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Billionaire’s Foundation Abuses Now Threaten All State Parks Due To New Law Gov. Murphy Just Signed

State Parks Have A $720 Million Unfunded Maintenance Deficit

DEP Desperation For Funds Opens The Door To Abuses By Private Foundation

A quick note today to clarify DEP Commissioner LaTourette’s remarks and media coverage of Saturday’s public hearing on DEP’s Liberty State Park development plans.

NJ Spotlight praised DEP Commissioner LaTourette and reported that LaTourette:

“called out the [Fireman] task force for purposely misleading the public” (at time: 0:40)

But here is what LaTourette actually said:

“I regret that there is misinformation on this point.” (at time 3:23)

Apparently, NJ Spotlight does not know the difference between misinformation and disinformation – and this is not a minor semantic point. It goes to whether LaTourette is being strong or weak. He is being portrayed by Spotlight as strong when in fact just the opposite is true. He is being weak. 

The Spotlight praise is false. LaTourette did not “call out” Fireman’s false information campaign, which is disinformation, not misinformation:

“Misinformation is false or inaccurate information—getting the facts wrong. Disinformation is false information which is deliberately intended to mislead—intentionally misstating the facts.” (American Psychological Association)

If someone is “purposely misleading the public”, they are engaged in disinformation, not misinformation.

LaTourette is a trained and licensed lawyer. He traffics in words and uses them with precision. He knows this. If he mis-spoke, he should issue a public statement clarifying the issue and correcting his error.

But I don’t think he misspoke. I think he is afraid to “call out” Fireman. I think misled the public intentionally. The Commissioner not only gaslighted on the word he used, but he used the passive voice and did not name names. Pathetic.

The public is being duped and gaslighted once again.

Because if DEP can’t call out billionaire Fireman on this kind of blatant abuse, it means that they are in a weak political position.

And if that is the case, the final plans for the Park will be influenced by Fireman’s power.

Which takes me to the Statewide issues that Fireman’s “People’s Park Foundation” has exposed so clearly.

Gov. Murphy just signed a Democratically sponsored bill into law that creates a statewide private “State Parks And Open Space Foundation”, see: P.L.2023, c.256. It is modeled on the Fireman Foundation and is subject to exactly the same  corruption and abuses the Fireman Foundation has engaged in, see:

• Billionaire Paul Fireman’s AstroTurf Sham “Foundation” To “Develop” Liberty State Park Now Threatens All State Park

DEP Commissioner LaTourette testified to the Legislature that State Parks have a $720 million unfunded deficit in State Parks maintenance. DEP is desperate for money. The Legislature is not appropriating any and the previously Constitutionally dedicated $48 million per year was stolen by the “Keep It Green” Open Space campaign by greedy conservation groups, see: the Bergen Record:

• Budget cuts doom state parks to disrepair

Some environmental groups blame a voter-approved 2014 constitutional amendment. It shifted revenues from the state’s Corporation Business Tax away from capital improvements. Instead, they bolster Green Acres, a taxpayer-financed program that has preserved more than 650,000 acres of open space in its 55 years. …

Mark Texel, head of the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry, called it a “massive blow” and said in a Facebook post soon after the vote that it was “the darkest day I have faced in my professional career.” …

“We had a plan to really tackle some of these major capital projects that had been deferred for many, many years,” Texel said. “And we were making progress. Suddenly now our capital budget is having the legs cut out from underneath it. … It was disappointing, I admit. I was very disappointed.”…

Bill Wolfe, director of the non-profit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said he didn’t believe that voters in 2014 knew this would happen.

He accused NJ Keep It Green of “intentionally, knowingly” stripping state parks of capital funding to finance Green Acres so they wouldn’t have to ask voters to approve a bond. That, he said, let open space groups avoid a public brawl with Governor Christie, who has demanded no new debt be placed on taxpayers. The coalition, he said, “didn’t have the spine to fight for the money.”

That financial desperation means that DEP will approve virtually anything the new private Foundation proposes for parks development (especially when their is no organized advocacy group like Friends of Liberty State Park turning out hundreds of people to public hearings and no media coverage. And there are no public hearings required by the new State Parks Foundation law anyway.)

I gave Commissioner LaTourette an opportunity to correct his error (if he misspoke) and explain the new Parks Foundation law, see:

Gov. Murphy Quietly Signs Law Creating Statewide “Parks Foundation”

Law Provides An Institution To Solicit Dark Money And Inject Private Influence Over The Management Of State Parks

Corrupt Pay-To-Play Now Infects All NJ State Parks

AstroTurf – falsely made to appear grassroots

an astroturf campaign/group

When successful, Astroturf efforts resemble actual community mobilization efforts. They create the impression that local people are engaged in the effort and doing the things that traditional community organizations do.

NJ media have properly exposed, editorialized, and condemned the scheme by billionaire Paul Fireman to create a sham astroturf “Foundation” to develop and commercialize Liberty State Park.

Fireman created and funded a sham “Foundation” and used that Foundation as the vehicle to dupe the public and inject his private financial interests into Legislative and DEP policy decisions concerning the management of Liberty State Park.

The Fireman “Foundation” was a classic dark money pay-to-play scheme.

As a result of the media coverage, that scheme is now common public knowledge and the media exposure has effectively shamed and derailed Fireman’s project, at least for now and until the heat dies down.

This is exactly what good journalism can and should do: protect the public interest and expose the self-serving schemes of private special interests.

So, given how rightly appalled the media was about Fireman’s sham Liberty State Park “Foundation” and how this “Foundation” was so transparently an astro-turf vehicle to solicit dark money, dupe the public, and inject private influence over the management of State Parks, how is it possible that that same media has totally ignored legislation recently signed into law by Governor Murphy that is based on the Fireman’s Foundation model (and it expressly targets and includes Liberty State Park)? See:

• NJ Gov. Murphy Just Corporatized State Parks And Forests – Liberty State Park Targeted By Lame Duck Stealth Amendments

The new “State Parks Foundation” Gov. Murphy just created (with help from Democrats in the Legislature) is a blatant pay-to-play scheme (no pun intend).

The Foundation membership is composed of private interests.

The Foundation is given powers to solicit unlimited private funding, to design parks projects, and to dedicate funding to those projects it designed and raised funds for.

NJ State Parks have a $720 million unfunded maintenance backlog, so DEP’s desperation for money will mean that anything the Foundation wants it will get approved by DEP.

The Foundation is not subject to NJ Open Public Meetings Act, so the public can be shut out of Foundation deliberations and planning and Parks funding decisions.

The Foundation is not subject to NJ’s Open Public Records Act, so the public will not have access to documents, funding sources, park plans, and meeting deliberations and decisions.

The Foundation is not subject to NJ’s ethics laws so there will be gross conflicts of interest, a virtual invitation for pay to play schemes.

The Foundation is not subject to NJ’s campaign finance and disclosure laws, another invitation for the corrupt influence of dark money.

Yet the NJ media has not written one story about this law! (to my knowledge).

How can this be?

How can this kind of corruption go unreported?

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:

• NJ Gov. Murphy Just Corporatized State Parks And Forests – Liberty State Park Targeted By Lame Duck Stealth Amendments

[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.

State Parks Foundation Law Promotes Corporate “Dedicated Donations” And Corporate Naming Rights

Over $720 Million Parks Maintenance Backlog Remains Unfunded

Gov. Murphy’s Sycophantic Cluess Conservation Groups Cheerlead

NJ LCV, Ed Potosnak cheerlead Gov. Murphy

On Thursday, NJ Gov. Murphy signed legislation (P.L.2023, c.256.) to create a private “State Parks and Open Space Foundation” to solicit private and corporate donations to fund “development” of State Parks and Forests and other county and locally owned open space, historic, and preserved lands.

We warned about the major flaws in this legislation last year (see this and this).

We also were perhaps the only place where the public could learn of the shocking fact that there is a $720 million deficit in State Parks maintenance, a huge issue ignored by the NJ press corps, see:

• Murphy DEP Commissioner Dropped A Bombshell Today In Budget Hearing: NJ State Parks Face A $720 Million Maintenance Deficit

The Gov. has ignored this issue and this legislation will do very little to fund those deficits, but it will promote both privatization and commercialization and allow undue corporate influence on the management of State Parks and Forests.

According to Gov. Murphy’s Jan. 12 press release: (emphasis mine)

TRENTON – Governor Phil Murphy today signed S1311/A594, which establishes the NJ State Parks and Open Space Foundation within the Department of Environmental Protection. The foundation will be incorporated as a nonprofit corporation and will be responsible for raising funds for the maintenance and development of New Jersey’s state parks and forests, as well as county and municipal parks and open spaces.

“Thanks to this monumental legislation, our state’s natural treasures will only become more invaluable as we continue to invest in their preservation, resilience, and accessibility,” said Governor Murphy. “From Liberty State Park to Island Beach State Park, our state parks and forests will continue to attract visitors to the Garden State while providing physical and mental health benefits for countless New Jersey families.”

First of all, let’s start with an important fact correction. The Governor’s staff and press office are incompetent. The Foundation is not, repeat not, “within the Department of Environmental Protection”. The bill was significantly amended in Assembly Committee on December 4, among other things, the lame duck amendments removed the Foundation from the DEP and made it a private corporation (read the bill statement that summarizes the amendments:

5) provide that the foundation would be a separate and independent entity from the State and any State department;

This error suggests that the Gov.’s Office is not aware of the important lame duck amendments and doesn’t know what bill the Gov. just signed into law.

But the most important lame duck amendment was not even mentioned in the bill statement – another revealing omission that exposes the corrupt nature of this legislation. This omission was no accident, because it exposes exactly the corruption that is driving this legislation. Liberty State Park was targeted for privatization and development by billionaire Paul Fireman

Specifically, the December 4 Assembly lame duck amendments explicitly included Liberty State Park and mandated that the Foundation “convene committees dedicated to the solicitation and administration of funds for Liberty State Park”. Here’s the text from the bill the Gov. signed into law as P.L 2023, c.256: (see Section 3.k, page 6-7)

k. The foundation may convene committees to administer the work of the foundation as it may deem appropriate, including for the consideration of specific fundraising strategies. The foundation shall convene committees dedicated to the solicitation and administration of funds for Liberty State Park, Island Beach State Park, and other specific State parks, or to open space, initiatives, or projects deemed appropriate by the board, and may solicit and accept specifically dedicated donations, which shall be subject to separate and distinct accounting.

Let’s drill down. The Foundation “shall convene” projects for “Liberty State Park”.

The projects to be funded are those “deemed appropriate by the board”.

And “donations” may be “specifically dedicated”.

Billionaire Paul Fireman has his checkbook open.

On top of that, the legislation specifically allows for corporate naming rights  (page 9, emphasis mine):

“The process shall ensure that any attribution or recognition for a donation is minimal and equal regardless of the. size of a donation.”

Corporate NJ will soon be using State Parks and Forests as corporate advertising. And not just State Parks – the law is extremely broad:

“State parks and open space” means State parks, forests, historic sites, natural areas, wildlife management areas, and any other lands, waters, and facilities owned or administered by the department for recreation and conservation purposes.

There are no restrictions on the DEP’s use of the private money. The law states that DEP makes these decisions at their “sole discretion” (page 9). Good luck challenging DEP on that.

There are no ethics or conflict of interest restrictions on the donors or on the board’s “dedicated” or recommended uses of the money.

I warned that this was coming last summer (2022):

I’m sure there are billionaire’s and large corporations willing to enter into a “Partnership” with a friendly NGO and DEP to fund things like golf courses in Liberty State Park (just look at NJ Audubon’s “Corporate Stewardship” program for examples. Sustainable NJ and NJ Future, NGO’s, also have corporate Stewardship programs). […]

I’m sure there are many billionaires and corporations who are willing to pony up millions of dollars for “legacy” naming rights (Walmart Long Beach Island State Park!), or make million dollar “bequests” for all sorts of commercialization and privatization proposals, from marina’s to canoe rentals. “Comcast State Park”. “PSE&G Plaza” – think of the endless commercial possibilities! Woohoo! ~~~ see:

• NJ Senate Democrats Pushing Legislation That Could Privatize State Parks, Lead to Corporate Promotions, And Build Industrial Energy Facilities In State Parks And Forests

Those warnings were attacked by Senate Environment Committee Chairman Bob Smith as “paranoid schizophrenics”:

• Senate Environment Committee Chairman Calls Critics of State Parks And Forests Privatization Bill “Paranoid Schizophrenics”

[The bill] is a great idea and yes there can be little fixes, but I’ll say this to all my good friends out there: You’re all paranoid schizophrenics. You really are. You look at a bill that’s about getting more money, not from the taxpayers but from private sources for our parks and forest. It’s almost a no brainer.” ~~~  Senate Environment Committee Chairman Bob Smith (time 1:03:00) (6/13/22)

The Assembly Committee’s lame duck amendments to target Liberty State Park validate my warnings.

Perhaps Chairman Smith would reconsider in light of the Assembly’s lame duck stealth amendments.

Finally, my dire warnings were not only ignored by the corrupt and incompetent NJ conservation and environmental groups. They supported the bill and praised the Governor in the Governor’s press release! It seems that they got totally played and then declared victory by securing minor amendments:

1) removing “State Forests” from the title of the bill (but State forests remain within the scope of the bill and Foundation donations and “dedicated projects”);

2) deleting allowable industrial renewable energy projects;

3) inclusion of 2 “environmental justice” representatives on the Board; and

4) removing the Foundation from within the DEP (see above error by the Gov.’s Office).

I fired of this email to these corrupt idiots:

Doug O’Malley and Ed Potosnak – That law you just praised Gov. Murphy for signing will lead to privatization of State Parks (and more private influence on the management of State Parks), and do very little to nothing to address massive real problems like this, which you should be working on instead of providing political cover for a do nothing administration (ah, but you compounded the $400 million backlog by the stripping of the CBT. dedication to State Parks maintenance for the Keep It Green scam): see:

• Murphy DEP Commissioner Dropped A Bombshell Today In Budget Hearing: NJ State Parks Face A $720 Million Maintenance Deficit (almost double prior $400 million)

Shortly After LaTourette’s “Not On My Watch”, DEP Cancelled Public Open House

DEP Then Issued A Report That Included Billionaire’s Development Scheme

Gov. Murphy Pulls The Rug Out From Under DEP Commissioner LaTourette

Murphy DEP Commissioner LaTourette recently got great press with a bold sounding quote that drew a bright red line in the sand in opposition to commercial development of Liberty State Park. A Jersey Journal (3/18/23) editorial opened with it:

“Not on my watch.”

That was New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette’s declaration during a news conference Thursday morning when pressed time and again about the possibility of private interests eclipsing the public’s right to access and enjoy Liberty State Park in Jersey City.

So, no stadium, LaTourette said.

No concert arena.

No huge sports complex.

No infringement on Caven Point Peninsula.

“This land can never be used for anything other than conservation and recreation purposes,” he said. “Period.”

Powerful and crystal clear, right? No means No, right?.

Wrong. That misperceived “bold” statement included corporate lawyer-like slick qualifications – in other words, it was gaslighting.

A careful reading of LaTourette’s full quote reveals that he qualified that bold claim, and doubled down with another faux bold claim i.e. (“Period.”) (emphases mine):

To be clear, LaTourette’s stance doesn’t mean that nothing will be built. And it doesn’t mean that community amenities like public ballfields and a community rec center are off the table. Just the opposite is true.

“There are a number of considerations that go into what constitutes ‘conservation and recreation purposes,’” he said when speaking of what is legally allowed in the state park.

So, first of all, when we speak of recreation, we mean primarily outdoor recreation. We also mean that it must be fully accessible to the public. So, facilities that serve the purpose of purely revenue generation, they could never take hold on this land. Period.”

“Primarily” and “purely” are weasel words.

Thankfully, the editors at the Jersey Journal, who have been closely following this issue, detected the LaTourette gaslighting and wrote a supportive but skeptical editorial that challenged Governor Murphy to back his Commissioner up by supporting legislation that would enforce that commitment: (Jersey Journal editorial):

While it’s probably safe to assume that LaTourette was speaking with the blessing, or at least the knowledge, of his boss, Gov. Phil Murphy, we wish Murphy himself would come out in such strong – and even stronger – terms.

Well, I guess it was NOT “safe to assume” that Commissioner LaTourette was speaking for Gov. Murphy.

Just days after LaTourette’s bold “NOT ON MY WATCH”, the DEP cancelled a highly publicized public “Open House” meeting: (from Friends Of Liberty State Park):

Friends of LSP CONDEMNS LSP CANCELATION OF DEP LSP OPEN HOUSE TO SHOW PLANS 

The Friends of Liberty State Park assert that it seems very clear that billionaire Paul Fireman and his funded surrogates pressured their friend Governor Murphy who then outrageously ordered the NJDEP to cancel its well-publicized  March 23rd Open House to show its LSP plans. The billionaire, ignoring the clear and strong statements on March 16th, by NJDEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette against such commercial venues and stating, “Privatization of a public asset that is owned by no one because it belongs to everyone is not a thing, period, full stop”. 

The NJDEP first announced the Open House on March 9th and last week’s stories, emails, social media and Fireman digital ads, have publicized the event, and as the DEP stated in its cancelation notice, there was significant interest in the LSP “revitalization program” plans.

The Governor’s apparent caving in to the billionaire’s wishes, is embarrassing to the DEP and it is shamefully disrespectful of the public to cancel an event with two days notice.

But it gets even worse.

After canceling the DEP Open House, days later DEP then issued a March 2023 Report: “Summary of Advisory Group Considerations And Recommendations – Liberty State Park Design Task Force”

An email from Sam Pesin, longtime leader of Liberty State Park distributing the DEP Report noted: (emphasis mine):

The DEP also released it summer report from last year’s tax force whose mandate was to make recommendations ….. Fireman’s proxies pushed forward its sports and entertainment complex plans. …

The DEP Report put Fireman’s plans …. in the Appendix…

Which reminded me that old school investigate journalist IF Stone advised that people should always read government documents from back to front and closely scrutinize the appendices and footnotes. That’s where the real stuff is always buried.

Fireman’s development schemes are “in there”.

DEP stealthed them into the Report in the Appendices and they did so with an obscure link described as the “Liberty State Park For All Independent Concept Plan”

DEP’s Report provided an opportunity for DEP to reject Fireman’s development plans. DEP could have and should have rejected them out of hand.

That would have put Gov. Murphy on the spot and finger him as the source of any future development schemes.

But Fireman’s plans not only were included in the DEP Report, DEP made a commitment to make “further inquiry” on them:

“This report summarizes the deliberations of the LSP-D Task Force, including its advisory considerations and recommendations, identifies implementation considerations and areas for further inquiry and evaluation, and includes within its appendices other concepts generated outside the auspices of the LSP- D Task Force but presented to its greater membership.”

Here’s how DEP tried to wiggle out of this outrageous failure. They responded to Fireman’s plan in a FOOTNOTE (on page 9)!!!

The fact that Fireman’s development plans were NOT rejected out of hand, were responded to in a lame footnote, and were instead included in the Report – with a DEP commitment to “further inquiry” – tells you all you need to know about DEP “leadership”.

“Not on my watch”? My ass.

If LaTourette had any integrity at all he would have resigned after the Governor knee capped and humiliated him by canceling the DEP scheduled Open House and not honoring his “not on my watch” line in the sand.

But, I doubt that LaTourette ever really meant what he said – I’d bet he was gaslighting all along and the Governor and the public and the media took him seriously.