Gaslighting Friends Of Liberty State Park
Murphy DEP Commissioner’s Pushback To Legislators Not Quite What’s Its Been Portrayed To Be
LaTourette Letter Loaded With Gaslighting, Straw Men, and Legal Loopholes
Reality is the exact opposite of the impression created by DEP Commissioner LaTourette and media cheerleaders
Shine your light on me Miss Liberty
‘Cause as soon as this ferry boat docks
And I’m headed to the church
To play Bingo, fleece me with the gamblers’ flocks. ~~~ Song For Sharon (Joni Mitchell, 1975)
Friends of Liberty State Park, as well as NJ media, have been spiking the ball at the 20 yard line, celebrating Murphy DEP Commissioner LaTourette’s letter to Legislative leaders on Liberty State Park development.
Here is Friends’ of Liberty State Park take:
-1/29/24 NJDEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette great 12-page Revitalization Update response to the heads of the assembly and senate who wrote a letter critical of the Revitalization process based on misinformation from lobbyists of Fireman who wants public input only to the Fireman-dominated task force proposals and not from the DEP’s professional park planning consultants’ proposals.
Here is NJ media:
1-31-24 Star Ledger Editorial “N.J. pols cave to a billionaire (cont.)” …this is yet another warning that a plutocrat’s ability to reach into the highest echelons of state government is a serious and dangerous thing, even if it is only used to get a meeting cancelled so that he can rethink his strategy for hijacking the process.
1-31-24 TV PBS Spotlight News piece by David Cruz “Another clash over LSP revitalization”
1-30-24 Star Ledger Editorial “Lawmakers who should know better dance to Fireman’s tune” “LaTourette,who seems to have Gov. Murphy’s support, is an intrepid administrator…has laid out a blueprint that is ecologically sound, physically alluring, and welcoming to all – he is especially proud of carving out a whopping 60 acres for active recreation — and he has vowed to protect our state’s greatest open space from commercial predators.”
1/28/24 The Jersey Journal by Mark Koosau “N.J. legislative leaders unhappy with DEP’s direction on Liberty State Park revitalization plan” The letter, full of shameful misinformation that denies science, ignores the DEP’s pledge of 60 acres of LSP active recreation, and ignores Jersey City’s primary responsibility of creating and renovating sports facilities, shows how easy it is for billionaire Paul Fireman’s lobbyists to manipulate legislative leaders for his goal of deciding LSP’s future. This is another billionaire, Fireman power grab as he wants the public to only give input to proposals coming from this travesty task force created by his non-protection law and dominated by his front groups and other surrogates, and he wants to end the DEP’s responsible and fair plan of public input to DEP consultants’ recommendations.
1/16/24 The Jersey Journal by Mark Koosau “Nonprofit says kids need more ballfields at Liberty State Park, but it spent $1 million on salaries, lawyers, lobbyist and ads.”
5/28/23 The Star Ledger Editorial “Liberty State Park: The good guys finally won”
“The ultimate vision of a pristine urban oasis – protected from garish development, political dithering, and billionaire hubris
took a giant step closer to reality last week, when a massive plan to revitalize LSP was announced by the DEP
The glorious blueprint comes largely from the imagination of Shawn LaTourette, the tireless DEP commissioner who engineered a brillant plan for ecological restoration while adding an enormous array of recreational spaces – all as he withstood relentless pressure from moneyed interests.”
DEP Commissioner LaTouurette an “Intrepid administrator”? Or a gaslighting corporate lawyer shark? The Star Ledger praises “LaTourette’s vision” for LSP. Sorry Commissioner, you are no Olmsted.
And no, the good guys have not won – at least not yet – and signals look doubtful for victory.
I hate to rain on their parade, but they all didn’t read LaTourette’s letter closely. He’s a crafty former corporate lawyer and uses words with precision in a way that can easily mislead the public and the media crowd, who focus on narrative and spin instead of substance.
So, here is where the LaTourette letter not only keeps the door open for corporate commercial development and Trenton political pay to play schemes, but actually legitimizes ethical conflicts of interest in the deliberations and planning of the DEP Task Force.
Here’s the legal loophole (page 3, my emphasis):
“DEP similarly recognizes that no uses of state lands can be dedicated for PURELY revenue generating purposes”
Did you get that? It’s a straw man: no one is advocating development for “purely” revenue generating purposes. The developments all would provide recreational and other public benefits, in addition to “revenue generation”.
Here’s the green light for ethical corruption, open conflicts of interest, and an open door for private interests to intrude on the Task Force’ public planning: (page 5, emphasis mine)
DEP expects that Task Force members will seek to aid DEP in achieving balance among competing public needs and that Task Force members will not only base their advice to DEP on those public comments with which Task Force members individually agree, or upon positions with which they may agree by virtue of their other personal, professional, or political affiliations outside of the Task Force.
Political affiliations outside the Task Force? Say what?
DEP is affirmatively stating that it’s OK for private interests to form the basis of recommendations and that conflicts of interest are OK too.
Here’ the opportunity for Legislators and Trenton politics to over-ride DEP and public demands, regardless of the planning process recommendations (at page 5, emphasis mine):
Resulting recommendations from the planning process will be presented to Legislators and the NJ Commission on Capital Budgeting and Planning consistent with standard practice for potential capital investments by the State.
Regardless of what the DEP Task Force recommends, the law is flexible and Trenton politics will determine the outcome.
And that reality is the exact opposite of the impression created by DEP Commissioner LaTourette and media cheerleaders.
And the context for all this has been completely ignored: ie. Governor Murphy just signed into law a bill that created a Statewide Parks Foundation that institutionalizes the exact corrupt private interest and influence created by billionaire Paul Fireman to lobby for Liberty State Park development, see:
[Update – a reader just sent me this quote of the day (Politico), which confirms my analysis:
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I’m forgetting what that is.” — Gov. Phil Murphy on his radio program Tuesday night when asked why he doesn’t support the Liberty State Park Protection Act.