Fox Re-Appointment Shows That Corzine Just Doesn’t Get It

February 27, 2008

Contact: Bill Murray / (609) 292-5199
Senator Jennifer Beck (R-12)

BPU Corrupt, Ineffective & Politicized Under Jeanne Fox’s Leadership

Senator Jennifer Beck issued the following statement regarding the re-appointment of Jeanne Fox to the Board of Public Utilities (BPU).

“Governor Jon Corzine’s decision to re-appoint Jeanne Fox to the BPU is an appalling slap in the face of New Jersey’s taxpayers. During her tenure the BPU has degenerated into an agency that follows a wasteful and partisan political agenda rather than an agenda dictated by sound energy policy. She is emblematic of everything that is wrong with state Government.

“During President Fox’s first term at the BPU she opened a secret $83 million bank account that was accessible only to her and one other employee. The account collected millions of dollars from New Jersey energy consumers and then distributed the monies to former BPU employees for clean energy programs.

“The same day that Jon Corzine called for deep cuts and budget accountability, he re-appointed a cabinet official responsible for the creation of a $83 million secret bank account beyond the accounting controls of the Department of the Treasury. In addition to clearly violating state rules and regulations, a state audit of the scandal at BPU found that Jeanne Fox exercised ‘no oversight of how the BPU ratepayer money was spent and that BPU kept poor records of the secret account.’

“When initially asked about the secret $83 million bank account Jeanne Fox stated that an Assistant Attorney General had signed off on the creation of the account. Later she had to issue a retraction stating that she had ‘misspoke.’

“The secret account was opened at Wachovia bank. A bank in which, coincidentally, one BPU commissioner owned hundreds of thousands of dollars of stock.

“This is exactly the type of abuse that the governor promised to end during his inaugural address. Yesterday, the Governor of New Jersey stood before people of New Jersey the and stated that ‘I call on each of you, Republicans and Democrats alike, to recognize that today a turning point is at hand. We must turn away from the era of spending and borrowing beyond our means … once and for all.’ Yet here he is re-appointing the poster child for government waste, fraud and abuse. I am convinced, based on her record of a secret account, politically motivated policies, patronage hires and poor administration that Jeanne Fox is exactly the wrong person to be determining New Jersey energy policy and setting rates for New Jersey taxpayers.”