McGreevey resigns, Nov 15th.

No news source yet, as it was on TV, but Governor McGreevey resigned effective Nov. 15th, due to an affair with another man apparently.

Dunno that this will have much of an effect on passenger rail, but his face might come off NJTransit.com I suppose.

EDIT: http://www.cnn.com has a mention of it in the top banner, and here is some stuff: http://www.nj.com/newsflash/jersey/inde ... jmcgreevey

Well I don't know what it means, but I am pretty sure he was a rail advocate in Union County and he expressed support for the MOM line.........Does anyone else know if this will definatly be a blow to transit??? I wonder if Warrington's job is on the line after November....

Steve

Union County? He was mayor of Woodbridge in Middlesex County...and back then, he was not pro-MOM IIRC.

As for Warrington's future at NJT, we would have to wait until we see whom the new candidates are and whether he would be "in" with them, so to speak.

He was definitely pro-transit. I came to this sight as soon as I heard the news because the first issue that comes to mind when I hear his name is his work to keep NJTransit customer service oriented, with modest fares, and progressing towards the completion of new projects. I'm from PA, and it's been awhile since anything transit oriented has happened in my state. In fact, Pittsburgh and Philly are drastically cutting their bus and train services, especially off peak.

I have often envied the position NJ is in with transit, even though not all of you appreciate it 100%.

Well, seems to me we just lost a major transit crusader.

Just posted on CNN:

(CNN) -- Dropping a political bombshell, New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey announced his resignation Thursday as he revealed he is a gay man who carried on an adulterous affair with a man.

With his wife standing by his side, McGreevey spoke in calm tones as he described his struggle with his sexuality, "a certain sense that separated me from others." It was something that he said began as a child.

"At a point in every person's life, one has to look deeply into the mirror of one one's soul and decide one's unique truth in the world, not as we may want to see it or hope to see it, but as it is," McGreevey said.

"And so, my truth is that I am a gay American," McGreevey said.

He also spoke of an affair with a man and asked for his family's forgiveness.

"Given the circumstances surrounding the affair and its likely impact upon my family and my ability to govern, I have decided the right course of action is to resign," McGreevey said.

He said his resignation would be effective November 15.

He was pro whatever it took to get elected. A lot of lip-service and special deals. The fact that MOM has progressed not one inch in the 2 1/2 years he was governor should say it all. In fact, not one new transit project actually moved forward except the Hudson Tunnel. Everything completed or in progress began long before him.

Granted, the economy was bad during his tenure. Government had to tighten its belt, right? Nope, state spending increased by more than 10% every year of his administration. Sorry, he is not a transit advocate.

He was definitely pro-transit

By "he" I take it you mean McGreevey. No, he's not terribly pro-transit, actually. NJT's bad habit (foisted upon them by government policy) of having to raid their capital budget for operating funds went from bad to worse. The credit for the "River LINE" belongs to Whitman instead of McGreevey. Further, rail schedules experienced another slowdown.

I daresay that NJT's rail situation looks far superior to SEPTA's, but consider the head-start, which is being eroded year by year.

Well, let's look to the future. Anybody know Codey's record on transit?

JLo wrote:Well, let's look to the future. Anybody know Codey's record on transit?

Nope, the only thing I do know is that he was one of the signers to designate P'burg as the primary location for the NJ Transportation Museum.
http://www.njthc.org/news/april2001.html

Yeah, heard when I was working. I was intrigued by it. I know many folks from Woodbridge. They all hated him when he was there. I wasn't a big fan of him but he is a pro-rail advocate now so that made me like him a bit. I wonder how is resigning will affect NJT.

Actions speak louder than (most) words. McGreevey careth not for rail, verily.

Irish Chieftain wrote:Actions speak louder than (most) words. McGreevey careth not for rail, verily.

Yeah, I'm sure he doensn't- but he has done good things for it.

I am of course not happy with him for all of the budget cuts in the arts, schools etc. but that is a different topic...

Good riddens to McGreevy. Get someone else in there that's pro-transit and get the cars and trucks off the roads.

but he has done good things for it

Call me blind, but I cannot see what good McGreevey has done for NJT rail. He installed George Warrington as the agency's head; there has been no significant acceleration of capital projects or rail service expansion; the MMC has been cited (off the record, as it were) for not performing their task; average speeds continue to go down on the rails; Allied is the worst bottleneck ever at any time during its existence; the error of having NJT raid its capital budget for operating funds has not been corrected; labor and management have never been on so bad of terms as at present...I can cite a host of other negatives, but I'm still waiting to hear the positives that McGreevey is/was actually responsible for (and the "River LINE" is not one of them).

Irish Chieftain wrote:

but he has done good things for it

Call me blind, but I cannot see what good McGreevey has done for NJT rail. He installed George Warrington as the agency's head; there has been no significant acceleration of capital projects or rail service expansion; the MMC has been cited (off the record, as it were) for not performing their task; average speeds continue to go down on the rails; Allied is the worst bottleneck ever at any time during its existence; the error of having NJT raid its capital budget for operating funds has not been corrected; labor and management have never been on so bad of terms as at present...I can cite a host of other negatives, but I'm still waiting to hear the positives that McGreevey is/was actually responsible for (and the "River LINE" is not one of them).

You're right Irish. I was reffering Secaucus and him signing the no fare hike thing to keep fares down. The truth is most politicians aren't pro-rail. McGreevy I thought was OK. But after reading your post, maybe he isn't OK after all. I just hope we don't get someone worse in office which is a distinct possiblity because we are dealing with politicians after all.

I should have said "some good things- almost nothing- but something." :D