Assemblywoman Questions Conspicuous Absence of Trenton in Governor’s Revamp of the Schools Development Authority
(TRENTON) — Following Governor Chris Christie’s announcement late Tuesday that he would be overhauling the Schools Development Authority (SDA) and green-lighting 10 development projects, with the City of Trenton conspicuously left off the list, Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Mercer), a member of the Assembly Education Committee, issued the following statement:
“This pattern of the governor snubbing the state capitol at every opportunity must come to an end.
“How is it possible that time after time, virtually every other urban area in the state meets the governor’s nebulous and undefined criteria, while Trenton — New Jersey’s Capitol — always seems to come up short?
“Governor Christie talks a good game, we’re all aware of that by now. But when push comes to shove, he and his administration consistently fail to provide us with the concrete methods and analyses that helped them to arrive at their decisions.
“That needs to end. The residents of our capitol city deserve to know the criteria the Christie administration used to determine which school projects would get funding this year.
“Because, under any criteria, it is unconscionable that Trenton Central High School should be left off the list.
“Failure to produce that data in a timely fashion will only lead to the worst sort of speculation: that the green-lighting of these particular 10 projects was politically motivated.
“If, based on the data — or the refusal to provide that data — that is proven to be the case, it will cement in my mind that Governor Christie is ruled not by his desire to make New Jersey better, but by his own petty political considerations.”