By Matt Rooney
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Some leaders grow into the job, Save Jerseyans.
Phil Murphy may not have enough time to evolve given how much growing he needs to do.
On Thursday, after taking an extended vacation to his Italian mansion while NJ Transit’s system-wide collapse continued, the Democrat Governor finally held a press availability and courageously… blamed his predecessor:
Today in Newark I addressed recent @NJTRANSIT delays and cancellations.
We inherited an underfunded, broken system from Governor Christie and are committed to digging out of this hole. pic.twitter.com/8KNKCOUtfM
— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) August 9, 2018
Not very leader-like, especially given that his Administration seems to be making things worse.
He did say this:
.@GovMurphy on alleviating @NJTRANSIT issues: "I underestimated the mess." #summerofhell #summerofhell2
— Daniel Munoz (@DanielMunoz100) August 9, 2018
No kidding.
But Murphy could have gotten a better idea of what he was facing IF the audit he promised had ever happened.
The audit was promised during the campaign. He signed the executive order in January. Finally, in April, a $1.3 million dollar contract was signed with an Atlanta firm. At that time? NJDOT promised a ‘preliminary assessment’ within 90 days in advance of a full report in the fall.
We still don’t have the preliminary report, and the 90 day mark is upon us.
We should’ve had the results back in the spring, or early summer at the latest, had unacceptable bureaucratic delays not held everything up. Murphy simply didn’t prioritize it!
My question: how do we KNOW that NJ Transit is “underfunded” until we see the audit?
NJ Transit is already slated to spend $3.7 billion in the next year. This is the same organization that paid $4.4 million to rent an empty floor for two years.
Pointing fingers is bad enough. Suggesting a solution without facts to support the conclusion is exactly what you’d expect from a leader who isn’t growing into his role.
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