Choppergate Redux, But Worse! NJGOP Demands Sherrill Reimburse Taxpayers for Pricey State Police Helicopter Ride to Personal Event
By Christine Hanlon
Mikie Sherrill made no secret during her campaign that she knows how to fly a helicopter. Now as governor, she apparently prefers being chaffeured by one to personal events on the taxpayers’ dime.
Sherrill’s trip to attend a black-tie affair at her alma mater in Maryland cost taxpayers thousands of dollars, according to published reports, and she needs to be held accountable for this blatant abuse of power.
In light of her broken campaign promises pledging transparency, accountability and affordability, the governor has audacity for misusing taxpayer funds at a time when New Jersey residents are being crushed with high taxes, facing school budget cuts and paying soaring energy costs. Let’s not forget about the unsanitary, unsafe and unreliable transit system taxpayers are forced to use to commute to work. No fancy helicopter rides for them. The working man’s plight may not be something Mikie finds relatable. After all, while she was in Congress, her husband tripled their net worth via stock trades.
Trenton’s response attempting to justify the flight is nothing short of infuriating. All we’ve gotten is a statement through a spokesman that doubles down on the whole fiasco. Not only does he claim that Sherrill’s safety makes any trip official government business, he also tried telling us that the pilots have to log hours flying anyway.
Come again?
Even if this were true, was there no suitable government business more deserving of taxpayer-funded flying hours and plane fuel than Sherrill’s black-tie event several states away? Perhaps if the state pilots need training hours, they should be logging them by rescuing stranded NJ Transit passengers when the trains are, all too often, not working.
We refuse to sit idly by as Sherrill’s “let them eat cake” attitude goes unchecked. New Jerseyans deserve better, starting with reimbursement in full. An apology from the world’s most self-professed helicopter pilot wouldn’t hurt, either.
In the past, Republican and Democrat governors alike have reimbursed New Jersey taxpayers for private helicopter rides. In the words of former Democratic Senator Loretta Weinberg, such trips are evidence of “a certain arrogance…that needs much more self control.”
Weinberg at the time was referring to Gov. Christie, who traveled in 2011 to his son’s high school game within New Jersey, arguably more justifiable than going to another state for a party. Even more significant to note is that Christie reimbursed taxpayers for the trip.
Sherrill not only needs to pay back the taxpayers, she needs to be held accountable for this abuse of power. A black-tie college alumni gala several states away is not official business.
I call on the state legislature to conduct an inquiry as to Sherrill’s use of state resources for personal events, and demand the governor pay back and apologize to New Jersey’s taxpayers.
