EnlightenNJ Gets A Little Ahead of Themselves
I think the Carla Katz-Corzine issue is pretty big. I also think that Katz probably uses her influence fairly well, but Enlighten gets a little ahead of themselves today. Enlighten implies an impropriety in some house improvements at Carla Katz's house in Alexandria, which might (all of Alexandria is not in the preservation zone) be in the Highlands Preservation area.
Carla Katz, president of the largest state employee’s union, won a construction exemption from the Department of Environmental Protection, where the union she leads has a strong presence.However, the Highlands act makes a provision for existing single family homes
The Katz exemption allows the union president to build an addition and make other improvements in a region of Hunterdon County where the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act severely limits development.
Katz is president of Local 1034 of the Communications Workers of America, which represents 9,000 state workers — including 2,379 in the DEP's 3,450-member work force.
The cash strapped Carla Katz has some big plans for the house:
"Alexandria Township Building Department records show Katz wants to add a three-to-five-room addition, lay a new driveway, build a deck, dig a swimming pool and install a new septic system."
"1. The construction of a single family house for an individual’s own use or the use of an immediate family member, on a lot owned by the individual on the date of enactment, or on a lot under contract on or before May 17, 2004 [Sec. 30.a.(1)] as well as any improvement to a single family dwelling in existence on the date of enactment, including an addition, garage, shed, driveway, porch, deck, patio, swimming pool, or septic system. [Sec. 30.a.(5)]" linkI don't see why this is an issue.
Update: Enlighten and I have a nice comment thread on this over at their site.
posted by RBM @ 9:58 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
The real point of the post: Who is paying for Katz to build a three-to-five-room addition, a new driveway, a new deck, a new swimming pool and a new septic system? Given Katz' income, her rent and other expenses associated with living in a luxury apartment in Hoboken plus the house and property she wishes to improve; it doesn't seem possible for her to swing it all without financial assistance.
In terms of Katz winning an exemption - we quoted the APP report linked in this post exactly, so we are not "wrong on this one". We did not express an opinion on the Katz DEP exemption matter. We'll let those responsible for building permits and DEP exemptions to sort it out.
We might also have included the following quotes, from the same report linked in our post about the Katz exemption, the DEP term for the Katz construction permit, not ours. "Mary Helen Cervantes, a spokeswoman for the DEP, insisted Katz won the Highlands exemption fairly." Jeff Tittel, director of the Sierra Club said: "We believe exemptions are given out too arbitrarily".
It appears to us Corzine was trying to cover-up his financial assistance to Katz and we assume he must have a compelling reason for his actions. Otherwise why include similar personal loans on his senate financial disclosures, as required by senate ethics rules, and not the one to Katz?
If Corzine is providing additional financial assistance to Katz, he may well have been required to disclose this too. We happen to find it odd Corzine provided Katz the money as a gift after the two were no longer dating and if he is still supporting Katz financially, we find that stranger still.
What’s your explanation for Corzine’s actions? Please don't tell us, it's "just about sex".
Lie to a federal grand jury and obstruct justice – "it’s just about sex". Against all odds, causally mention the code word "Machiavelli" to the person you're trying to extort a bribe, place an unqualified friend in major state homeland security position, and on and on – no problem. All is forgiven because –"it’s just about sex".
Do you see a pattern to this excuse? As long as a politician's unethical or unlawful behavior also includes sexually activity, the public is required to give the guy a "get out of jail free" card.
We believe character matters and provides a window into how someone will behave if elected. We suggest people continue to follow the money.
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