December 10, 2013
Democrats on Monday called for the resignation of Governor Christie’s top appointee at the Port Authority after revelations that one of his key aides tried to keep controversial and unannounced lane changes on the world’s busiest bridge a secret from local officials and commuters.
It was just one of a series of disclosures that painted a picture of a powerful agency employee who was determined to conduct an ill-fated traffic study, even though mid-level agency officials were skeptical about it from the beginning.
Sworn testimony from three Port Authority officials before New Jersey lawmakers on Monday seemed to accelerate the controversy over unannounced lane changes that caused four-hour backups near the George Washington Bridge in September.
It was just one of a series of disclosures that painted a picture of a powerful agency employee who was determined to conduct an ill-fated traffic study, even though mid-level agency officials were skeptical about it from the beginning.
Sworn testimony from three Port Authority officials before New Jersey lawmakers on Monday seemed to accelerate the controversy over unannounced lane changes that caused four-hour backups near the George Washington Bridge in September.
The official who ordered the lane changes, David Wildstein, announced Friday he would resign at the end of the year. But that didn’t appease Democratic lawmakers, who turned their focus Monday to the role of Bill Baroni, Wildstein’s boss and the top New Jersey executive at the bi-state agency. Baroni did not appear on Monday, but testified at a previous hearing.
The most significant testimony on Monday came from the agency’s executive director, Pat Foye, an appointee of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat. Foye said that if Wildstein had been a New York appointee, he would have been fired immediately, a clear dig at Baroni that was likely to aggravate tensions between Trenton and Albany. Wildstein is set to remain in his $150,000 job until the end of the year, and on Friday, Christie’s spokesman praised his work, calling him a tireless advocate of New Jersey’s interests at the Port Authority.”
The hearings are exploring the origins of what some have called a traffic study and others say is something more sinister.
When he ordered the study only days before it was to go into effect, Wildstein, according to testimony, instructed the bridge manager not to tell anyone about it — not even Fort Lee police, who records show, quickly complained the resulting delays could slow emergency vehicles.
Bridge Manager Robert Durando said he believed Wildstein’s order to keep quiet was “wrong,” but he said he didn’t speak up because he feared the consequences of defying Christie’s No. 2 at the agency. Wildstein, a former political consultant who went to high school with the governor and was appointed by Christie as the Port Authority’s director of interstate capital projects, is known inside the agency for his brash, often intimidating, management style. But the three agency officials said that in this case, he also bypassed standard protocol.
Internal documents obtained by The Record show that planning for the study began a week-and-a-half before the Sept. 9 lane shift was ordered by Wildstein. They also show that Port Authority traffic engineers predicted that narrowing Fort Lee’s dedicated access lanes from three to one would result in 600-vehicle backups on local streets that would not clear until noon each weekday. Wildstein ordered the study anyway, agency officials testified Monday, saying he wanted to see if it would speed up non-local traffic approaching the bridge on Interstate 95.
The Port Authority officials, compelled to testify under oath on Monday, alternately described Wildstein’s order as “unprecedented,” “odd,” and “unacceptable.” And an independent traffic engineer told lawmakers that the lane shift was not even necessary; the study could have been performed using computer models, without causing reported delays of up to four hours.
Democratic lawmakers remained focused on Baroni, whose previous testimony painted a different picture than accounts provided on Monday. Baroni knew about the lane changes beforehand, he has said. And he previously acknowledged a failure to communicate, but legislators on Monday said they wondered if he was involved in the planning of the study or in the decision to keep it secret.
“Bill Baroni has outlived his usefulness as the Port Authority’s executive director,” John Wisniewski, a Democrat who chaired the Assembly transportation committee, said in a statement. “The testimony showed that Mr. Baroni has not been honest with the public and this committee about these lane closures and his mythical traffic study.
“Mr. Baroni must go,” he said.
The most significant testimony on Monday came from the agency’s executive director, Pat Foye, an appointee of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat. Foye said that if Wildstein had been a New York appointee, he would have been fired immediately, a clear dig at Baroni that was likely to aggravate tensions between Trenton and Albany. Wildstein is set to remain in his $150,000 job until the end of the year, and on Friday, Christie’s spokesman praised his work, calling him a tireless advocate of New Jersey’s interests at the Port Authority.”
The hearings are exploring the origins of what some have called a traffic study and others say is something more sinister.
When he ordered the study only days before it was to go into effect, Wildstein, according to testimony, instructed the bridge manager not to tell anyone about it — not even Fort Lee police, who records show, quickly complained the resulting delays could slow emergency vehicles.
Bridge Manager Robert Durando said he believed Wildstein’s order to keep quiet was “wrong,” but he said he didn’t speak up because he feared the consequences of defying Christie’s No. 2 at the agency. Wildstein, a former political consultant who went to high school with the governor and was appointed by Christie as the Port Authority’s director of interstate capital projects, is known inside the agency for his brash, often intimidating, management style. But the three agency officials said that in this case, he also bypassed standard protocol.
Internal documents obtained by The Record show that planning for the study began a week-and-a-half before the Sept. 9 lane shift was ordered by Wildstein. They also show that Port Authority traffic engineers predicted that narrowing Fort Lee’s dedicated access lanes from three to one would result in 600-vehicle backups on local streets that would not clear until noon each weekday. Wildstein ordered the study anyway, agency officials testified Monday, saying he wanted to see if it would speed up non-local traffic approaching the bridge on Interstate 95.
The Port Authority officials, compelled to testify under oath on Monday, alternately described Wildstein’s order as “unprecedented,” “odd,” and “unacceptable.” And an independent traffic engineer told lawmakers that the lane shift was not even necessary; the study could have been performed using computer models, without causing reported delays of up to four hours.
Democratic lawmakers remained focused on Baroni, whose previous testimony painted a different picture than accounts provided on Monday. Baroni knew about the lane changes beforehand, he has said. And he previously acknowledged a failure to communicate, but legislators on Monday said they wondered if he was involved in the planning of the study or in the decision to keep it secret.
“Bill Baroni has outlived his usefulness as the Port Authority’s executive director,” John Wisniewski, a Democrat who chaired the Assembly transportation committee, said in a statement. “The testimony showed that Mr. Baroni has not been honest with the public and this committee about these lane closures and his mythical traffic study.
“Mr. Baroni must go,” he said.
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