity of Governor Christie's problems: there are three separate investigations going on

Each investigation may grow out of the other, but there are three separate crimes involving Christie's allies. This one is unlikely to have involved the Governor, but it most definitely involves Lt. Governor Guadagno. What goes down might depend on how good her lawyer is. The Lt. Governor probably isn't involved in the George Washington Bridge scandal, but it seems like most of Christie's senior staff is and that is the one most likely to bring down the Governor himself. The relief fund scandal probably involves more communities than Hoboken, definitely involves the Lt. Governor and if it grows wider, it will look worse for more people, including Governor Christie himself.

[Laxman]

3. I'm Counting More Than Three....

1. Bridge lane closures
2. Hoboken
3. Stronger Than The Storm Commercials
4. Sandy Money to Supporters (Belleville/New Brunswick)
5. Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office
6. Guadagno Pension
7. Sandy Contractor (HGI)

and I don't think we're done yet. Christie has always been a person of questionable morals and has surrounded himself with the same kind of supporters who have been willing to further his career ambitions. Christie is an explosive and toxic combination of ambition, lack of morals and hubris that led him and his inner circle to believe they were smarter than everybody else and unassailable. These qualities attract a certain type of person. Hence the amalgamation of scoundrels that he has collected along the way from his days as a Morris County Freeholder to the U.S. Attorney' s office to the State House.

[George II]

4. Yes, there are more...

There is also the train station reconstruction in Harrison, and the State Trooper assigned to his detail stealing from Cabela's in Pennsylvania.

There probably are more, as you say. These are just coming to light. I would say that any one of them (other than the GW Bridge backup) alone might have been overlooked, but his administration and those around it have developed a culture of "I can get away with anything", and those around him also have developed an attitude of bullying and intimidation.

[unc70]

5. Don't forget his years as a Federal prosecutor

Most of his senior staff came with him from the prosecutor's office. Given his questionable campaign actions when he first ran for office (from Rachel), why should we think he changed just while an appointed prosecutor.