The Governor spoke at the Police Memorial Service 5/21/13. But he did not visit our damaged boardwalk or make himself available to the press to discuss our funding issues. Blogfinger photo.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
For nearly a year we have been hearing that the “Governor’s office” is working behind the scenes to get us some sort of funding to rebuild the Ocean Grove boardwalk. His surrogates in the state legislature have told us that in person and so has the Camp Meeting Association.
But those reassurances strain credulity because he has come to the Jersey Shore to visit our neighbors on many occasions but he has never come to the site of our demolished boardwalk to speak to the citizens about our problems with FEMA.
Now an outsider at the Weekly Standard has raised the specter of anti-Christian bias on the part of FEMA, an idea that has already been considered on Blogfinger and at the Star Ledger. If there is even the possibility of bias, shouldn’t Christie be addressing it publicly? And maybe FEMA is being harsh towards us partly because of the gay rights issues that have been controversial in the Grove—issues that perhaps the Governor considers toxic. After all, he has waffled on the subject of gay marriage.
Maybe he is afraid to even talk about such things for fear that it might tarnish him politically as a presidential candidate. Maybe he sees the issues as lose-lose propositions, and perhaps politics are his main consideration at times like this, to the detriment of our citizens.
The Governor has a reputation of being outspoken and courageous; to be willing to swim against the current. But in Ocean Grove, where it has been obvious that we the people of this town are experiencing some sort of FEMA discrimination, Christie has been missing in action.
So maybe our small population isn’t worth sticking his neck out for, but shouldn’t great leaders step forward on principle without worrying about votes? If he had gone public standing behind Ocean Grove, then maybe FEMA might have been a little more sympathetic.
Ocean Grove will soon experience a turning point in our struggle. Representatives of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association will soon be meeting in Washington for a final appeal to FEMA .
Perhaps it is time for Gov. Christie personally to tell us something about our situation and step forward and publicly show his support. And Governor, please bring Congressman Chris Smith with you. Most of us haven’t heard of him or seen him in the Grove, and he also supposedly is behind our efforts.
I don’t fault the governor for failing to allege a secret anti-Christian scheme (or anti-anti-LGBT scheme). But I do very much fault him — and Representative Smith (R.N.J.), who is charged with representing our town in DC — for their failure to do what is required to get the money required to fix our boardwalk, if not from FEMA then from another source.
The Governor valiantly led the charge to get Congress to rush funds to NJ in the wake of the storm, recognizing — as he said — that work had to be done immediately. Accordingly, on the Governor’s own terms, it is just inexcusable that we are still waiting to getting this lifeline of our community fixed over a year after the storm.
FYI, I wrote to Representative Smith several months ago and I did receive a call back from his office. The staffer who called told me that Representative Smith was both concerned and well aware of Ocean Grove’s situation and that his office was supporting our FEMA appeal, which they felt positive about. I asked what would happen if we were denied again, and he said that there may be other Federal monies/grants available to OG. The staffer was emphatic that OG was on their radar.
Gov is on 101.5 every month to answer questions.
You can send email via link above or call, tweet, txt,
etc…. During the show.
Next show should be later this month. Maybe some BF readers would try to
Ask him about OG and FEMA. You only get one
question though, so word it carefully.
Link: http://nj1015.com/ask-the-governor-your-question/
I think he’s done working the storm angle as the hero of Superstorm Sandy. All of the post-Sandy TV spots starred HIM and looked more like re-election ads than anything else. If there’s a possible PR down-side for Christie, don’t expect to see him anytime soon.