Port Authority Official at Center of Lane-Closure Controversy Quits - News
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Port Authority official at center of lane-closure controversy quits - News ... http://www.northjersey.com/news/port-authority-official-resigns-amid-gw... DECEMBER 6, 2013, 3:47 PM LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2013, 12:35 AM BY SHAWN BOBURG STAFF WRITER | THE RECORD The Christie appointee at the center of a widening controversy over unannounced lane closures on the George Washington Bridge decided Friday to resign from the Port Authority. David Wildstein, the agency’s director of interstate capital projects, submitted his resignation letter days before a legislative hearing to determine if the lane closures were a politically motivated stunt to punish Fort Lee’s Democratic mayor or if, as the Christie administration has said, they were just part of a traffic study. Wildstein said he plans to leave on Jan. 1 “to pursue other opportunities.” “My plan was to leave the agency at some point next year, but the Fort Lee issue has been a distraction, and I think it’s better to move on earlier,” he wrote in a letter to the agency’s deputy executive director, Bill Baroni. “I am grateful to you and Governor Christie for the opportunity to serve.” News of Wildstein’s resignation came on the same day that two more Port Authority officials were ordered to testify before New Jersey lawmakers on Monday in a hearing that threatens to expose tension within the bi-state agency and between the governors on both sides of the Hudson who oversee it. The lane closures, which caused heavy traffic delays in Fort Lee, were ordered by Wildstein without notification to the public, local officials or the agency’s executive director, a New York appointee. Christie’s appointees maintain it was a traffic study; New York’s top agency official has said it was “abusive” and possibly illegal. Wildstein, a former Republican mayor of Livingston and a political consultant, would not comment Friday beyond announcing his resignation. Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak issued a statement calling Wildstein “a tireless advocate for New Jersey’s interests at the Port Authority.” “We are grateful for his commitment and dedication to the important work of the Port Authority and thank him for his service to the people of New Jersey and the region.” It’s unclear whether the development will have any bearing on Monday’s investigative hearing. The Port Authority’s executive director, Pat Foye, an appointee of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, has said he intends to testify after receiving a subpoena last week. Before Wildstein’s resignation Friday, the legislative panel also sent subpoenas to Cedric Fulton, the Port Authority’s director of tunnels, bridges and terminals, and Robert Durando, the manager of the George Washington Bridge, ordering them to appear before the committee. A spokesman for Democratic Assemblyman John Wisniewski, chairman of the Transportation Committee, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday evening. In an internal email written during the lane closures that was leaked to the media, an angry Foye wrote that agency protocol was “subverted” and vowed to get to the bottom of the closures. Foye said earlier this week that he stands by the email, which reversed the closures. Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich initially wrote in a letter to a Port Authority official that he believed the closures were “punitive” but has since backed away from that statement. Sokolich declined to comment Friday. The Christie administration has called the notion that the closures were political retribution “crazy.” Baroni, Christie’s top appointee at the agency, testified before the same panel last week and said the lane closures were part of a study to determine whether too many toll lanes are dedicated to traffic from a local access ramp. Closing two of the three local access lanes reduced wait times for other traffic, he said. But Baroni’s testimony did not quell the controversy, which state Democrats seized upon. 1 of 2 11/5/2014 7:22 PM Port Authority official at center of lane-closure controversy quits - News ... http://www.northjersey.com/news/port-authority-official-resigns-amid-gw... “I’m making the assumption that this resignation has something to do with the quest we’ve been on to find out who, and under what circumstances, someone might have been inappropriate enough to try to play petty political games.” She said there are still unanswered questions and Monday’s hearing could help fill in the “gaps.” Former Port Authority officials have also said privately that such decisions about a major facility are typically preceded by public notice and by several high-level meetings with police, traffic engineers and other agency officials. In this case, Baroni testified, the idea came from the president of the Port Authority police union. It was then ordered by Wildstein, who went to high school with Christie. Baroni acknowledged a failure to communicate. Wildstein, whose salary is $150,000, wields enormous power and has been described as the Christie administration’s eyes and ears within the agency. When The Record wrote a 2012 profile of Wildstein, whose brash management style rankled some longtime agency executives, Christie’s spokesman said it was part of an effort to reform the authority, long considered secretive and insensitive to the public. “He is there in that job because he is well-suited to the task of playing a role in reforming the Port Authority in accordance with the governor’s goals,” Drewniak said. Wildstein founded the website politickernj.com. He ran it under the pen name Wally Edge for years, breaking insider news out of Trenton while keeping his identity a closely guarded secret. He sold the website before taking a newly created job at the Port Authority in 2010. Wildstein would not say Friday what his next move is. Email: [email protected] On Sept. 12, cars were backed up at the tolls because the approach to the tolls has been narrowed to one toll, seen on far right. © 2014 North Jersey Media Group 2 of 2 11/5/2014 7:22 PM.