| | | | |  | | By Dustin Racioppi | Good Monday morning! Just a day after the Asbury Park Press reported that the new CEO of the State Commission of Investigation held full-time jobs in two states, the watchdog agency’s leader resigned. State lawmakers had called for Tiffany Williams Brewer to step down from the SCI, saying her dual residency and employment here and in Maryland did not fully serve the taxpayers of New Jersey. In her resignation statement, Williams Brewer said that “employee-driven mischaracterizations” of her actions “have created a toxic climate that dissuades me from continuing in this role.” “I am disappointed that this environment, which undermines the integrity of the SCI, has necessitated my resignation,” she said. Compare that with Seton Hall University, where POLITICO reported that the new president was named in an internal report on sexual abuse in 2019 while serving as a high-ranking seminary dean. The president, Monsignor Joseph Reilly, was not accused of abuse himself, but investigators said he knew of sexual abuse allegations on campus and did not properly report them. Investigators recommended, pursuant to a responsive action plan the school’s governing body adopted, Reilly be removed as a seminary leader and member of university boards. Now he’s president. And, like Williams Brewer, Reilly faces pressure to resign. On Friday, Sens. Andrew Zwicker and Joe Vitale said in a statement: “The time for half-measures and evasion is over. Seton Hall University owes answers, accountability, and justice to its community and the public. We demand Monsignor Reilly’s immediate resignation from the presidency of Seton Hall University.” But Reilly and the university have taken the opposite approach as the SCI — going silent when asked by POLITICO for a response to calls last week to step down. The university didn’t respond to NJ Advance Media, either. When the university was confronted with POLITICO’s reporting last month, the chair of Seton Hall’s Board of Regents said the governing body has “absolute confidence” in Reilly. These are two very different scandals and drastically different responses, but they do have one common thread. At the SCI, Williams Brewer said her dual residency had “always been transparent and in full compliance with all relevant regulations,” suggesting commissioners knew she had two homes and two jobs when they named her CEO. They said in a statement Friday that they didn’t seek Williams Brewer’s resignation. At Seton Hall, more than half a dozen regents — including the chair, who led the presidential search — were on the board or named to it when investigators shared their findings about Reilly, and they unanimously approved him to lead the university. State lawmakers said the decision by Williams Brewer was the right one. Republican Sen. Declan O’Scanlon told the Press “there was no other outcome option” and an independent replacement must be named “to restore people’s confidence in the agency.” Critics of the Catholic church are less surprised by Seton Hall’s response, or lack of it. As Ann Barrett Doyle of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests told me: “It’s as if they feel exempt from ordinary accountability.” HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Assemblymember William Sampson, comms consultant Bruno Tedeschi, NJ Apartment Association’s Nichole LoPresti. WHERE’S MURPHY?: In Trenton to sign legislation to establish a commission to end traffic fatalities. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “It’s not useful to a voter to find out 20 days after an election who was funding all those ads.” — Aaron McKean, senior legal counsel at the Campaign Legal Center, referring to New Jersey’s new campaign finance law (more on that below). Friday’s QOTD was from Gov. Phil Murphy’s appearance on WNYC’s “Ask Governor Murphy.” TIPS? FEEDBACK? Email me at dracioppi@politico.com
|  | WHAT TRENTON MADE | | DEMOCRACY DIES IN DARK MONEY — New Jersey’s race for governor is poised to be one of the least transparent, by POLITICO’s Matt Friedman: New Jersey’s 2025 gubernatorial election could be the least transparent in memory thanks to a new campaign finance law that lets super PACs keep their donors secret until shortly before the primary. It will be the biggest test yet of the financial overhaul, and supporters of a few candidates have already sought to leverage it by forming independent expenditure committees that can raise and spend unlimited amounts. With a crowded field of 10 major candidates looking to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy next year, more of these independent groups could spring up — offering donors a way to influence the election while giving the public, the news media and political opponents little time to find out who they are. HIGHWAY TO HELMETTA — “Time to raise New Jersey’s speed limits,” by The Trentonian’s Jeff Edelstein: “State Sen. Declan O’Scanlon — who I believe should win the award for Most Common Sense, New Jersey legislature division — is at it again. This time, he wants to raise New Jersey’s speed limits. Well, he wants to do it again. He first floated this idea almost a decade ago as a member of the Assembly, and he’s trying to get it back off the ground. Why? Common sense. In fact, he’s calling his legislation the 'Speed Limit Sanity Act' and it would make the speed limit on New Jersey’s limited access roads — you know, like the Turnpike, Parkway, etc. — at 85% of the speed at which everyone is already driving.” CLIMATE CHANGE — “Insurance companies are hiking costs, dropping N.J. homeowners more often due to climate risks,” by NJ Advance Media’s Steven Rodas: “You can look to the rising seas, raging wildfires and the lack of snow. A harbinger for the changing climate has also arrived for New Jerseyans in the form of something more innocuous but by no means less glaring: home insurance policies. Or, rather, the lack of them in some cases. Non-renewals, according to a new report on the largest insurance companies in the country, are happening more in New Jersey and elsewhere across the United States as climate risks are making homes less attractive for insurers to want to cover.” — Snowflack: “Fulop and the Bear Hunt” — “N.J. is one of 10 states without a permanent rape kit tracking system. That could soon change.”
| | BIDEN TIME | | SALT ON THE TABLE — Trump tells House Republicans to find a ‘fair number’ on SALT, by POLITICO’s Benjamin Guggenheim and Meredith Lee Hill: New York Republicans came out of a Mar-a-Lago meeting with Donald Trump on Saturday confident that the incoming president is on board with increasing a key deduction for state and local taxes. And they have marching orders from Trump: Go back to Congress and negotiate a “fair number.” “The president certainly wants to increase the deduction for SALT to provide more relief, because he knows that our mayors and governors are crushing taxpayers,” said Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) in an interview after the meeting. “He wants us to work on what would be a fair number.” — Tax break for homeowners on table as blue-state Republicans huddle with Trump — Prosecutors seek 15-year sentence for Bob Menendez following bribery conviction — “Bus times to NY improve, traffic at tunnels drops as congestion pricing kicks in” SWAMP GRIDLOCK — “Autism bill shows how little Congress does,” by NJ Spotlight News’ Benjamin J. Hulac: "On a November evening after Election Day but before Congress left town for Thanksgiving, Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th) lingered outside the Senate chamber. He wanted to figure out what happened with an autism bill of his. 'We thought it was going to get voted on tonight,' Smith said in an interview with NJ Spotlight News. 'Trying to get to the bottom of…how do we get it so it’s sprung free,' he said before heading to the Senate floor to investigate. 'Let me just take a quick look.' … Smith’s was one of a fraction of bills the New Jersey congressional delegation shepherded through the House and Senate and into law during the last Congress, a politically-fraught two years that saw little substantive legislative action and a House speaker removed from his post, a first in U.S. history." DOCKWORKER DON — Trump’s role in port unrest raises bigger questions about his labor policies, by POLITICO’s Holly Otterbein, Ry Rivard, Sam Ogozalek and Nick Niedzwiadek: Even before taking office, President-elect Donald Trump is getting credit for helping to head off a major port strike threatening the economy, after siding with a dockworkers’ union in a dispute with shipping companies over automation. The union’s leader and even some critics of the incoming president say a forceful statement from Trump against replacing workers with machines was enough to tip the scales in contract talks between the International Longshoremen’s Association and a coalition of port operators and shipping companies. It’s a big coup for Trump in his effort to court blue-collar support, though it remains unclear whether he can truly earn a place in labor’s good graces.
| | LOCAL | | CLARK BARRED — Clark mayor out after pleading guilty to corruption charges, by POLITICO’s Matt Friedman: Clark Mayor Sal Bonaccorso, who was easily reelected in November despite being charged with corruption and caught on tape using racial slurs, pleaded guilty Wednesday to two corruption counts that will require him to forfeit the office he’s held for two decades. Bonaccorso, who at a council meeting in October argued that the charges were politically motivated, immediately forfeited his office and will be permanently barred from public employment. But he’ll avoid prison time, instead serving three years probation and paying a $15,000 fine. CAMDEN RAISED A KANE — “Camden County Commissioner Melinda Kane named to vacant State Assembly position beginning January 23,” by 70and73.com’s Neill Borowski: "When U.S. Marine LCpl. Jeremy Kane was killed in Afghanistan in 2010, his mother, Melinda Kane of Cherry Hill, felt a need to continue her son's 'mission of making a difference.' The former special education teacher, who still lives in the same Woodcrest neighborhood house that she and her late husband, Dr. Bruce Kane, bought in 1990, saw that local government was a way to honor her oldest son. She found herself speaking widely at ceremonies and other events about her son, and then she moved onto the Cherry Hill Township Council and then the Camden County Board of Commissioners to make a difference in government, Kane told 70and73.com in an interview on Saturday afternoon." BHALLA MOVE — “Bhalla won’t seek 3rd term as Hoboken mayor, Assembly run appears imminent,” by Hudson County View’s John Heinis: “Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla has revealed that he won’t seek a third term as mayor, with a Democratic state Assembly run in the June 3rd, 2025 primary now looking imminent even though he didn’t directly mention his next move. 'Serving as your Mayor these past seven years has been and will continue to be the privilege of my lifetime. I am immensely proud of the historic improvements we’ve made together on everything from securing the former Union Dry Dock site for public use, creating a model for pedestrian safety through our Vision Zero campaign, opening what is likely the country’s largest resiliency park at ResilienCity Park, and so much more,' Bhalla said in an email blast." — “South Amboy residents will vote on $35.6 million school referendum in March” — “Former TV anchor, New Jersey senator lists 3-acre riverfront home for $1.75M”
| | EVERYTHING ELSE | | TOOTING HIS OWN HORN — “Wall, Rutgers grad composed music for Jimmy Carter funeral, and this is what made it work,” by the Asbury Park Press’ Jerry Carino: “As a U.S. Army band arranger, Wall High School and Rutgers University grad Andrew Kosinski has written all kinds of music for concerts and special events. But nothing in the 26-year-old’s repertoire compared to his latest assignment: composing the signature piece for President Jimmy Carter’s funeral ceremonies. Kosinski’s three-minute creation, a part-march, part-hymn titled 'Frigidus est Foras,' was played by the Army, Navy and Air Force bands throughout the past week as Carter’s remains progressed along various stops in and around Washington, D.C. And here’s the most amazing part: Because of the frigid temperatures, Kosinski had to write music that did not require the use of valves with any of the brass instruments in the ensembles.” REMEMBER WHEN THEY WERE ‘SERIOUSLY’ CONSIDERING OFFER TO MOVE TO CAMDEN? — “Sixers to remain in South Philly, abandoning plans to build a Center City arena, officials say,” by the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jake Blumgart and Sean Collins Walsh: — ”The 76ers are going to stay in South Philly after all, according to multiple City Council members. The team has struck a deal with Comcast Spectacor to remain in the South Philadelphia sports stadium district, after more than two years of heated debate over a potential new arena on East Market Street.” DON’T STEP ON MY BLUE SUEDE CHASUBLE — “NJ’s Deacon Elvis gets churchgoers ‘All Shook Up’ — by preaching and impersonating The King,” by the New York Post’s Angela Barbuti: “Elvis has left the building — to go to church. A New Jersey deacon who is also an Elvis Presley tribute band singer is known to get his parishioners 'All Shook Up.' Anthony Liguori Jr. is lovingly referred to as 'Deacon Elvis' by the faithful at Corpus Christi Church in Hasbrouck Heights. But new churchgoers are often shocked by his resemblance to The King.” | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
