The Auditor: Catholic Bishops Hire New Lobbyists
The Star-Ledger
The New Jersey Catholic Conference, the lobbying arm of the state’s bishops, is getting a little help from one of Trenton’s higher powers. The bishops, who have been battling bills that would extend the statute of limitations on lawsuits for child sex-abuse cases and a measure that would establish a system for physician-assisted suicide, have hired the prominent State Street firm Princeton Public Affairs Group. Dale Florio, the firm’s founder, is the consummate Trenton insider to whom, for example, the Orthodox rabbis in Lakewood turned when they wanted to get their yeshiva a chunk of the state’s higher education grants. Patrick Brannigan, executive director of the Catholic Conference who is a registered lobbyist, said it was the first time the organization had hired an outside lobbyist in his seven years there, although he wasn’t sure if it had done so earlier. Brannigan said the firm would be dedicated to all the group’s causes, not just opposing those two bills. “Some people say that we didn’t need one,” he said, “... but you know, I’m 70 years old. I’m not as quick and fast as I used to be. I’m not going to be here that much longer. He added: “We hired them to assist us in all of our issues, especially communications and to provide stability if I were to leave.” State Sen. Joseph Vitale (D-Middlesex), whose bill to extend the statute of limitations for child sex-abuse cases has repeatedly stalled in the face of opposition from the church, didn’t take the news well. “If I were a lobbyist, there isn’t any amount of money in the world that would allow me, personally and morally, to work against legislation like this, and work for an institution that wants to defeat legislation that would hold them accountable,” Vitale told The Auditor. Not exactly party time On Thursday afternoon, just hours before dozens of leading Democrats threw their support behind state Sen. Ray Lesniak for the party’s state chairmanship, he met with Barbara Buono, the newly minted Democratic candidate for governor, and her campaign chairwoman, Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman. It didn’t end well, according to Lesniak. The three had hoped to avoid a clash this Thursday, when the state committee is to select its next chairman. Despite opposition from a small army of her Democratic colleagues — an ominous way to begin a campaign already lagging in money and enthusiasm — she continues to support Assemblyman Jason O’Donnell (D-Hudson). Lesniak (D-Union) said Buono offered to let him be the committee’s finance chairman if he withdrew from the competition for chairman — an offer he scoffed at. “As I was leaving,” he said, “Bonnie Watson Coleman and Barbara Buono said, ‘You’re going to lose. You’re going to lose.’ ” Lesniak said he replied: “Yeah, and ... ?” As he later told The Auditor, “It seemed to me to be quite an immature and childish reaction.” David Turner, a spokesman for Buono, said: “We offered him the opportunity to be part of our finance committee and be engaged in our campaign, and he declined.” While the Buono camp says it’s confident it has the votes, the outpouring of support for Lesniak was intended to put pressure on committee members. The horror, the horror ... Francine Del Vecchio, the Democratic candidate for mayor of Wayne, has a Ph.D., is a professor of education at Caldwell College and writes and produces films. But in her bid to unseat the Republican mayor, Chris Vergano, in November, it may be the exploits of her husband, Kenneth, a filmmaker, that scuttles her chances. For starters, Kenneth Del Vecchio, a former Republican who not long ago lost his own race for state senator, was pressured to step down as a part-time judge in North Arlington in 2010 by the state’s Advisory Committee on Extrajudicial Activities. It told him he could have one career or the other, but not both. A Star-Ledger review of Del Vecchio’s submission to the 2011 Hoboken International Film Festival described the film, “O.B.A.M. Nude,” as “a cinematic allegory suggesting that President Obama is Satan’s disciple and out to implement a socialist agenda.” He described it as satire. Francine Del Vecchio said she and her husband disagree on many things, but share a desire to cut some of the red tape in Wayne. “Trying to get a business up and running in Wayne takes a very long time,” she said. “We definitely want to streamline that process as much as possible.” Like father, like son For Andrew Christie, the eldest of the governor’s four children, last Tuesday was a big day, and not just because it was the first time he could cast a vote for his father. He also delivered his first political speech, addressing supporters gathered at the Bridgewater Marriott to celebrate Gov. Chris Christie’s formal nomination for re-election. “Today was a very special day for me,” the younger Christie, a freshman at Princeton University, said amid cheers. “For the first time, I got to vote for my dad.” Standing behind the lectern, he continued with no notes — just like his father. “It was almost fitting for me because there I was at 19,” he said. “I finally got to support him in a tangible way, and he’s been supporting me my whole life, teaching me baseball and Little League all the way up to applying for colleges.”
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