Gov. Christie said specifics are to come, but for now he thinks the Legislature should have pension and ethics reforms in place by Christmas. "One hundred and seven days is plenty of time for the guys and women in the Legislature to get down to work and get things done," he said. Proposals, he said, include limiting public officials to one salaried position, ending dual elected office holding and extending stricter financial disclosure requirements to the Legislature. The governor also said he will push for changes to the education tenure system and to pay teachers based partly on performance. Democrats control the Legislature and they have kowtowed to the teachers union, which maintains all teachers at the same level of experience and education are the same and should be paid the same.
Ending dual elected offices is a no-brainer. It should go further. No office holder should be appointed to another post, either. Like Jeff Nash, Camden County freeholder who also serves as vice chairman of the embattled DRPA. Nash's tenure is a prime example why no one should hold more than one public office, elected or otherwise.
Christie has been promising an ethics push for some time. That didn't stop the partisans from getting into high gear:
"The governor would prefer to divert attention from his $400 million Race to the Top gaffe, though New Jerseyans won’t be fooled," Assembly Democratic Leader Joseph Cryan told the Star-Ledger. Cryan, by the way, is also a double-dipper, getting paid to be an undersheriff and until fairly recently was also Democratic Party chairman (Where does he find the time?) Cryan usually does the talking for the Assembly instead of Speaker Oliver -- who has a second public paycheck too.
Cryan is right though, people won't be fooled by Cryan and his customary and usual stunts to avoid facing the truth about career trough-swillers.