Christie Spares DRPA Head, Gets Tough

CAMDEN, N.J. - Make change happen at the Delaware River Port Authority, and make it happen now. That was New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's message to CEO John Matheussen during a face-to-face meeting Thursday morning.

It was a closed-door meeting that sources told us earlier Thursday was expected to result in Matheussen's firing but instead resulted in him getting essentially one last chance from Christie.

Afterward, the two officials came outside to make statements and take questions from the press.

While encouraged by some of the reforms the board has gotten done, Christie said, ’I am not happy about the things that are not done. They need to get done and get done quickly.’

Christie shot down a plan for the DRPA to hire an outside firm to investigate the granting of insurance brokerage contracts, demanding instead that the authority let the state comptroller’s office review the matter.

’I don’t have any confidence ’ that a law firm that was hired by the DRPA to do an investigation of the DRPA being paid by the DRPA will necessarily give us the truth,’ Christie said. (Watch some of Christie's remarks in the second video clip above)

Christie also vetoed new but limited post-employment restrictions that the authority’s board proposed.

’I believe it should be a ban that is similar to New Jersey’s casino ban, that anybody who works here ’ commissioners or any staff ’ should have an absolute two-year ban from being employed by anyone who does business with DRPA,’ the governor said. ’It should not be a situation where, `Well, I just won’t work on DRPA matters.’ No, to me that’s not good enough.’

Read: Christie Veto Letter #1 | Letter #2

Christie told reporters he is gravely concerned about the DRPA’s direction and wants changes implemented "immediately." He said Matheussen needs to be a leader and he will not accept ’inaction.’

Matheussen has been working without a contract this summer, and Christie said he would veto any attempt to renew the CEO’s contract until there are signs that the situation has improved.

Pennsylvania and New Jersey jointly run the DRPA, which controls toll bridges around Philadelphia and South Jersey.

The New Jersey attorney general has been investigating the authority since the news broke about spending at the agency. The probe was triggered when an employee’s family members was found to be using another employee’s E-ZPass transponder.

Fox 29 News has been on top of the DRPA since that incident, which has given light to other issues with the spending of toll payer money. We’ve looked at employee credit card and pool car usage, we’ve found a lot of money spent on employee open houses, and we’ve discovered workers get paid for unused sick days as a Christmas bonus.

Matheussen took the podium after Christie finished speaking, saying he already planned to announce Thursday that the DRPA's forthcoming 2011 budget proposal will call for at least a $2.6-million decrease in spending ’ a 2-percent reduction.

He also announced a hiring freeze until the board passes the budget in December.

"We're going to take some action to make certain that the people who are here are in fact doing what they need to do and we're spending as little toll money as possible to do our core function -- that's to maintain those bridges and to run PATCO."

Mathuessen said he expects a $1 toll hike scheduled to take effect next year will still occur. That money will go toward paying for upcoming capital projects on the bridges as well as deferred maintenance on the PATCO high-speed line.

Not everyone shares Christie's opinion that Matheussen is the person to bring change to the DRPA.

John Dougherty, a local union leader and DRPA commissioner from Pennsylvania, said he was "literally stunned by Governor Christie’s inexplicable vote of confidence for John Matheussen."

Dougherty said in a press release that he'll seek a resolution at the next DRPA board meeting to terminate Matheussen.

"For Gov. Christie to come to the conclusion that John Matheussen is the right 'change agent' to lead the DRPA to a future of respectability and accountability is beyond belief," Dougherty wrote. "How can the same person who lied about and attempted to cover-up his ethical lapses and gross managerial mistakes now be entrusted to clean up the cesspool he created?"