20th Annual NJCM Fall Summit: Governor Christie Delivers Valuable Information for Disaster Relief to Mayors

Despite heavy flooding and a torrential morning storm, Mayors braved the elements and gathered as scheduled, at the Governor’s mansion, Drumthwacket for the 20th Annual NJCM Mayors Fall Summit Thursday morning, September 8. Governor Chris Christie and members of his cabinet and staff arrived as planned to address Mayors about the critical issues facing us in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee, and the ways the Mayors can help their citizens who are struggling to recover from this disaster.

Governor Christie announced that he has made $7.5 million in Local Aid Infrastructure funding available help cover the $30 million needed to repair local roads and bridges damaged by Hurricane Irene. This $7.5 million will cover county and municipal  matches of FEMA grants that require a 25% contribution. He also emphasized that the Mayors need to let their citizens know that they need to register with FEMA to be eligible for disaster relief.

The Governor thanked and commended the response of OEM and FEMA and stated that a good portion of the hurricane emergency efforts went well. However, Governor Christie called for the BPU to conduct hearings into the response to utility companies to the extensive power outages which left New Jersians without power for days following the storm. A particular focus will be on specific utility companies that had much poorer response to its customers than others.

We thank the Mayors that made the effort to attend despite truly difficult driving conditions of that morning and especially to the Governor, cabinet and staff for staying committed to, and addressing the Mayors at the 20th Annual Fall Summit.

The original issues of the 20th Annual summit, including issues with the CAP and results of the Mayors Survey will be addressed in the upcoming Fall issue of the NJCM Conference Magazine.