Exposed: Christie DEP Secretly Privatized Planning For Commercialization of Liberty State Park

On Collaboration, Cover, and Covert Conflicts

NJ Future’s Collaboration & Manipulation is Despicable

“Because the park has been a sacred battleground against privatization plans, I think New Jersey Future was naive and wrong to collaborate with the DEP,” he said. “It’s wrongheaded thinking.” ~~~ Sam Pesin, Friends of Liberty State Park (Bergen Record, 2/5/15)

[Update: 4 pm – Disgusting: Christie Signs Bill To Allow Development of Liberty State Park 

Don’t believe the Prieto/Sarlo BS –

The Christie DEP supports development and commercialization of the Park as a “tourist destination”. Bob Martin’s DEP would be as bad as the new MRC. This is all about finance, not ownership of the Park ~~ end update]

Collaboration, for sure, but naive, wrongheaded, and wrong?

How about greedy, unethical, and evil?

The treacherous collaboration of corporate oriented NJ Future with the Christie DEP on planning for the commercialization of Liberty State Park is a total disgrace.

The same goes for the underhanded stealth tactics of Christie’s DEP, led by the incompetent corporate hack Bob Martin.

But, none of that should come as a surprise to those who know that group and pay attention to State politics, planning, and DEP policy.

Scott Fallon of the Bergen Record exposed the dirty details of that today:

Governor Christie faces a deadline Thursday to act on a controversial bill that could bring more private development to Liberty State Park, but his administration quietly began the process months ago when it hired consultants to analyze how companies could generate money along the park’s coveted Hudson Riverfront.

The state Department of Environmental Protection awarded $120,000 to a planning group last June to “analyze the potential attractiveness of the park to revenue producing developers, contractors and concessionaires,” according to documents obtained by The Record.

Months later, the administration made a last-minute change to a bill to give development authority over the park to a new state agency. The change, which opponents say jeopardizes the future of Liberty State Park, was made with little opportunity for debate before the measure swiftly passed through the legislature in December.

It is hard to know where to begin in describing how scandalous and outrageous the conduct of both NJ Future and the Christie DEP is here: covert, dishonest, manipulative, unethical, corrupt.

We’ve long opposed and warned readers about the dangers of Gov. Christie’s parks commercialization and privatization policy.

We’ve specifically written that the Liberty State Park stealth legislation was designed by the Christie DEP to implement that policy.

We’ve severely criticized DEP Commissioner Martin for misleading the legislature, the press, and the public when they were caught and confronted about this outrageous stealth legislative maneuver.

But, bad as all that is, what the Record just revealed goes way beyond all that:

While DEP still remains mum about what their motives and plans are, the DEP press hack may have let the cat out of the bag here:

“DEP spokesman Larry Ragonese said the park would remain under the department’s control. The agency wants to enhance the park’s amenities and make it a destination for tourists, he said.

Aha!

So DEP has plans in the works for parks improvements to “make LSP a destination for tourists”. What those improvements are – or might be – are unknown at this time.

The fact, as we now learn, that DEP had used a private planning group to coverup their efforts to commercialize Liberty State Park is so far beyond the pale it is hard to even describe.

On top of that, the Christie DEP then misled legislators to stealth that effort into a Meadowlands reform bill.

Then, after they are caught doing this and the public is outraged by it, they try to cover it up and refuse to provide documents to the press.

There has to be accountability for this –

The Legislature must immediately call for oversight hearings and conduct an investigation into exactly how all this went down.

As far as NJ Future goes, I really hope that this is their Waterloo – that they are done, finished, over as an organization.

They obviously can not be trusted and – at a minimum – Director Peter Kasabach and all those involved with this project must resign.

Here he is, refusing to disclose the study and be accountable for a study he oversaw regarding NJ’s most popular State Park:

Peter Kasabach, executive director of New Jersey Future, a Trenton-based research group advocating efficient land use and environmental practices, would not reveal the report’s contents in detail.

And here he is being either unethical, incompetent, or dishonest  (or perhaps all three):

Kasabach said he sees no conflict in accepting money from the DEP to help revamp Liberty State Park and his opposition to the bill, which the DEP helped craft.

“It’s a state park, and the DEP should ultimately be in charge of what goes in there,” he said.

The bill would put development decisions in Liberty State Park in the hands of a revamped New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.

NJ Future took $120,000 from DEP to do their dirty work.

NJ Future secretly oversaw a private planning consultant’s study of commercialization of Liberty State Park  – they didn’t even do the work themselves.

Then to cover their tracks, they manipulated and joined opponents of the commercialization of Liberty State Park! Opposing the very thing they just took DEP money to do!:

The [Christie] administration’s plan for the park is unclear. The planning group, the non-profit New Jersey Future, has submitted a draft report detailing development opportunities at the park to the state Department of Environmental Protection, but neither is revealing any details. A request by The Record for that report was denied.

Volunteer and conservation groups are concerned the state is going to open Liberty State Park to large-scale development. Opposition to the measure has been growing; New Jersey Future itself has urged Christie to veto the bill.

It is hard to imagine more corrupt and manipulative behaviors.

More to follow, as I explain the broader and destructive role of the inter-locked groups like NJ Future and Sustainable NJ, and their Dodge Foundation Funders and Green Mafia friends.