Assembly State Preparedness Chair Cautions Against Victimizing Home Owners a Third Time
Assembly Homeland Security and State Preparedness Committee Chair Annette Quijano (D-Union) on Tuesday called on the Christie administration to make the new funding appeals process for Hurricane Sandy victims smooth and transparent to avoid victimizing homeowners a third time.
“Property owners in the path of Hurricane Sandy have essentially been victimized twice now at the hands of this administration due to the inexplicable denial of recovery aid. Until recently, these victims weren’t even being afforded the opportunity to appeal their grant denial.
“The Christie administration’s sudden about-face, reopening the appeals process for victims who had previously been denied aid, is the right thing to do. However, this process needs to be transparent and straight forward to avoid victimizing these property owners a third time.
“The erroneous denial of thousands of applications, the use of faulty data and a confusing, bureaucracy-heavy process have made the rebuilding and recovery phase a nightmare for many Sandy victims. It’s time for the administration to correct these mistakes and expedite the recovery.
“It’s almost a year and a half since the storm struck our state. Too many New Jerseyans are still suffering and it’s incumbent that we help them now,” said Quijano.