Christie's promise of more pension 'reform' is another lie

Retina Associates of New Jersey on Teaneck's Cedar Lane provides only limited angle parking in a lot so narrow departing patients and caregivers must back their cars out into traffic on the four-lane street, where speeding is common. How did township zoning officials approve this hazardous arrangement?

Upon finding a full lot, one visitor just left his car's engine running with the hazard lights flashing, partially blocking a lane on the busy four-lane street.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

One day after a judge scolded Governor Christie for breaking the law on funding the state pension system three years running, The Record has forgiven him.

What else can readers conclude from the upbeat Page 1 coverage of the GOP bully's budget speech on Tuesday, when he unveiled another round of so-called pension reforms -- a plan that may be months or years away from implementation (A-1)?

And as on too many days in the past, Editor Martin Gottlieb plays more favorable spin by Columnist Charles Stile next to the front-page news story, burying protestations from the teachers union that no pension deal was made (A-6).

Chief spin doctor

Good riddance to Michael Drewniak (rhymes with "maniac"), the foul-mouthed former Star-Ledger reporter who sold out his profession to become Christie's spokesman in 2002 (A-3).

Staff Writer Melissa Hayes, who often sounds like Christie's lap dog, actually calls Drewniak "a fiery defender" instead of a specialist in disinformation.

On Tuesday, The Record said Drewniak denounced as "liberal judicial activism" Superior Court Judge Mary C. Jacobson's order that Christie fully fund the state pension system by June 30.

Serving as spokesman for the worst governor in New Jersey history is the equivalent of working as a male prostitute.

Another correction

The editors run a correction of an L-1 story that stated Glen Rock's former police chief was "featured" in photos that showed Officer Christopher McInerney baring his buttocks.

However, the correction omits the name of the town (A-2).

Last Wednesday, The Record's business editors ran the wrong photo for Harry Kislevitz of River Edge, onetime owner of a toy company called Colorforms, according to a Record reader who knows his widow.

Hackensack news?

The only Hackensack news today is a drive-by photo of a three-car Hackensack Avenue crash with a caption that is silent on whether speeding, running a red light or another factor was the cause (L-3).

When will the local assignment editors, who are unable to find enough news to fill their pages, learn that jury selection isn't news, and certainly doesn't deserve a full-blown story on the Local front today (L-1)?

Union -- not the press -- exposes Christie wealth

Image via Wikipedia

Three top aides to Governor Christie are millionaires, as he is.

A continuing problem with The Record is too many news stories that read like advertisements. 

Recall the recent pieces on a high-powered lawyer and a woman who sells private jets -- both do or did business with the Borg family.

Now, an advertisement trumps cowardly Editor Francis Scandale and his weak Trenton reporting staff -- claiming that Governor Christie's net worth totals more than $3 million and three of his top aides are themselves millionaires.

The ad -- paid for by the New Jersey teachers union -- takes up all of Page A-22 today:

CHRISTIE'S

MILLIONAIRES

Governor Christie cut our schools, women's health care

and our public safety to give a tax break to millionaires.

After Christie vetoed a tax surcharge on millionaires passed by Democrats last May, the Woodland Park daily has tried its hardest to ignore discussion of the the levy, which could generate close to $1 billion.

I'm still waiting for The Record to name the many millionaires who contribute to Christie's war chest.  

Mine your own business

On Page 1 today, the centerpiece is  a sleep-inducing takeout on abandoned mines in North Jersey. The unmapped mines in Hackensack must be why no reporter has covered news here in weeks.

Christie is superb at managing the news, as he does in refusing to say anything more about defying the state Supreme Court, if the justices order him to send more aid to public schools (A-1 and A-4).

GPS moment 

On A-2 today, Better Living apologizes for giving an incorrect address for a store it promoted. You can't get any sloppier than that, Features Director Barbara Jager.  

On A-4, a news story notes Newark airfares are the highest in the nation. I don't recall seeing anything about that from globe-trotting Travel Editor Jill Schensul, who is more worried about the welfare of animals in Africa than of readers who travel.

Solar plexus

Look at that huge L-1 story about an Upper Saddle River church installing solar panels on its roof. What's all the fuss? It's far from a first, but sadly, this is what passes for municipal news from Staff Writer Evonne Coutros and head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes.

Also on L-1, Columnist Charles Stile comes down hard on Christie -- for a change -- for savaging Associate Justice Barry Albin, who questions why the Raging Bull refuses to tax millionaires to help fund education.

Another L-1 story reports the hiring of a new city manager in Englewood, where the old manager did little to fill empty storefronts or integrate the elementary and middle schools. 

Lying to readers 

Publisher Stephen A. Borg crows about The Record "retaining circulation," without telling readers the figures cited include the Herald News, which is called an "edition" of the bigger paper (L-8).

Does this story help or hurt?

Image by wallyg via Flickr

I expected more from the Page A-5 "fact checker," especially after reading The Record's A-1 promo today under the heading: 

Christie vs. NJEA:
Who's telling the truth?

Why wasn't the story played out front? And why allow a stubborn foe of mass transit, Staff Writer Tom Davis, to write about the NJ Transit fare hikes, which have been approved for May 1? He's some "transportation reporter."

How much time is a reader expected to spend with that A-5 fact-checker? The third item appears under a heading: "Income tax rates for the rich," but the text merely recaps the governor's and teachers union's positions. Next, "the facts" appear, but we never learn who is telling the truth, as the A-1 promo promised.

The one-year tax surcharge on the Borgs and other wealthy families earning over $400,000 would generate "nearly $1 billion." That would avert a lot of the cuts Governor Christie has imposed on just about everyone but the rich. The extra tax was enacted by Jon Corzine in his last year in office (and will remain in effect until Dec. 31, according to WBGO-FM news).

Staff Writer Ashley Kindergan continues to impress. After excellent follow-up stories on the murder of a teacher Tuesday and Wednesday, she has two municipal stories in Local today -- "the patch" on the front and a tax hike story inside.

She puts the rest of the local staff to shame, including Hackensack reporter Monsy Alvarado. Every edition of The Record raises the question of how clueless head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and her minions keep their jobs.