AG Grewal’s new agency — bringing back integrity and accountability (Opinion)

Double dipping, bribery, corruption: just another day at work for New Jersey politicians. One of the things that I miss about Chris Christie was his heavy handedness when it came to corruption and I’m so thrilled that Attorney General Grubir Grewal is picking up where Christie left off.

Say what you want about the Murphy administration. I won’t stop you from criticizing it. Especially the antics of our quasi-socialist governor who is probably the nicest, most generous person you ever met as evidenced by all the stuff he wants to give away. But one thing looks promising: New Jersey’s Office of Public Integrity & Accountability (OPIA), created last year by Attorney General Grewal.

The recent arrests of an elected official in Penns Grove along with his nephew, who are alleged to have scammed from a municipal program, as well as five north Jersey officials who were charged with accepting thousands of dollars in bribes, show that Grewal means business when it comes to nipping corruption in the bud. Understanding that corruption has been a hallmark of politics as usual for years here in New Jersey, this is welcome news.

The moment OPIA was born, Grewal along with Thomas Eicher, whom he tapped to lead the agency, made it his business to seek out incidences of corruption and to deal with them swiftly and appropriately. It’s our money after all. We should appreciate the fact that someone is minding the store, and slapping the hands of people who may try to sneak their fingers into the till, especially when so many would look the other way. Integrity and accountability; characteristics that most New Jersey politicians have forgotten about in recent years. I’m glad that Grewal is serious about bringing them back.

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