MOPPING UP: North Wildwood Mayor “disappointed” Christie “would lower himself as much as he did”

Mayor Patrick Rosenello (R-North Wildwood)

By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog

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UPDATE: Chris Christie reportedly called Mayor Rosenello to apologize for the “crazy mayor” comment sometime Tuesday, Save Jerseyans, not long before announcing an Atlantic City state takeover. Details here…

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I don’t know what’s gotten into him, Save Jerseyans. I really don’t. I can guess (and did) but that’s all it is. An educated guess.

I do know it’s interesting how the political fall-out from major meteorological events seem to repeatedly play a central role in shaping Chris Christie‘s electoral fortunes.

Mayor Patrick Rosenello (R-North Wildwood)
Mayor Patrick Rosenello (R-North Wildwood)

After reversing his initial decision to weather the winter storm in New Hampshire and then, when the snow clouds cleared, doubling-down on his strangeno residual flooding damage” at the Jersey Shore claim on the trail in New Hampshire on Monday afternoon, the Governor issued a statement hours later with some details of his Administration’s planned response.

He then he went on the attack at an evening town hall, going after the “Crazy Mayor of North WildwoodPatrick Rosenello, a Republican, whose town experienced objectively serious and expensive flooding from the historic weekend blizzard (click here for drone footage). The verbal barrage reportedly started when a town hall attendee brought up her friends having allegedly sent her photos of flooding “all over the state.”

“All over the state?” Christie shot back, clearly frustrated. “Really? There’s been one county that’s flooded in the state. That was Cape May County. So I don’t know where from all over the state, since we have 21 counties, where that’s happened. Second, I don’t know what you expect me to do. You want me to go down there with a mop?”

Mayor Rosenello would probably settle for something less than a mop. At this point, he’d be happy to not get beat over the head with a verbal mop handle by his party’s top elected official while his town is still drying out.

Christie during a weekend storm presser.
Christie during a weekend storm presser.

“I have watched the video of the comments that Governor Chris Christie made at a campaign event in New Hampshire this evening, where he referred to me as the ‘Crazy Mayor of North Wildwood.’ As one of his earliest supporters during both of his runs for Governor and having met and interacted with him and his family numerous times over the course of his terms as Governor, I am disappointed that he would lower himself as much as he did this evening,” Rosenello said in a statement released via social media…

I am more disappointed, however, in the evident lack of concern or respect that he is showing for the first responders, residents, business and property owners of North Wildwood, Cape May County and other areas of New Jersey impacted by this storm,” he added. “Having spent the entirety of this event in North Wildwood and coordinating with our emergency responders to safely rescue approximately 150 people from their flooded homes, my perspective is somewhat different from that of the Governor as he campaigns in New Hampshire.

We will continue to work to help our residents and business owners recover from this event and we will continue to work with our partners at the State and Federal level to make sure that the appropriate resources are brought to bear to address the damage that has occurred,” Rosenello concluded. “North Wildwood and Cape May County are great places to live, which make them some of the most popular vacation destinations on the East Coast. I am confident that our area will be ready to welcome our many visitors this summer as we have done for generations.”

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Matt Rooney
About Matt Rooney 8691 Articles
MATT ROONEY is SaveJersey.com's founder and editor-in-chief, a practicing New Jersey attorney, and the host of 'The Matt Rooney Show' on 1210 WPHT every Sunday evening from 7-10PM EST.

6 Comments

  1. Rullo for Governor 2017 blasts Governor Christie for
    abandoning flooded Southern NJ for New Hampshire!
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    Joseph Rudy Rullo blasted Governor Christie for abandoning South Jersey to return to New Hampshire before he spent time accessing the devastating flooding in South Jersey.
    “I was with him against the critics when he first returned to do his job for the snow storm. It is unconscionable the Governor ran away to New Hampshire like an impatient child who is missing something when parts of South Jersey are flooded. He should have waited out the last high tide, and visited the devastated areas.” Rullo stated.

  2. One person we do not need in NJ or in the USA Government now or never is Chrustie, good grief, he is a typical bully if ever there was one.

  3. Maybe the mayor should deal with the flooding in his town, it’s part of living on the water in a flood area the governor physically isn’t going to do anything anyway he just directs his staff. Like he said do you want him to grab a mop

  4. I can conceded that damage may not have been all over the state. And yes, it may just be one county, but last time I checked that county is part of the state of New Jersey. And as an Elected STATE official that one county should matter too.

3 Trackbacks / Pingbacks

  1. Chris Christie Wants To Know If He Should Mop Up The Flooding Or What | RightNJ
  2. UPDATE: Christie apologizes to North Wildwood’s mayor, pivots to A.C. takeover deal | The Save Jersey Blog
  3. Christie requests federal aid for 17 N.J. counties struck by Jonas | The Save Jersey Blog

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