By Michael Aron
Chief Political Correspondent
Virtually every town hall he’s done this year has been in a place hard hit by Sandy. Today it was Manahawkin.
“I’ve had some people come up to me who are still having problems, who still aren’t back in their homes and they’ll say to me, ‘Governor how can you talk about the good things that are happening when I still haven’t gotten back at home? Well my problem still isn’t been fixed.’ And I really believe with all due respect that we have to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time,” said Christie. “We cannot wait until every problem is solved to celebrate successes that we’ve had in solving problems because we have a $40 billion tourism industry, everybody, that does a lot to support the state and its people. If I keep walking around while folks, while every problem still isn’t solved with the kind of look on my face saying, OK we haven’t solved all the problems yet but come to New Jersey because, you know, why not? It’s not the most welcoming thing to do, you know.”
The governor said federal Sandy aid has gone out faster here than in any major disaster in U.S. history. More than half the questions were Sandy related. One woman complained bitterly about low levels of reimbursement.
“We have paid more than $40,000, we got $5,000 from FEMA and $92 from the insurance,” said Georgia Escoffery.
“I’m not ready to give up if you’re not ready to give up and that’s why I’m here. If I were ready to give up, I just wouldn’t show up. But I’m here because I want to hear these things and I want to try to fix them because as I said earlier, until your problem is fixed, my job is not done,” said Christie.
A man thanked Christie for signing an executive order that expedites the building of a dune system up and down the coast.
“This is a perfect example of how absolutely fouled up the media is because the significance of Bridgegate absolutely pales in comparison to the benefit of your executive order 140 and it’s absolutely pathetic when you consider the extent the media has focused on Bridgegate versus the benefit of your executive order 140,” said Robert Bard.
Democrats like Senate President Steve Sweeney continue to chide the governor over what they see as a slow and bungled Sandy response. If Christie even hears that criticism, he clearly rejects it.