MANVILLE: New Jersey as ‘The Corrupt State?’ No more

Report runs counter to stereotypical view of our politics

   You know the long-standing stereotype New Jersey is a place where business is decided behind closed doors after cash in envelopes has been passed under the table?
   Fuhgetaboutit.
   According to a report from the Center for Public Integrity, New Jersey has cleaned up its act and no longer deserves its reputation for official corruption. New Jersey rang up the lowest risk of corruption of all 50 states and was one of only five to gain an overall B rating. (No state got an A.)
   The news came as a surprise even to the compilers of the report.
   ”New Jersey emerges at the top of the pack, a seemingly stunning ranking for a state with a reputation for dirty politics,” says a story on its website.
   So the bad rap has all been media hype, just fodder for late-night comics?
   Well, more likely New Jersey’s way of doing public business was pretty bad, but we’ve cleaned up our act.
   It seems much of the state’s high rating comes from a decade of reform on pay to play, ethics, open government and disclosure rules, etc. That’s good news and bad news; if we never had the wrongdoing, we wouldn’t have needed laws to combat it.
   According to the Center for Public Integrity’s State Integrity Investigation, New Jersey’s strong points are extensive financial disclosure requirements for the governor, a transparently run pension fund, an aggressive ethics enforcement agency and tough anti-pay-to-play laws for contractors.
   But it also cited a report that said New Jersey was sixth in total federal public corruption convictions from 1976 to 2010. Again, good news on the convictions; bad news they were necessary.
   New Jersey had the most convictions between 2000-2009, though, and that crackdown on crime dovetails nicely to now-Gov. Chris Christie’s tenure as U.S. attorney (January 2002 to December 2008). His office won convictions or guilty pleas from 130 public officials, from both political parties, without losing a single case.
   There were some big fish in the group — like urban county executives and state senators. In his letter of resignation as U.S attorney in 2008, Mr. Christie said he went after political corruption “at every level of government, from the school board to the State House” and “both political parties.”
   The report also says the state needs work on limiting, regulating and disclosing money in politics, but that seems like a whack-a-mole game: plug one hole and another springs up.
   In the meantime, maybe we can work on some easier stereotypes. How about bad hair, tortured English, easily bruised egos, tattoos and muscle shirts for starters?