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OPRA ARC Documents Reveal Puff was Puffing

by: Bill Orr

Thu Oct 21, 2010 at 04:30:00 PM EDT

As suspected, ( see my earlier diary today) there is no surprise here. Yet even a cynical person might be amazed that the governor claimed on October 7 that there was a projected overrun of up to $5 billion on ARC when OPRA documents reveal his most recent report of October 5 indicated the project was on budget.

Assembly Transportation Chairman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) released the following statement Thursday afternoon on documents provided by the Christie administration through an OPRA request.

The documents provided by the governor's own administration fail to provide any justification for the governor's claim of billions in cost overruns on the tunnel project. That claim seems as though it was simply pulled out of thin air by the governor. The governor is risking New Jersey's economic future with numbers that, at least according to these documents, have no basis in reality.
"Over-the-top sound bites by Gov. Christie aside, the fact is the OPRA documents include reports dated July 30, Aug. 24 and Oct. 5. All of the reports include the following statement: 'The overall project remains within budget.' The next sentence in each report indicates the total project budget is $8.7 billion. Note that the Oct. 5 report came two days before the governor announced the alleged cost overruns.
"This project is vital to New Jersey's economic and transportation future. Now that we know for certain that the governor cannot support his cost overrun claims, it's time for him to act like a leader and get this project moving forward."

One could hypothesize that in some casual conversation or document still in preparation there was broached the likelihood of overruns. However, without clear, supporting data and with the October 5 report to the contrary, for Christie to claim overruns up to $5 billion as a basis to stop ARC is at best misleading and irresponsible.

To read the documents go to this site. Strangely many documents appear upside down.

Bill Orr :: OPRA ARC Documents Reveal Puff was Puffing

Tags: politics, John Wisniewski, Chris Christie, OPRA, ARC, featured, (All Tags)

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OPRA ARC Documents Reveal Puff was Puffing | 8 comments

Christie Lied (0.00 / 0)

No surprise about that!

Blog: http://www.deciminyan.org

by: deciminyan @ Thu Oct 21, 2010 at 22:57:03 PM UTC

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Further ARC reporting indicates (0.00 / 0)

that indeed a federal estimate was in the midst of being prepared, and Christie had received some information about it. The Star Ledger reported this evening that "Despite Christie's repeated claims that the Hudson River train tunnel was projected to run $2.3 billion to $5.3 billion over budget, he had known for nearly two weeks that the official federal estimate showed a cost overrun as low as $1 billion, two sources close to the project said....sources also said LaHood told the governor the low number was $9.7 billion."

Christie is expected to talk tomorrow with Secretary LaHood.

"The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die." - Sen. Ted Kennedy

by: Bill Orr @ Thu Oct 21, 2010 at 23:40:49 PM UTC

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Wisniewski on Christie's Credibility (0.00 / 0)

Following the Star Ledger article mentioned in the above comment, Assemblyman Wisniewski issued the following press release, "The reports that indicate Gov. Christie knew the cost overruns for the tunnel project were no more than $1 billion, even as he continued to cling to blatantly inflated figures, are disturbing. These reports, coupled with October 5 NJ Transit status memo that showed the tunnel project was on budget at the $8.7 billion mark, raise serious questions about the governor's credibility and motive on this key transportation issue ... In light of this, it is my hope that the governor commits to getting this vital transportation project back online and moving forward for the benefit of New Jersey's future."

"The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die." - Sen. Ted Kennedy

by: Bill Orr @ Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 03:22:26 AM UTC

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one also could hypothesize (0.00 / 0)

that there is a memo to the Governor advising him that a Big Lie would be politically useful (withheld under OPRA priviledge).

Hypotheses are for science experiments.

Governing requires facts.

by: Winston Smith @ Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 12:21:23 PM UTC

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I'm not surprised (0.00 / 0)

I thought it was obvious there was no significant cost overrun; he just wants to divert the money to the roads. Now, the roads need money so at least he didn't make that up.

Frank LoBiondo Record and Jon Runyan Watch

by: Hopeful @ Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 20:35:03 PM UTC

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If you don't think there will be any significant overruns.... (0.00 / 0)

...you haven't been paying attention to any large government run project in the last 50 years.

Just give me one example of a huge project that didn't go significantly over budget.

by: cwood123 @ Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 20:56:29 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

So What? But (0.00 / 0)

There were cost overruns on the GW and the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels which have served us very well over the years. But as even the most nefarious brokers on Wall Street warn us, "Past performance is no guarantee of future results." In fact with the current low costs of construction salaries, materials and interest rate we have an even better chance of reducing overruns. Also it helps if you have a governor who wants to control costs. Projects are not fated to create overruns, it is mismanagement (including corruption) and lack of foresight that causes problems.

"The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die." - Sen. Ted Kennedy

by: Bill Orr @ Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 23:35:29 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

It's a matter... (0.00 / 0)

of what the scope of the project is defined to be...

Apparently according to the Ledger today, there is a bridge that must be lifted to make the tunnel useful (otherwise, there would be delays to the tunnel each time a boat needed to pass)

Costs to lift that bridge (or build a new one at signficant height) are expected to be from 2 to 5 billion dollars...

THIS is the cost the Christie is citing, the feds think the bridge is beyond the scope of the tunnel, while Christie insists the two are inexorably linked.

Thats the debate, do we need the tunnel without the bridge?

I don't know enough about the bridge to offer an opinion about the bridge's importance to the project or who is 'spinning' here... but it's a little more complicated than 'Christie Lied'

"Where ever you go, there you are." - Buckaroo Bonzai

by: William Weber (WjcW) @ Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 21:10:35 PM UTC

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OPRA ARC Documents Reveal Puff was Puffing | 8 comments