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http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/28/nyregion/a-lieutenant-governor-an-artist-and-a-portrait-of-a-smear.html?_r=0
TRENTON — In her first year in office, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno opened a frontal attack on an unlikely target, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
Its contracting was “inexcusably” flawed, she said. Its practices were “unethical” and too cozy. Its director had to go.
Ms. Guadagno went on like this for months in 2010, and no one knew what to make of it. She wanted more control over the Arts Council, which distributed $16 million a year all over the state and was broadly respected.
In spring 2011, she began a new offensive. She went before legislative committees and pilloried a man doing work on an Arts Council contract, building a 9/11 timeline at Liberty State Park in Jersey City. His contract was no-bid, she said, the money unclear.
This gentleman is Daniel Aubrey, a 62-year-old man with a gray-flecked goatee. He and his wife, an artist, live in a modest home on a modest block just outside Trenton. A friend called him that day and exclaimed: The lieutenant governor just spelled out your name and said there was contract fraud!..."
and:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/23/nyregion/hoboken-mayor-is-said-to-have-told-of-threat.html?action=click&contentCollection=N.Y.%20%2F%20Region&module=RelatedCoverage®ion=Marginalia&pgtype=article
"Federal authorities in New Jersey have interviewed several witnesses who said the mayor of Hoboken told them in May about a state official’s threat to withhold hurricane recovery funds if the mayor did not support a development project favored by the governor, people briefed on the matter said on Wednesday.
The statements by the witnesses, two of whom are aides to the mayor, Dawn Zimmer, support the account she gave to federal prosecutors on Sunday, and the interviews suggest that prosecutors and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have moved swiftly to investigate her accusations.
The aides said she had told them about the threat by Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, shortly after it occurred, according to two people briefed on the matter.
A Hoboken city councilman, David Mello, said in an interview that Ms. Zimmer had also told him about the threat by Ms. Guadagno, a Republican. Mr. Mello, a Democrat, said he had been upset to hear about what he called “this quid pro quo ultimatum by the lieutenant governor.”
The allegation first surfaced on Saturday when Ms. Zimmer, in an interview on MSNBC, said that the threat was made by Ms. Guadagno in a parking lot in May. Ms. Zimmer said Ms. Guadagno told her that federal Hurricane Sandy recovery funds and money for fortifying her city against another storm would depend on her support for the development project. The mayor said Ms. Guadagno said that Gov. Chris Christie had sent her to deliver that message because the project was so important to him..."
TRENTON — In her first year in office, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno opened a frontal attack on an unlikely target, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
Its contracting was “inexcusably” flawed, she said. Its practices were “unethical” and too cozy. Its director had to go.
Ms. Guadagno went on like this for months in 2010, and no one knew what to make of it. She wanted more control over the Arts Council, which distributed $16 million a year all over the state and was broadly respected.
In spring 2011, she began a new offensive. She went before legislative committees and pilloried a man doing work on an Arts Council contract, building a 9/11 timeline at Liberty State Park in Jersey City. His contract was no-bid, she said, the money unclear.
This gentleman is Daniel Aubrey, a 62-year-old man with a gray-flecked goatee. He and his wife, an artist, live in a modest home on a modest block just outside Trenton. A friend called him that day and exclaimed: The lieutenant governor just spelled out your name and said there was contract fraud!..."
and:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/23/nyregion/hoboken-mayor-is-said-to-have-told-of-threat.html?action=click&contentCollection=N.Y.%20%2F%20Region&module=RelatedCoverage®ion=Marginalia&pgtype=article
"Federal authorities in New Jersey have interviewed several witnesses who said the mayor of Hoboken told them in May about a state official’s threat to withhold hurricane recovery funds if the mayor did not support a development project favored by the governor, people briefed on the matter said on Wednesday.
The statements by the witnesses, two of whom are aides to the mayor, Dawn Zimmer, support the account she gave to federal prosecutors on Sunday, and the interviews suggest that prosecutors and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have moved swiftly to investigate her accusations.
The aides said she had told them about the threat by Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, shortly after it occurred, according to two people briefed on the matter.
A Hoboken city councilman, David Mello, said in an interview that Ms. Zimmer had also told him about the threat by Ms. Guadagno, a Republican. Mr. Mello, a Democrat, said he had been upset to hear about what he called “this quid pro quo ultimatum by the lieutenant governor.”
The allegation first surfaced on Saturday when Ms. Zimmer, in an interview on MSNBC, said that the threat was made by Ms. Guadagno in a parking lot in May. Ms. Zimmer said Ms. Guadagno told her that federal Hurricane Sandy recovery funds and money for fortifying her city against another storm would depend on her support for the development project. The mayor said Ms. Guadagno said that Gov. Chris Christie had sent her to deliver that message because the project was so important to him..."