Norcross Lautenberg’s ‘cheap shots’ distract from higher ed dialog

Power broker George Norcross III this afternoon entered the fray between a bloc of South Jersey elected officials and U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, as a long-simmering standoff over the proposed higher education merger between Rutgers-Camden and Rowan universities boiled over today.

Power broker George Norcross III this afternoon entered the fray between a bloc of South Jersey elected officials and U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, as a long-simmering standoff over the proposed higher education merger between Rutgers-Camden and Rowan universities boiled over today.

Norcross was all but named by Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park) on Monday, when he asked the federal government to review the proposed merger of Rutgers and Rowan, characterizing motivations for the proposed merger as political and saying the plan was designed to benefit “political interests” rather than students.

“On this issue, rather than taking cheap shots like a typical Washington politician, the senator should be rolling up his sleeves and be part of a solution for a higher education model that strengthens Rutgers, Rowan, Newark and our region,” Norcross said in an e-mailed statement. “Camden is not in the state of Maine, it’s in New Jersey and desperately needs the senator’s help, not his hysteria.”

The pushback started this morning, when state Senate President State Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney (D-West Deptford) issued a statement he sent on behalf of a delegation of nearly two dozen South Jersey legislators and elected officials that blasted Lautenberg’s condemnation of the proposed merger of Rutgers-Camden and Rowan universities.

Sweeney, in an interview with NJBIZ, said Lautenberg’s comments “have no effect in the process. They’ve got enough problems in Washington, D.C., and he should focus on them.”

“If he really wants to help higher ed, he should speak up and try to push for the federal government to provide more resources.”

Sweeney, who called on Lautenberg to work with fellow Democrats, said he had not heard from Lautenberg about getting involved in the efforts to strengthen the state’s higher education system that, the Senate president said, would benefit all the state’s residents and the economy.

“If he really had some concerns, he could have picked up the phone and called, and I would have been happy to talk to anybody on his staff, I would have been happy to speak to him, and see what his concerns were and work through them, instead of the political stunt that he pulled.” Sweeney said this afternoon.

‘Uninformed and vengeful’

In the e-mail, distributed this morning, Sweeney and the other South Jersey policymakers called Lautenberg comments on the proposed merger “uninformed and vengeful.”

“While Senator Lautenberg has failed all of New Jersey on the issue of higher education, his callous disregard for South Jersey has been reprehensible,” read the e-mail, which carried the names of Assembly Majority Leader Louis D. Greenwald and two Republicans — Sens. Diane Allen and Dawn Addiego. “Since his comments have no basis in fact, and that he took this deplorable action without even discussing the matter with those who know the facts, the only conclusion is that Senator Lautenberg is trying to avenge past political differences.”

Caley Gray, a spokesman for Lautenberg, said in an e-mail to NJBIZ that the senator had raised questions about the impact of the proposed merger in a letter to Gov. Chris Christie, but had not yet heard a response.

Gray said instead of attacking Lautenberg, politicians should join in demanding Christie explain the effects a potential deal would have on student costs, jobs and the financial health of state colleges.

“The senator stands with the people of South Jersey who are questioning the wisdom of this back-room deal, not a political boss seeking to expand his influence,” Gray said. “It’s sad that elected officials will simply fall in line on orders from their political benefactor when so many South Jerseyans are alarmed by this deal.”