TRENTON, NJ-As the swirling politics surrounding recent lane closures at the George Washington Bridge have begun to garner national attention, Gov. Chris Christie announced at a morning press conference that the Port Authority deputy executive director Bill Baroni has resigned.
The official who closed the lanes, David Wildstein, resigned last week just before legislative hearings into the matter began. The hearings were called to investigate whether there was political retribution involved when three lanes of traffic onto the bridge were suddenly closed in October after the Democratic Fort Lee mayor declined to endorse Republican Christie for re-election.
At the Friday morning conference, Christie flatly denied having any involvement and said he does not believe anyone in his administration exerted political pressure that led to the lane closings and severe traffic problems.
Increasingly aggressive reporting has raised questions about the political patronage system at the Port Authority in general, however, and how it might have played a role. A Thursday column in The New York Times noted that “the hack who closed the lanes got his job at the Port Authority through the patronage of Governor Christie, a high school classmate.”
In the morning conference, Christie said he was accepting Baroni's resignation because of all the “distractions” the lane-closing incident has caused. In his opinion, the governor said, the controversy still amounts to " hullaballoo."
Christie has insisted that there was no involvement by any administration staff member in the unexplained decision to temporariy close the lanes – which led to a massive traffic snarl for four days running. Meanwhile, Democratic state legislators opened hearings into the situation, calling Port Authority officials to testify, and national Democrats have taken to mentioning it as often as possible as a problem for Christie if he makes a run for presidency.
Baroni had testified last month before an Assembly committee that the traffic lanes were closed as part of a study. However, the authority's executive director Patrick Foye testified after Baroni and said he knew of no study.
Christie also denied a Wall Street Journal report that he has complained to New York Fov. Andrew Cuomo about Foye's handling of the issue. The Port Authority is operated jointly by New York and New Jersey, and Foye is a Cuomo appointee.
"That story is categorically wrong," he said. "I did not have that conversation with Gov. Cuomo in any way shape or form and he did not have that conversation with me."
Wildstein ordered the lane closures, but he was under the supervision of Baroni. Christie said he had already been planning to replace Baroni at the Port Authority before the controversy erupted because he had been in his position “too long,” after four years.
Christie's deputy chief of staff for policy and cabinet liaison, Deborah Gramiccioni, will take Baroni's position.
The lane closings were a mistake, Christie said, but not a plot. "I have to assume they're not lying," the governor said of Baroni and Wildstein.
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