SPOTSWOOD — A retired teacher, an unemployed Red Bank resident and a 12- year-old Springfield student walked into the Knights of Columbus and helped create one the strangest town hall meetings Gov. Chris Christie said he has conducted since taking office.
“I gotta tell you something for the people here in Spotswood today,” Christie told the crowd after the nearly 40 minutes of questions. “This was one of the most unusual town hall meetings I have ever had.”
After delivering what he called a “sermon” on sick-day payouts for retirees and his touting of elements of his reform tool kit — one of which, arbitration reform, Spotswood Mayor Thomas Barlow said the borough used in May to help negotiate a three-year police contract with a zeropercent raise for 2011 — the governor opened the meeting to questions. Area residents then hit on seemingly every topic, except sick-day payouts for retirees and elements of his tool kit.
A woman from Red Bank said she has been harassed by the Department of Education, pleading with the governor to help find her a job.
Another woman, a retired teacher, asked an over three-minute question that touched on post-traumatic stress disorder among veterans, a comment that Fox News contributor Ann Coulter made about Christie’s asthma, and education reform, telling Christie that teachers need tenure so that they “don’t have to sleep with principals” to get what they want. When she repeatedly interrupted Christie’s response, breaking some elements of one of his town hall rules—“We are all from New Jersey. If you give it to me, you’re getting it back” — and previously, another rule — “Don’t make a speech when you ask your question” — Christie barked back.
“This is what gets me worked up,” the governor said. “I sat here and listened to you ramble on about eight different topics and I didn’t once interrupt you. And then when I go to givemy answer, you continue to interrupt. So you really have to not be so rude.”
And to close out the meeting, a 12- year-old Hindu student, Surya Makkar, of Springfield, told Christie he had been accused of bullying and said a religious community “that controls the township of Springfield and its school board” played a part in the incident.
Christie answered the questions while entwining them with his ideas for private school vouchers, tenure and other education reforms, ideas that left Spotswood residents Carol and Jim Farley impressed.
“He’s very interesting,” Carol Farley said. “He’s a good speaker and you may not agree with everything that happens, but you know that he is working in the right direction, at least to me.”