Exclusive: Chris Christie Severely Mismanaged Funds from the Delaware River Port Authority

By Tom O’Brien

In 2009, Governor Chris Christie was the rock-star of the Republican party. After years of mismanagement by Democratic administrations in the state of New Jersey, mainly previous Governor John Corzine, Christie promised to clean up the fiscal disaster that was New Jersey’s finances.

That didn’t happen.

The funds that were collected from the tolls crossing the Delaware River into New Jersey were supposed to go toward economic development throughout the southern part of the state. They were supposed to go toward fixing critical infrastructure, funding police and fire departments, even helping municipalities pay off debts.

Instead these funds were wasted on crony projects that benefited wealthy, connected individuals and businesses. Overall, the misappropriation of these funds is a major blemish on Christie’s legacy that dwarfs the Bridgegate scandal which engulfed the administration just two years ago.

Of all the areas in South Jersey that desperately needed these funds, Camden County was shafted the worst. The city of Camden, New Jersey has consistently been ranked as among the most dangerous cities in America, yet they saw very little of this money.

Money that could have been used to pay off the cities massive debts or fund their police department instead went to fund new stadiums for the Philadelphia Eagles and minor league stadiums for the (now defunct) Camden River Sharks. Christie even shelled out $4.5 million for the Eagles practice facility.

Along with providing funding to help the billionaire owners of the Phillies and Eagles, there was little oversight to reimbursement procedures for DRPA employees. In fact, the oversight was lessened after Christie took office in 2010.

Swanky dinners at country clubs, expensive breakfasts at chic cafe’s, and events not related to the authority were reimbursed. One transaction shows that stays at ritzy hotels such as the Waldorf Astoria in NYC were also reimbursed.

Along with that, contractors were paid for work that either hadn’t been performed or was questionable at best. The people appointed on DRPA under Corzine largely stayed on after Christie took office.

The worst part about this is the fact that there are so many areas that desperately needed these funds. Bridges between New Jersey and Pennsylvania have been largely neglected and are in desperate condition. Roads throughout Camden County are decrepit and are falling apart as I write.

The city of Camden is one of the most impoverished and crime ridden cities in the country. Instead of providing the city of Camden with funding for their police department, they allowed the county to disband it and take it over, aided by many of the commissioners on the DRPA board.

Christie promised to be held accountable for the fiscal health of New Jersey yet looking at the report commissioned by the state of New Jersey, he continued on with the neglectful and wasteful procedures of previous administrations.

The questions we must ask is why weren’t these funds allocated to areas that needed them such as the city of Camden? Why were many of the previous Governor’s appointees left largely intact? At what point will the DRPA use the funds derived from the tolls to fix the bridges and roads throughout south Jersey that desperately need improvements?

If Christie doesn’t act fast on this, he will go down as another poor steward of New Jersey’s fiscal health, just like those before him.