Ethical questions raised as Murphy extends reach at Port Authority with new nominations

Gov. Phil Murphy has sent three nominations, including two top staffers, for the state Senate to consider for roles on the board of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

They are: George Helmy, Murphy's chief of staff; Joe Kelley, Murphy's deputy chief of staff for economic growth issues; and Christian Bollwage, the current mayor of Elizabeth.

Helmy would replace Dana Martinotti, whose term ended in June 2022; Bollwage would replace Robert Menendez Jr., who vacated his seat in January when he joined the U.S. House of Representatives; Kelley would replace Ray Pocino, who served for 19 years and retired in September 2021, but whose position went unfilled.

Some have raised questions about whether two officials in the governor's office can sit on the Port Authority board and if there is a conflict of interest for the mayor of Elizabeth, a city where Port Authority business and property is located, including parts of Newark Liberty International Airport and Port Newark-Elizabeth marine terminals.

The agency's Code of Ethics states that "if a commissioner has a substantial interest in an entity that has a matter before the Board for a vote, the Commissioner should recuse from that matter." The code's definition of a "substantial interest" includes conflicts related to board members and "his or her employer."

Micah Rasmussen, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics, said the Code of Ethics language is likely more geared toward avoiding "direct financial relationship[s]" for commissioners who have potential business interests or conflicts, and less about those who work in state or municipal government positions. He said it could be worthwhile to update the code to clarify and add more specifics about what issues the code is trying to preempt.

As for whether Helmy and Kelley have potential conflicts of interest by being top officials in the Murphy administration and serving on the Port Authority board, Rasmussen said he doesn't think so.

"Your job in the governor’s office is no more complicated than do the best job for New Jersey that you can ... that goes for being on the port board as well," Rasmussen said. For Bollwage, Rasmussen said he might be expected to recuse himself if there was "a contract that was going to establish an economic relationship with Elizabeth," but not simply because a Port Authority matter is good or bad for the city.

It's also not unusual, Rasmussen said, for governors to name people from their administrations to sit on boards like the Port Authority.

Rossana Rosado, a Port Authority board commissioner who represents New York, was first appointed to the board while also serving as former Gov. Andrew Cuomo's secretary of state. Currently, under Gov. Kathy Hochul, she heads a different state agency, the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services.

"That’s probably a good thing that Governor Murphy wants to bring people who he has the most trust in to lend heft and gravitas to the board and to New Jersey’s positions at the board in the face of some … really knock-down, drag-out tug-of-wars with New York," Rasmussen said.

The Port Authority has large — and urgent — New Jersey-centric projects in development right now. They include the overdue reconstruction of the Port Authority Bus Terminal, which could cost as much as $10 billion, and improvements to Newark Liberty International Airport, including designs for a new Terminal B, new master plan for the entire campus and replacement of the airport's AirTrain, which did not get out of the procurement phase last year after bids came in over budget.

Project prioritization will be a critical part of Port Authority business, as the agency has not fully recovered the revenue stream it had before the pandemic, forcing delays in construction and shrinking the agency's capital program.

Murphy's predecessor, Chris Christie, came under heightened scrutiny for being too heavy-handed in Port Authority business. The wake of the Bridgegate scandal revealed how Christie's high school acquaintance David Wildstein was placed at the agency to advance the interests of the governor. Wildstein later admitted in court to conspiring with Port Authority Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni and Christie's deputy chief of staff, Bridget Anne Kelly, to punish the Fort Lee mayor by shutting down local vehicle lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge and backing up traffic into the mayor's town.

Murphy, on the other hand, has created the opposite perception, taking a more hands-off approach to the bistate agency. He has largely left New Jersey's interests in the Port Authority in the hands of the agency's chairman, Kevin O'Toole, a Republican nominated to the board by Christie in 2017. Murphy has, however, threatened to veto Port Authority minutes — a step that could affect the agency's ability to move projects forward — over New York's congestion pricing proposal to charge an additional toll at Hudson River crossings.

The Port Authority board is made up of six commissioners from New Jersey and six commissioners from New York, with the governors of both states having the ability to veto board minutes. The other current Port Authority commissioners who represent New Jersey are Michelle Richardson, nominated by Murphy in 2021, and Kevin McCabe, who was nominated by Christie and renominated by Murphy in 2021.

For Helmy, Kelley and Bollwage, the next steps are for the New Jersey state Senate Judiciary Committee to hold hearings and votes on moving the candidates forward before a required vote in the full Senate.

Kelley and Helmy both signed letters Jan. 30, the day their names were sent to the state Senate, to recuse themselves from matters involving the port and from communicating with members of the state Senate about state business while their nominations are pending.

A voicemail left for New Jersey state Sen. Brian Stack, D-Union, chair of the Judiciary Committee, seeking comment on when those nominations would come before the committee was not returned.

The New Jersey Globe, owned by Wildstein, was the first to report the governor's plans to nominate Helmy, Kelley and Bollwage to the board.

Colleen Wilson covers transportation issues for the USA TODAY Network New Jersey.

Email: cwilson2@gannettnj.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Ethical questions raised as Murphy extends reach at Port Authority