BPU Commissioner Mroz Resigns In Wake Of Our Ethics Complaint
Former Gov. Christie’s BPU President Steps Down – Avoids Ethics Review
Resignation submitted just days after petition for removal
BPU Commissioner Mroz
Just days after we filed a formal request with NJ Gov. Murphy’s Attorney General, the State Ethics Commission, and formal petition to BPU to remove BPU Commissioner Richard Mroz for gross conflicts of interest, NJ Spotlight reports today that Mroz submitted his resignation, see:
By resigning, Mroz avoids an embarrassing ethics review and potential removal.
[Note: Mroz previously dodged these issues when the Legislature turned a blind eye, see: Legislators Asked To Probe BPU Sweetheart Deal For BL England Power Plant]
Mroz issued the standard resignation letter which not surprisingly makes no reference to the pending ethics review or the propriety of his role as a former fossil energy lobbyists and lawyer. According to NJ Spotlight, Mroz’s resignation letter stated:
Mroz cited his accomplishments in the letter. “We advanced emerging technologies, renewable energy and invested in energy efficiency,” he wrote. “And we made decisions balancing the interests of the companies we regulate, ensured reliable and resilient services, all while ensuring that customers pay reasonable rates.”
President Trump’s economic advisor Gary Cohen resigned with a similar familiar cover story, just days after he lost a tariff fight and Trump imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
So, we understand why Mroz dodged the ethics challenge and issued the standard “nothing to see here” cover story.
But we can not understand why NJ Spotlight bought Mroz’s spin and even provided a sham cover story excuse – suggesting that the Mroz resignation came in the context of:
Ironically, his resignation has been made public at a time of heightened criticism of the utilities’ responses to the latest storm, a nor’easter.
NJ Spotlight reporter Tom Johnson surely knows that is bullshit and had nothing to do with Mroz’s reason for resigning.
Given that I’m a critic of Spotlight – specifically on the issue of Mroz – of course, Spotlight ignored our ethics petition and never reported on Mroz’s gross conflicts, which we first raised publicly long ago, way back in September 2015, see:
Our ethics review petition and removal request came just days after we criticized NJ Gov. Murphy for a lack of resolve, failure to appoint his own people, and exercise leadership to rein in Mroz’s partisan attacks, see:
We’ll take credit for this one, despite being ignored once again by NJ media.
But our readers know that they frequently get the right story and often way before mainstream NJ media and NJ Spotlight gets around to it.
We take no prisoners and don’t negotiate with climate terrorists!
[End Note: couldn’t resist posting this apt classic comment from a friend and reader:
Reminds me of wizard of Oz with the vaporization of the wicked witch when Dorothy threw water on her.