...and PAY for it, too!
Posted on 12/02/2002 6:42:51 AM PST by jjm2111
Under a barrage of criticism from Republicans and questions from reporters, Gov. James E. McGreevey apologized today for charging taxpayers $70,000 for a weeklong trip to Ireland combining business and pleasure last summer. Mr. McGreevey said he would ask the state Democratic Party to repay almost all of the expenses.
The Star-Ledger of Newark reported today that Mr. McGreevey spent slightly more than $105,000 to fly his wife, several staff members and three state troopers acting as security guards to his ancestral homeland for a week in July. The costs paid by the state included $16,000 in cellphone charges and $3,178.48 for a reunion with Irish relatives at a steakhouse in Banbridge, Northern Ireland, the paper said.
Mr. McGreevey at first maintained that the cost of the trip amounted to $57,000 but later acknowledged that the cost was $70,000. The difference between his number and the number cited by The Star-Ledger, he said, was the cost borne by business officials who accompanied his party to Ireland and the cost of providing security.
The governor said before the trip that the trade mission would cost the state $20,000.
The governor's director of communications defended the trip's expense to The Star-Ledger, saying that the business contacts made by state officials and the New Jersey business people traveling with the governor were valuable to the state's economy.
The newspaper said its figures were based on expense vouchers it obtained after months of requesting them.
But pressed by reporters after a pre-Thanksgiving appearance at a Perth Amboy synagogue this afternoon, Mr. McGreevey said he had made a mistake in charging the trip to the taxpayers. He said that the state Democratic Party would repay all but the cost of his security detail and the cost of a family reunion party.
"When you make a mistake, understand that you made a mistake — everyone makes mistakes — take responsibility for it, and the money will be reimbursed," the governor told reporters after his visit to the Congregation Shaarey Tefiloh.
"Clearly, on this question," he said, "while a trade mission may be valuable, the need to understand the importance of watching the taxpayers' dollars is key, and to spend that amount was an error in judgment. I take responsibility as governor and, again, the money will be reimbursed to the taxpayers of New Jersey as it justifiably and rightly should be."
Mr. McGreevey said he would personally repay the cost of the family reunion party. He did not explain why the state Democratic Party should shoulder the remaining costs, and the party referred questions to its spokesman, Richard McGrath, who did not return a phone call requesting comment.
State Republicans, noting that the governor had limited state education aid to municipalities because of the state's budget deficit, hooted at the governor's embarrassment.
"The governor said that this was a trade mission, and it was — he traded our hard-earned tax dollars for a good time," said State Senator Diane Allen, a potential Republican candidate to oppose Mr. McGreevey in 2005. "Governor McGreevey has cut funding for education and municipalities, causing property taxes to skyrocket statewide, while at the same time he has been enjoying himself at taxpayer expense."
Assemblyman Guy Gregg, a Republican member of the Assembly Appropriations Committee, adopted a similar tone of outraged bemusement. "Governor McGreevey talks about the need to live within our means," he said in a statement. "Well, I don't know too many families who believe that living within your means includes taking vacations to Ireland, staying at the most expensive hotels and running up $16,000 in cellphone bills."
Although Mr. McGreevey keeps up a tireless round of public appearances as governor, his popularity has suffered in recent months, according to several recent polls that have shown his approval ratings at 50 percent or below. The state has deep budget problems that have forced state job cuts.
Before he left in July, Mr. McGreevey described the trip as a mission to develop trade ties to Ireland, although the state commerce secretary, the Rev. William Watley, did not accompany him, and members of his staff made up most of his entourage.
According to the paper, the trip included a tour by Mercedes-Benz and a stay in a $720-per-night suite at the Berkeley Court Hotel in Dublin.
<>sarcasm</>
There were only two relatives, and that was the BAR TAB. <|:)~
...and PAY for it, too!
Give Chris Dodd our regards.
Their Royal Heinouses
Yikes! Were they calling the MOON??
I don't hear anyone seriously questioning these charges. Got to be LOTS of calls to the Re-elect Torricelli for Senate campaign.
Wow, I'm certainly glad to know that when the taxpayers balk, the DNC will step to the plate. I want to see the DNC set a policy of paying for this sort of abuse, that way they can't afford to push Gore and Hildabeast upon the nation.
He is only sorry he got caught. Does anyone think he wasn't fully aware of what he was doing with my money? I know nothing will happen and the Rats will continue to prosper here in the Garden State.
BTW I was at the Meadowlands Arena on Saturday. How in hell can they tear that place down and put one up in Newark? The place looks great to me.
"Just bill the stupid voters, they don't know any better".
New Jersey voters, you got what you voted for a crook in a three piece suit.
HAW! HAW! HAW! Love how those Dems "take responsibility."
That Rowland guy looks pretty good for the Northeast, though.
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