Asselta Chides Van Drew on Toll Roads’ Sales Stand

OCEAN VIEW — Sen. Nick Asselta (R-1st) and his Republican Assembly running mates Norris Clark and Michael Donohue, in response to a campaign flyer supporting Democratic Assemblymen Jeff Van Drew and Nelson Albano (Both D-1st) on July 10 called on Van Drew and Albano “to stop denying the truth about their votes in support of selling New Jersey’s toll roads,” according to a release.
“Jeff Van Drew and Nelson Albano are not telling the truth about their support for selling New Jersey’s toll roads. They’re committing highway robbery, and it’s time to call them out on it,” said Asselta, referring to a campaign flyer stating, “We have never and will not ever support the selling or leasing of our toll roads.”
“On June 21,” Asselta continued, “Jeff Van Drew and Nelson Albano voted in favor of a provision appropriating unlimited funds to pay for – and I quote – ‘legal and engineering fees, financial advisors and other consultants and services associated with, as well as any other costs determined necessary in preparation for, the monetization, sale, or lease of public assets’ like the toll roads.
“In layman’s terms, Van Drew and Albano gave the governor a blank check to prepare to sell the toll roads,” Asselta stated.
“But this campaign flier that arrived in yesterday’s mail box tells quite a different story,” Asselta continued. “According to this flier, Jeff Van Drew and Nelson Albano have never supported a plan to sell or lease New Jersey’s toll roads – even though they did exactly that, just a few weeks ago.
“I guess it depends on what the meaning of ‘never’ is. This kind of double-talk has got to stop. Jeff and Nelson had an opportunity to ‘prove up’ on their supposed opposition to this one-shot fiscal gimmick, and they failed the test.”
“When it comes to selling our toll roads, Van Drew and Albano voted for it before they were against it,” said Donohue. “Here it is, only July, and already the Democrats aren’t leveling with voters. The residents of the First District have a right to expect their elected leaders to tell them the truth about what they’re doing in Trenton. It’s just wrong for our representatives to be voting one way in Trenton, and then telling us back home in the district something else.
“And here’s something else I find interesting – why is Matthew Milam (Democratic Assembly candidate running with Albano) not on this flier?” Donohue continued.
“The only reason I can see for him not to be on this piece is that he must be supporting this plan. After all, this is a campaign flyer, not an official communication from the Van Drew or Albano legislative office. It was paid for by the New Jersey Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee and the Senate Democratic Majority committee, so there’s no reason for him and his ‘promise’ not to be listed here – unless it’s because he actually supports the plan.”
“Selling, leasing, or ‘monetizing’ the toll roads would be a disaster,” added Clark.
“We have opposed this ‘Turnpike Tax Hike’ from the start. It makes no difference whether the plan is to sell, or lease, or ‘monetize’ the roads – any way you look at it, it involves privatizing a valuable asset, for a one-time quick fix that can only lead to higher and higher taxes down the road. This isn’t just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic; this is stacking deck chairs higher and higher on the Titanic.
“Jeff Van Drew and Nelson Albano know that, and they know they can’t defend their votes to give the Governor a blank check to prepare for the sale or lease of the toll roads – so they’ve decided to act as if those votes never took place. That’s just not right,” Clark concluded.
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On July 12, Asselta issued an additional statement:
“Three weeks ago today, Jeff Van Drew voted to give the governor a blank check to prepare for the sale or lease of New Jersey’s toll roads. And for three weeks, he hasn’t been honest about it.
“Yesterday, responding to my calling him out on this issue, he told PoliticsNJ.com that he voted to remove Section 75 from the budget. In fact, he did no such thing.
“Here’s what he said, referring to my criticism of his vote: ‘They’re either repetitive or inaccurate. Last time it was that I didn’t vote to remove the monetization from the language when in actuality I did.’
“Once again, Jeff is not telling the truth. He never voted ‘to remove the monetization from the language’ of the budget.
“How can I be so sure? Because there never was a vote ‘to remove the monetization from the language’ – because Jeff Van Drew’s Democratic allies would not even allow debate on the amendment offered by Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck to remove that language. Instead, they moved to table the resolution – a procedural vote that allowed them to prevent the debate from ever happening.
“Because that tabling resolution was passed, there was no debate on the amendment that would have cut Section 75 from the budget. And because there never was a vote on whether or not to cut Section 75 from the budget, it is wrong of Jeff to say that he voted ‘to remove the monetization from the language’ – ‘in actuality,’ or any other way you want to look at it.
“Voting for a budget that gave the Governor a blank check to prepare to sell or lease our toll roads is bad enough. But Jeff compounded that error in judgment by delivering into mailboxes this week a piece of campaign propaganda that contained an outright falsehood – a declaration that, and I quote, ‘We have never and will not ever support the selling or leasing of our toll roads,’ despite the fact that just 18 days earlier he had voted to spend unlimited sums of money to help the Governor prepare to do exactly that.
“And Jeff continues to mislead his constituents in the First District by offering this sly rhetoric, day after day, rather than just simply owning up to the facts at hand.
“Voters have a right to expect that their elected representatives will tell them the truth about what actions they take in Trenton. Jeff has failed that test. He voted to give the Governor a blank check to prepare for the sale or lease of our toll roads, and then didn’t tell the truth about it. That’s not the kind of leadership we need in the First District.”