TOO HOT TO HANDLE? NJ RECORDS COUNCIL QUITS GUADAGNO CASE

For Immediate Release:

TRENTON — In a sudden reversal, the New Jersey Government Records Council has decided the documents detailing Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno's involvement in a $245,000 pension scandal are too hot for the agency to handle.

The GRC voted unanimously Tuesday to quit the case and not review the records it twice ordered the State Treasury to submit for inspection. Instead, the matter will be sent to an administrative law unit in Gov. Chris Christie's executive branch for a decision, a process likely to take months.

Despite a victory in Appellate Court last month, the Council lost its will to pursue a complaint likely to embarrass or implicate Guadagno, who will remain as Christie's running mate for the 2013 gubernatorial election.

"Because of the nature of the subject of this complaint, this complaint should be referred to the Office of Administrative Law..." according to a draft of the GRC staff recommendation released just before the meeting.

But as soon as the meeting started, the GRC went into executive session to discuss the case in private – and change the wording of the resolution it would adopt.

When the public was invited to return, the reference to "the nature of the subject of this complaint" and its political inference had disappeared. It was replaced by an assertion the agency did not have enough resources or staff to finish the case it started.

For the full story, visit http://newjersey.watchdog.org.