January 9, 2008 - 5:20pm
News
Abelow: Asselta vote, job "unrelated"
By EditorFormer State Senator Nicholas Asselta’s vote for Governor Jon Corzine’s school funding plan Monday night and his appointment to a $125,000-a-year position on the state Board of Public Utilities on Tuesday are unrelated, says Corzine’s Chief of Staff, Bradley Abelow.
Abelow told The Star-Ledger that he was “not aware of” and link between the vote and the appointment.
"We never talk about the process that we go through to get the talented people that we find," Abe low said. "I've got nothing more to say on this other than it had nothing to do with" the school funding vote.
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Asselta's New Commute
Asselta lives down in Cumberland County and the BPU office is in Gateway in Newark. I would guess the BPU staff won't see much of him aruond the Newark office?
Asselta
Nicholas Asselta would never fine a job in the private sector making anything above minium wage. He has nothing of value to add to a company.
$125,000 no show job is why this state is near Chapter 11.
Even though Asselta is a Republican, and I hate Norcross, I'm kinda glad this RINO lost in November.
camdenbeer@yahoo.com
Yeah that's the ticket!!!!
I think the job has more to do with Asselta not running for the Assembly in 2 years.
Please
Sorry Brad. This one is obvious. Asselta wanted to job out and drop out of the race long before this. I'm not gonna dispute that Norcross wanted Asselta beaten up and defeated, Corzine let George have his fun with Van Drew-all the while knowing that Nicky would job out anyway. As I have mentioned previously, Asselta was a terrible Conservative and he and Van Drew rarely opposed each other's votes anyway. This is pure bull, however. While I appreciate Corzine's attempts at keeping Norcross quite, I am disapointed that he felt the need to appoint Nick to a cushy job. Nick Asselta is the dullest bulb, dullest tack, dullest tool, in the shed and now he makes money to do nothing.
such unforgiving people....
Is it so inconceivable that Asselta might have voted for the plan anyway? Plenty of other Republicans did.
I guess there are worse Republicans to appoint to the seat than Asselta.
I doubt there was any overt quid pro quo, I'll give him and Corzine the benefit of the doubt.
Commute Won't Matter
"Asselta lives down in Cumberland County and the BPU office is in Gateway in Newark. I would guess the BPU staff won't see much of him aruond the Newark office?"
The BPU only meet twice a month, so the commute won't matter.
This is a no brainer. Asselta is utterly unqualified for this job. His background is in education and in publishing. He has no background in utilities other than opposing the entrance of Verizon into the New Jersey cable industry.
And with a background in education, he must know that the new formula was hitting his district particularly hard. This was a quid-pro-quo, straight up.
Notice though, who did break party ranks and vote against the formula because it hurt their constituents? Van Drew and Albano.
"Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little."
- Edmund Burke
Clarify
I just want to clarify that I normally support Corzine, and as I mentioned it was smart to let Norcross defeat Asselta publically. I would also venture to say that Nick had been working on a way to job out before thiis vote and this was insurance. I simply cant stand Asselta because he is literally a slimeball that is practically brain-dead.
Where can I get one of these jobs??
A complete moron making $125k a year for 2 days work a month. The guys couldn't even handle the drive thru window at McDonalds!!!
And Brad, do you think that people are stupid? Cut me a break.
Put 'em both under oath, watch 'em squirm
Asselta will be going before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Once he's under oath, ask him specific questions about who offered him what, and when. He's either got to perjure himself or tell the truth. Abelow may not be aware, but someone sure is.
While we're at it, put the whole lot of them under oath. Trading an official action for something of value is illegal, and both the administration and Asselta have done it.
Next, someone needs to propose "Nick and Jon's Law," which would require a two-year cooling off period between a decisive vote on any bill (let's say any bill that passes or fails by less than 60 percent) and any appointment.
Enough is enough. You can't claim to be an ethical administration and then run this kind of an arm-twisting syndicate. Is that the only way they can win a vote?
And let me guess
While I share your disgust here Commonsensenj, I am not as excited as you are for another Van Drew sponsored piece of legislation that is cumbersome and expressly related to one individual or specific entity.
nick asselta
Now Asselta can play free golf on someone else's dime 28 days per month, his golf game surely needs the work.
Jim Whelan campaigned on ethics reform, but you can bet he will vote for this quid pro quo.
As despicable as this is, Abelow's comments are a joke, Brad surely has turned in his moral compass.
Follow the path
NJEA supported the school funding formula. Asselta has a strong track record for his support of NJEA. The yes vote could be intrepreted as one last vote in line with NJEA. Now, if a plum job had been handed out by NJEA that would have been a prime reason to criticize and point fingers.Bet that NJEA isn't too happy with Van Drew's vote. Sometimes one has to vote for the "greater good" (if the formula is that).
Asselta was also a longtime Vineland school board member
And it was one of the biggest losers of Asselta's bought-and-sold vote. In fact, he is a property taxpayer in the district that will see a large tax hike as a result of his bought-and-sold vote. Go figure.
The Spotlight
There's is no such thing as bad publicity right? While the recent spotlight on Asselta has not been flattering, the mostly irelevant Senator has never received such discussion and attention. Say what you want about Van Drew, but he is often in the news because of his legislative record, good or bad. At least he is a productive legislator.
Can anyone recall what the last thing of note Asselta did other than the leggy blonde twenty-something he met at a Somer's Point bar? Good riddance.
"Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little."
- Edmund Burke