Posted on 09/07/2001 3:37:18 AM PDT by Politico2
TRENTON, Sept. 6 — The proposal to build a $355 million sports arena in Newark and redevelop the Meadowlands fell apart today when a key Assembly committee canceled a hearing on the issue, effectively derailing the legislation.
The plan would have provided a new home for the New Jersey Nets and New Jersey Devils, and was seen as vital to helping further the renaissance of downtown Newark. But in recent weeks the plan had come under increasing scrutiny, with the Republican candidate for governor, Bret D. Schundler, warning that taxpayers might end up footing some of the bill and calling for a referendum on the issue.
Some backers of the arena plan held out hope that it could be revived after the gubernatorial election in November, which was backed by the Republican acting governor, Donald T. DiFrancesco, and a bipartisan group of legislators.
The cancellation of the hearing drew a quick and angry retort from officials with the YankeeNets, owner of the New Jersey Nets and New Jersey Devils, which is seeking to move the teams to Newark from their current home at the Continental Airlines Arena in the Meadowlands by the opening of the 2004 basketball and hockey seasons.
"Our proposition has been simply stated for nearly three years: If we are not in Newark, we will not be in the Meadowlands either," said Len Coleman, the chairman of Newark Sports and Entertainment, which would run the arena. "And we won't be. Today's message to the YankeeNets was, in effect: Find someplace else to do business. We hear the message."
The vote represented a major setback for YankeeNets, whose corporate partner is George Steinbrenner, and reflected the increased scrutiny nationally of publicly-financed sports complexes.
The cancellation of the hearing by the Appropriations Committee was announced just after Mr. DiFrancesco held hurried meetings with Assembly Republican leaders in an effort to salvage the bill. In recent days, Assembly leadership introduced millions of dollars in additions to the measure, all ostensibly to broaden support for it.
Most committee members could not be reached for comment on the measure. But Assemblywoman Connie Myers of Washington, a member of the committee's Republican majority, said that for her, the millions of dollars in extra projects had made the bill "too complex to reach a consensus at a tough time of the year," as election neared.
The collapse of the plan came after two weeks of attacks by Mr. Schundler, who criticized it as "a Christmas tree" for lawmakers and a money pit for taxpayers. Those attacks seemed to force his Democratic opponent, James E. McGreevey, who had supported the original plan, to announce this morning that he, too, opposed the measure, terming it "a pork barrel feast."
Mr. DiFrancesco, who had hoped that committee approval would pave the way for a special session this month to vote on the measure, said in a statement that he was "deeply disappointed."
"What started as an effort to address a very real and significant problem has apparently fallen victim to election-year politics and legislative parochialism," he said. But he held out hope that the plan, shorn of some of the added projects, might ultimately survive.
The winner today appeared to be Mr. Schundler, who swept victoriously into the committee room in the Capitol minutes before the cancellation of the hearing was announced. Accompanied by about two dozen of his supporters who had clogged the committee room, he held an impromptu news conference.
"I am gratified that we have this resolution," he said, smiling. "Jim McGreevey and the Democrats, in the face of our opposition, have caved in. The Republican caucus made a decision that they didn't want to go along with this."
Mr. Schundler's supporters said the developments showed that he had wrested control of the state party away from Mr. DiFrancesco, Assembly Speaker Jack Collins and other moderate Republicans who had been cool to his candidacy.
"Bret Schundler had control of the party on June 26," said his campaign manager, Bill Pascoe, referring to the candidate's primary election victory over Bob Franks. "But for those who may not have gotten the memo then, I think Bret answered their questions unequivocally today."
Assemblyman William D. Payne, a Democrat of Newark and a supporter of the arena, said he found its defeat and Mr. McGreevey's abandonment of it disappointing.
"Schundler has put some fear into people, but we should not be kowtowing," he said.
Mayor Sharpe James of Newark said in a statement that the plan had been "derailed by ugly partisan politics," but added that he hoped lawmakers would reverse themselves.
It was unclear whether the proposal could be revived. For his part, Mr. Schundler pronounced the issue tabled until the November election was over. One of his supporters, Assemblywoman Rose Marie Heck, a Republican of Lodi, suggested that the matter was dead. Like other Bergen County legislators who feel spurned by the teams' desire to leave the Continental Airlines Arena, she said she was not moved by threats to move the teams. "The YankeeNets could go play in California for all I care. We opened our hearts to them, and this is the way they repay us."
Other Republicans speculated that after the election, in a lame duck session, Mr. DiFrancesco might have more leverage, especially if voting goes against Mr. Schundler and the current Republican majority in both houses.
But some among Mr. DiFrancesco's allies said that that was unlikely.
"Why would he help them then when they wouldn't help him now?" said one ally who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Lewis M. Eisenberg, whose talks with the YankeeNets formed the basis of the arena bill, suggested that officials might yet embrace the proposal. It relieves the state of $20 million a year in subsidies for the Continental Airlines Arena and $160 million in debt on the Meadowlands site, he said.
"Furthermore, one of the unintended consequences of the timing of this legislation is that it will create thousands of jobs and millions in commerce at a time when the national and state economies are ebbing and unemployment is rising," he added.
Regards,
Nonvote kills Newark arena deal
09/07/01
BY DAVID KINNEY AND GEORGE E. JORDAN
STAR-LEDGER STAFF
Any hope that the Legislature would ink a Newark arena deal before the fall election vanished yesterday -- placing New Jersey in jeopardy of losing its professional basketball and hockey teams to another state.
The arena deal fell victim to a swift, sweeping change of sentiment after it became trapped in the vise of gubernatorial politics over the past month. With proposed legislation to finance the arena suddenly facing fierce opposition from every side, the Assembly Appropriations Committee abruptly canceled a vote on the bill yesterday.
While Assembly leaders insist that the deal is not dead -- yet -- they saw no likelihood of its passage before November.
YankeeNets, owner of the Nets basketball team and the Devils hockey team, wants to move the teams into the new arena by 2004, and fears that any further delays could postpone the arena's opening.
"Today's message to YankeeNets was, in effect, 'Find someplace else to do business.' We hear the message," said Len Coleman, chairman of Newark Sports and Entertainment, a division of YankeeNets overseeing the arena development. "The Legislature's inaction today brings into question not only New Jersey's interest and commitment to have the teams play in Newark, but the desire to keep two major league franchises in New Jersey."
Republicans and Democrats alike protested that legislative leaders loaded up the bill with millions of dollars in projects unrelated to the arena. That led Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jim McGreevey yesterday to come out against the bill he had backed for months. He vowed continued support for a Newark arena, but derided the latest version of the bill as a "pork fest" and "Trenton at its worst."
"What is there today is a $1 billion gorging of the public trough," he said.
GOP gubernatorial nominee Bret Schundler took credit yesterday for stopping the plan with a two-week blitz of advertising and public pronouncements. Despite supporters' insistence that the arena would finance itself, Schundler contends taxpayers could end up picking up some of the costs. He has insisted that any deal should be put to a voter referendum.
"Whereas the Democrats supported doing this deal with state taxpayers being on the hook -- and despite the obvious opposition of the public -- it was the Republican Assembly members who stood with me and said, 'That is not right,'" Schundler said.
He accused McGreevey of changing his mind in the face of political pressure: "He folded, pure and simple. It would be nice if leaders understood what's right without being pressured. We've tried to do the right thing simply because it's right."
McGreevey's new stand takes a volatile campaign issue away from Schundler, but Schundler's camp crowed that the Republican already scored a much-needed point over his opponent. McGreevey led by 19 percentage points in recent polls.
"I see this as an issue that will not die. This is going to put the campaign back on the issues Schundler wants to talk about," said Schundler backer Assemblyman Guy Gregg (R-Morris).
With his plan stalled, acting Gov. Donald DiFrancesco has little hope of sealing his legacy with the $355 million center in downtown Newark, unless it can get done in a lame-duck session before the new governor takes over.
"What started as an effort to address a very real and significant problem has apparently fallen victim to election-year politics and legislative parochialism," he said in a statement.
Yesterday's nonvote comes three years after Newark's boosters first proposed the idea to former Gov. Christie Whitman. She offered YankeeNets cash, loans and tax breaks on her last day before leaving office in January to head the Environmental Projection Agency. DiFrancesco killed Whitman's proposal on his first day in office, vowing to negotiate his own deal.
DiFrancesco's blueprint had YankeeNets spending $115 million and New Jersey issuing $190 million in bonds. The key to the deal was designating part of Newark as a "sports and entertainment district." Sales taxes collected in and around the arena would pay off the bonds.
Critics protested early on that taxpayers might be stuck with part of the tab if sales taxes did not cover the bonds. But the deal seemed to be cruising onward. After DiFrancesco announced a plan for how to turn the abandoned Meadowlands site into a Disney-style complex and added $300 million for Bergen County rail and road projects, the Senate passed it in June.
Assembly Speaker Jack Collins (R-Salem) added millions more for a host of South Jersey projects, including a Rowan University gymnasium ($20 million), a Camden County civic center ($20 million) and a rowing center ($1 million). Apparently thinking it had the votes to pass, he scheduled the Appropriations Committee meeting.
But by then, Schundler had turned it into a campaign issue in a fierce attack that surprised even fellow Republicans. With their party leader against it and polls showing voters opposed in many districts, Republicans on the committee were in a bind, and their support splintered.
Sources said the committee's chairman, Assemblyman Richard Bagger (R-Union), tried to have yesterday's meeting canceled, but Collins surprised his colleagues by declining.
As the lawmakers debated in private yesterday, the public meeting room filled with lobbyists and legislators. Forty-five minutes after the scheduled start time, an Assembly aide announced it would not happen. The late cancellation was unusual: Generally, the leadership makes sure it has the votes before scheduling a hearing.
Bagger said they put off the meeting over "a lot of unanswered questions," including concern that taxpayers could be stuck paying off the bonds.
And, said committee member Richard Merkt (R-Morris), "I don't think there was a lot of sentiment for dealing with this right in the middle of the election."
The nonvote hurts Newark boosters and major real estate investors banking on the arena. The plans triggered dozens of projects ranging from new restaurants and stores to apartment buildings and office towers.
Rodney Propp, principal in an investment group that paid $57 million last year for Three Gateway Center, an office tower overlooking the proposed arena site, said a failure to relocate the arena to Newark puts a damper on the downtown turnaround.
"There were people looking at new development who will have to go back to the drawing board and think twice, especially with the cooling economy," he said.
Philanthropist businessman Raymond Chambers, a driving force behind the YankeeNets merger and the proposed Newark arena, could not be reached for comment. But Barbara Bell-Coleman, who serves on the boards of Chambers-financed charities, said the collapse is personally "hurtful" to Chambers: "It's an outrage. Nobody cares about the cities or redevelopment of the cities, which is what this was really about."
BTTMA! (Bump To The Moon, Alice!)
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic!)
This additional spending was added to punish Schundler when the measure failed. At the time they were added, the decision was made that it would not pass, and it was time to increase the cost to Schundler for opposing them. The theory was that the Demoncrats could then go out to the hustings and say "Schundler opposed your local water supply improvement project", or "Bret was against your downtown redevelopment plan".
Fortunately for the Republicans, McGreevey didn't get the memo, and called the resulting bill a "feast of porkbarrel spending" and "Trenton at it's worst". Now he cannot effectively turn around and tar Schundler for opposing a bill that he condemned. Well he can, but he would have to be completely craven, unprincipled and inconsistent. Par for the course for a Demoncrat. However, he will not be as effective.
Win or lose, at least we have somebody looking out for the taxpayers for a few months.
This state will be such a better place if he manages to win.
Well, I'm certainly glad that Gov. DiFrancesco and a bipartisan group of legislators backed having an election rather than staging a coup d'etat or something.
Does the New York Times have anybody who can write in the English language?
Maybe all the heroes are not gone?
Cancellation of arena vote boosts Schundler
Friday, September 7, 2001
By CHARLES STILE
Trenton Bureau
From the moment he became the Republican nominee for governor, Bret Schundler was painted as an out-of-touch conservative championing views that were out of sync with most middle-of-the-road voters.
The attack, waged by Democratic rival Jim McGreevey, seemed to work. One statewide poll late last month gave McGreevey a 19-point edge.
But when a crucial vote on the proposed bill for a Newark arena was canceled Thursday, Schundler scored a quick victory that could shift the focus of the campaign.
Instead of an idealogue, Schundler emerged as an I-told-you-so prophet, whose early opposition to the bill reflected the will of the public, not the special interests.
He contrasted sharply with McGreevey, who first supported the bill, then announced early Thursday that he now opposed it. He said the bill had become larded with new "pork-barrel" spending items designed to persuade reluctant lawmakers to approve it.
"This draft bill that is now before the state Assembly today is an example of Trenton at its worst," McGreevey said.
But Schundler, who waded triumphantly through a crush of photographers and lawmakers inside the committee room moments after the vote was canceled, said McGreevey's new discomfort with the bill was nothing more than a flip-flop, an attempt to protect himself politically before it was too late.
Schundler said he demonstrated leadership. McGreevey, he said, "caved," switching his decision based on political change in the wind.
"Jim McGreevey doesn't do the right thing unless he is forced to," Schundler said.
Although both candidates' positions on the arena are far more complicated, the developments Thursday gave Schundler the contrast he has sought since the campaign started.
He has cast himself as a maverick reformer, vowing to shake up the status quo by sticking to his convictions, even if they remain unpopular with his own party. His campaign, meanwhile, wants to paint McGreevey as a political puppet of special interests, who has no convictions.
Schundler indicated that despite the bill's dim prospects, he plans to use the issue as part of a sustained attack on McGreevey. Some political strategists and supporters believe it is the tactic that will help Schundler close the gap in the polls.
"It sets the scenario that [former Jersey City] Mayor Schundler wants, that McGreevey is truly the inside-the-beltway Trenton politician," said Assemblyman Guy Gregg, R-Morris, a Schundler supporter. "Schundler is out there speaking for the citizens, speaking for the taxpayers."
But for all his claims that the bill collapsed under the weight of public opposition over the project, Schundler's decision was also steeped in political calculation. By criticizing the plan, Schundler sided with Republican lawmakers from Bergen County, home to the largest bloc of Republican voters in the state and a must-win county in statewide elections.
Party officials also said his views were consistent with internal party polls suggesting most voters are not thrilled with the proposed arena.
Richard McGrath, a spokesman for McGreevey, said it was Schundler who has failed to show leadership on the issue. He said Schundler's call to first get voter approval on $190 million worth of bonds for the project amounts to nothing more than passing off a tough decision to voters.
"All he wants to do is to defer the decision to the taxpayers," McGrath said. "Governors have to have the fortitude to make decisions, and the willingness to act on them. Jim McGreevey supported the arena because it was a self-financed plan [that] didn't expose the taxpayers. But he had the fortitude to say no when it mushroomed into a billion-dollar pork-barrel project."
Despite that defense, at least one Democratic official remains nervous over the issue.
" 'Stop the Arena' could be the rallying cry that Bret Schundler needs to get back in this thing and save his campaign," the official said. "McGreevey is stuck with the arena because he can't really buck [Newark Mayor] Sharpe James. That plays right into Schundler's strategy that McGreevey is basically captive, and puppet, of the special interests."
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