NJ Watchdog: Phantom of New Jersey? Christie attends first state event in 51 days

Mark your calendars! Gov. Chris Christie made his first New Jersey public appearance in 51 days on Tuesday.

The governor has been a virtual phantom in the Garden State, especially since he officially announced his run for the White House in June. Since then, he has focused primarily on the town hall circuit in New Hampshire and other campaign activities.

Christie made a brief stop at a Paterson hospital to talk about drug addiction treatment. The governor “was in a big hurry, as he did not answer any questions in and out of the event,” according to NJTV.

In 2015, he has traveled outside New Jersey for all or part of 141 days — more than half of the ongoing year. The governor’s day-to-day activities are recorded by Matt Katz’s “The Christie Tracker” blog for WYNC radio.

In answering critics, Christie has claimed he can govern the state by telephone, email and Internet during his road trips. Yet New Jersey is further than ever from solving some of its most pressing problems.

The deficit in state pension and health benefit plans for public workers has reached $194 billion, a New Jersey Watchdog analysis revealed last week. Of that total, the state is responsible for $145 billion of that sum; local governments bear the brunt of the balance.

A separate report found New Jersey ranks worst in that nation for debt burden per taxpayer.

A Truth in Accounting report, updated with research by New Jersey Watchdog, pegged the state government’s total debt at $170 billion, or more than $55,000 for each taxpayer. That figure includes what the state owes for pensions, employee health coverage, bonds and other liabilities — but not the debts of the state's 21 counties, 565 municipalities and 610 school districts.

A gaffe by Christie during last week’s GOP presidential debate on CNN underscored the governor’s lack of presence, both physical and mental. During a discussion of climate change, he referred to himself as governor in the past tense.

“When I was governor, I pulled out of the regional cap and trade deal, the only state in the Northeast that did that. And we still reached our goals,” said Christie.

The faux pas was highlighted in a column by The Star-Ledger’s Paul Mulshine.