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Our "friends" in Trenton are at it again

Trekology

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Feb 3, 2004
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I received an email from Senator Lesniak this afternoon warning about the latest attempt to force influence onto Rutgers:

Legislation has been introduced in the State Senate and Assembly, S2368/A2868, that would put the Lt. Governor on the Rutgers Board of Governors. This is just another attempt to politically interfere with the governance of Rutgers University.

The bills are sponsored by the Chairmen of the State and Local Government Services Committee in the Senate and Assembly so it's a serious threat to Rutgers independence. I will oppose the legislation every step of the way and keep you posted on its prospects.​

The bill would not only put the Lt. Governor onto the Board of Governors and insulate the Lt. Governor from being removed from due to malfeasance, it would make the Lt. Governor the Chairman of the Board of Governors.

This bill is sponsored by Assemblyman Troy Singleton (district 7) and Senator Jim Whelan (district 2).
 
Unreal...tell these clowns to go back to the circus or if they want money, do what us 'commoners' have to do and work for it- get a 2nd job.


Joe P.
 
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Rutgers got to start using its resources to research the hell outta all these politicians and the kleptocracy they got going on in this state. PUSH BACK.
 
Not happening. Bill acknowledges that this change cannot happen without Board of Governors and Board of Trustees approval. Trustees in particular will not approve a change in governance and realistically can't be forced to.

That having been said, a bunch of volunteers don't particularly want to spend their spare time sitting in court fighting laws which are unconstitutional even if they know they'll win.

Keep the insults towards our lawmakers to a minimum. We still need them and are finally at peace with them (for the most part anyway) - don't poke the bear.
 
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I received an email from Senator Lesniak this afternoon warning about the latest attempt to force influence onto Rutgers:

Legislation has been introduced in the State Senate and Assembly, S2368/A2868, that would put the Lt. Governor on the Rutgers Board of Governors. This is just another attempt to politically interfere with the governance of Rutgers University.

The bills are sponsored by the Chairmen of the State and Local Government Services Committee in the Senate and Assembly so it's a serious threat to Rutgers independence. I will oppose the legislation every step of the way and keep you posted on its prospects.​

The bill would not only put the Lt. Governor onto the Board of Governors and insulate the Lt. Governor from being removed from due to malfeasance, it would make the Lt. Governor the Chairman of the Board of Governors.

This bill is sponsored by Assemblyman Troy Singleton (district 7) and Senator Jim Whelan (district 2).
Once again, NJ Democrats. Remember this in November 2017 when the entire legislature is up for election.
 
These are two South Jersey politicians that have no ties to Rutgers. They are strictly taking orders from George Norcross who has always tried to get back at Rutgers after he flunked out. He also wants control of some of that B1G money.
 
Once again, NJ Democrats. Remember this in November 2017 when the entire legislature is up for election.

"...and Lesniak is the only candidate for Governor who can right all the wrongs perpetrated by the wedge politician buffoon who currently holds the office"

That's how you meant to finish your post but got distracted, right?
 
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Once again, NJ Democrats. Remember this in November 2017 when the entire legislature is up for election.
For State politics in many ways the split between North and South is more important than R v. D. In NJ it is helpful to think about there being three de facto parties. North Jersey Dems, South Jersey Dems and Republicans. Everything Christie has accomplished is a result of his teaming up with the Norcorss faction of SJ Dems to go along with the Repubs.

For the purposes of this discussion you should focus on what a legislator has to say about Rutgers, not other culture war or typical tax cut vs. public spending stuff.
 
This bill is sponsored by Assemblyman Troy Singleton (district 7) and Senator Jim Whelan (district 2).
Singleton, who is a decent guy personally, takes his marching orders directly from the Norcross/Sweeney arm of the party. He began his career as Joe Roberts' driver, worked his way up through the DRJTBC, and is now a legislator charged with doing their bidding in Trenton. This is clearly a way to increase the influence of South Jersey Dems at Rutgers.

Lesniak currently only dumps his patronage appointments at Kean. I'm sure he's looking to expand into Rutgers, so he'll want room for his people, not Norcorss's.
 
was somewhat dismayed at Lesniak at his recent apologetic defense of Obama over latest Terrorism killings..
 
Not happening. Bill acknowledges that this change cannot happen without Board of Governors and Board of Trustees approval. Trustees in particular will not approve a change in governance and realistically can't be forced to.

That having been said, a bunch of volunteers don't particularly want to spend their spare time sitting in court fighting laws which are unconstitutional even if they know they'll win.

Keep the insults towards our lawmakers to a minimum. We still need them and are finally at peace with them (for the most part anyway) - don't poke the bear.

I don't think a court fight is in the making, since the bill specifically says the Lt Gov only becomes part of the BOG if the BOG and BOT affirmatively consent. That said, the bill is so poorly written, it is not clear whether the BOG/BOT only need to consent once to allow all future Lt Gov's to become part of the BOG, or if they need to consent for each individual Lt Gov. My reading of the bill leans toward them consenting to each individual Lt Gov, so the BOT could approve Lt Governors who are friendly to Rutgers and withhold consent for those who are unfriendly.

From the Governor's perspective, I can't imagine that a Governor would want his Lt Gov to sit on the Rutgers BOG, let alone be chair. There is very little upside versus the existing situation where the Governor appoints 8 of the 15 BOG members. And there is a ton of political risk. Imagine if the Lt Gov Guadagno was Chairman of the BOG during the Mike Rice affair (or worse, if something like Sandusky happened). The whole mess would tarnish the Governor's office and the Governor's political opponents would make hay with it. Christie's reputation took a beating when a mid-level staffer arranged traffic tie-ups at the GWB. Imagine what would have happened if his Lt Governor was implicated in a Rice or Sandusky situation.

Running a major research university is a necessarily messy undertaking, fraught with political risk (not just from Rice-type issues, but also from intellectual freedom issues). The current governance model creates a buffer between the State University and politicians who want to avoid getting their hands dirty.

Keeping Rutgers' governance separate from Trenton not only makes sense for Rutgers, it makes sense for Trenton politicians as well.
 
Is there a sample letter with logical reasoning that we can use. We are all have visceral reactions to this because we feel collectively that the legislators are after the money, and they will ruin us like they ruined the med school. But they will use logic to try to accomplish their legislation. Id like to argue cogently. Thanks
 
I don't think a court fight is in the making, since the bill specifically says the Lt Gov only becomes part of the BOG if the BOG and BOT affirmatively consent. That said, the bill is so poorly written, it is not clear whether the BOG/BOT only need to consent once to allow all future Lt Gov's to become part of the BOG, or if they need to consent for each individual Lt Gov. My reading of the bill leans toward them consenting to each individual Lt Gov, so the BOT could approve Lt Governors who are friendly to Rutgers and withhold consent for those who are unfriendly.

From the Governor's perspective, I can't imagine that a Governor would want his Lt Gov to sit on the Rutgers BOG, let alone be chair. There is very little upside versus the existing situation where the Governor appoints 8 of the 15 BOG members. And there is a ton of political risk. Imagine if the Lt Gov Guadagno was Chairman of the BOG during the Mike Rice affair (or worse, if something like Sandusky happened). The whole mess would tarnish the Governor's office and the Governor's political opponents would make hay with it. Christie's reputation took a beating when a mid-level staffer arranged traffic tie-ups at the GWB. Imagine what would have happened if his Lt Governor was implicated in a Rice or Sandusky situation.

Running a major research university is a necessarily messy undertaking, fraught with political risk (not just from Rice-type issues, but also from intellectual freedom issues). The current governance model creates a buffer between the State University and politicians who want to avoid getting their hands dirty.

Keeping Rutgers' governance separate from Trenton not only makes sense for Rutgers, it makes sense for Trenton politicians as well.

That is 100% true but we are also dealing with people who are more concerned with how many cookies they can take from the jar to stow away until their inevitable fall. Christie would have done what he does with everything else- allow Guadagno to take the fall and claim he knew nothing.

This is a clear ploy by Sweeney allies under the assumption he will be the next governor. Which is an assumption that is hopefully errant. If it looks like Lesniak or Murphy or Fulop will win this bill will disappear in a second.
 
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Yeah he should have said Obama knew about it like a certain candidate did, right?
nahh.. But, no need to twist the truth however and make excuses for the bumbling do nothing Obama administration.Same Pres that called ISIS ..."'JV'".just repeating his words...
 
For State politics in many ways the split between North and South is more important than R v. D. In NJ it is helpful to think about there being three de facto parties. North Jersey Dems, South Jersey Dems and Republicans. Everything Christie has accomplished is a result of his teaming up with the Norcorss faction of SJ Dems to go along with the Repubs.

For the purposes of this discussion you should focus on what a legislator has to say about Rutgers, not other culture war or typical tax cut vs. public spending stuff.
Yeah, too easy to try and make this a Red/Blue thing, and you would be misguided if you did.
 
The more offensive thing here is why are they wasting their time proposing illegal bills? This is like the third time they have proposed a bill that has 0% chance of surviving a court challenge. Its a pure waste of time.

The State budget cuts actually help us now. Since we are well protected legally, the biggest threat would come from a withholding of funds. Right now, Rutgers could pretty easily tell the state to pound sand if they tried to go that route.
 
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Hope this thread stays talking about the : "Lt. Governor on the Rutgers Board of Governors" issue and protecting RU from State interference.
Ignoring the posters who want to further a different political agenda instead of fighting to keep the Rutgers Administration as independent from Trenton as it can be .
 
If it was not for lesniak there would not be any Build fund sucks that half of what we got so far was given to us by politicians. They may want a say since they are contributing so much towards the facility upgrades. I wish we didn't need their money but we obviously do.
 
For State politics in many ways the split between North and South is more important than R v. D. In NJ it is helpful to think about there being three de facto parties. North Jersey Dems, South Jersey Dems and Republicans. Everything Christie has accomplished is a result of his teaming up with the Norcorss faction of SJ Dems to go along with the Repubs.

For the purposes of this discussion you should focus on what a legislator has to say about Rutgers, not other culture war or typical tax cut vs. public spending stuff.

Exactly. T2K is a republican partisan, while I'm a Rutgers partisan first and a democrat second, at least in NJ. There are NJ politicians on both sides who are very supportive of RU and not so supportive. Lesniak is very supportive. Norcross (who my wife was childhood friends with and is actually a nice guy, outside of politics) not so much.
 
This is a clear ploy by Sweeney allies under the assumption he will be the next governor. Which is an assumption that is hopefully errant. If it looks like Lesniak or Murphy or Fulop will win this bill will disappear in a second.
Hopefully the only dopes who vote for Boss Tweed are those sparse back ass South Jersey people. Wait till they get a load of his gas tax, we'll go from one of the lowest in the nation to the 7th highest if he gets his way. I know people who work for Kean, they say the guy's a buffoon and completely lives up to his uneducated Boss Tweed stereotype. I have no idea what people are thinking voting this man into any position of power.
 
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If it was not for lesniak there would not be any Build fund sucks that half of what we got so far was given to us by politicians. They may want a say since they are contributing so much towards the facility upgrades. I wish we didn't need their money but we obviously do.
We gave the guy the soapbox, mic and probably the script.

they want the Big 10 money
Being saying this on the Issues Board since the B1G announcement in 2012.

Keep the insults towards our lawmakers to a minimum. We still need them and are finally at peace with them (for the most part anyway) - don't poke the bear.
If the stick is big and sharp enough...;)

These are two South Jersey politicians that have no ties to Rutgers. They are strictly taking orders from George Norcross who has always tried to get back at Rutgers after he flunked out. He also wants control of some of that B1G money.
See above.

Running a major research university is a necessarily messy undertaking, fraught with political risk (not just from Rice-type issues, but also from intellectual freedom issues). The current governance model creates a buffer between the State University and politicians who want to avoid getting their hands dirty.

Keeping Rutgers' governance separate from Trenton not only makes sense for Rutgers, it makes sense for Trenton politicians as well.
Someday, those along the Delaware will listen to you.

Exactly. T2K is a republican partisan, while I'm a Rutgers partisan first and a democrat second, at least in NJ. There are NJ politicians on both sides who are very supportive of RU and not so supportive. Lesniak is very supportive. Norcross (who my wife was childhood friends with and is actually a nice guy, outside of politics) not so much.
See above.

I would love to believe he is sincere but...
 
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Right, direct the BIG money to Camden with a slice for Essex (RU Newark). This is like groundhog day. Every fricking June, right at the end of session when they hope that people are asleep or going on vacation.

Norcross/Sweeney continue to hate the Camden campus. They want the money for Rowan/Cooper medical school, not any part of Rutgers. But I agree the bill is terrible.
 
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Norcross/Sweeney continue to hate the Camden campus. They want the money for Rowan/Cooper medical school, not any part of Rutgers. But I agree the bill is terrible.

That's why I said Camden, not RU Camden ;) and explicitly mentioned RU Newark. The question is how do you funnel RU money from the BIG share to Rowan and Cooper? Perhaps through the joint medical/health sciences board in Camden?
 
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nahh.. But, no need to twist the truth however and make excuses for the bumbling do nothing Obama administration.Same Pres that called ISIS ..."'JV'".just repeating his words...

How did he "twist the truth?"

Was killing Bin Laden and Awlaki among others "nothing"?
 
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