Governor Christie hasn't officially announced yet that he'll seek a second term next year, but during his most recent town hall meeting in Elmwood Park, he sure sounded like a candidate running for re-election.

Governor Chris Christie
Governor's Office/Tim Larsen
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After laying out his priorities for the rest of this year, which include an immediate tax cut, ethics reform legislation, ending sick leave payouts for state workers, doing away with municipal user fees and encouraging towns to share services , the Governor reminded an over-flow crowd of his achievements over the past 3 years.

"Pension and benefit reform, the property tax cap , balancing budgets, economic development reforms because we've worked together. We can't let that stop now, and they're going to try to stop it now, everybody, get ready- cause they care more about power than they care about you…They're all getting ready to talk about the next election, when we elect a Governor again. And let me tell you, here's one thing they've all decided - they don't like me all that much."

He said, "There is nothing in here- in this agenda for the Fall that doesn't make sense...There's nothing radical in there, so we need to go and fight for it now…I'm not going to spend time on anything else unless something gets thrust upon me by events that I can't control. What's going to be coming out of my mouth is talking about those issues…Make them answer to me and you as to why they won't do it."

Christie then told the crowd his reason for his "Jersey attitude."

"You don't get people's attention in this business by sitting in a circle, holding hands and singing Kumbaya, that's not the way we fix these problems…It's planting your feet on the ground and saying this is where I stand, these are what my principals are, this is what I believe in and I am willing to fight for it."

He said a perfect example of fighting for what you believe in is how teacher tenure was reformed, by confronting the problem head-on.

"You don't fix that problem by being Mr. Nice Guy," he said, "You fix that problem by telling them, oh yeah? You punch me, I'm punching you right back, and let's get to it…I want you to understand something very clearly. I do the things I do, because you've hired me to get a job done for you…I love to be loved, but I didn't run for Governor to be the Prom King, I'm not looking to be the most popular boy in school…But what I am looking for is to make sure that you say to yourselves after I'm done with 4 years - 'you know what, I may not agree with everything he's done, but the guy stands up and does what he says he's going to do: and he's fighting for us the best way he can, and sometimes that makes enemies.'"

"The time has come for people who care about this state. Not just the leaders, but all of you to say, 'To hell with this now, we're not going to put up with this stuff anymore, we're going to stand up and fight together to make our state more affordable.'"

Christie concluded, "This isn't just about the next poll or the next election, this is about what's this place going to look like 10, 15, 20 years from now…I ain't doing this to put on a show. I am doing this because guess what, watch what's happened over the last 3 years- we've gotten results…We're finally getting things done."


Courtesy Governor's Office

 

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