NEW YORK — Three decades before David Wildstein orchestrated the traffic jam now threatening New Jersey Gov.Chris Christie's political future, his career as an elected official reached its peak.
Wildstein won a four-year term on the Livingston Township Council in 1984 and served a year as mayor. After that, he never sought office again, instead spending much of the rest of his career behind the scenes.
"David was a great, and probably still is a great, back- room guy," said Republican Louis Bassano, now 71, who served in the New Jersey Senate and Assembly and employed Wildstein as a campaign manager. "He had the one taste of being an elected official and it really didn't seem to grab hold. He thrived in the back room doing his strategy, putting the pieces of the puzzle together and helping elect people."
In public statements and interviews with a dozen former colleagues, a picture of Wildstein, 52, emerges as a political operative who sought influence from a young age, working out of sight to control even the smallest details of municipal management in ways that struck some as intimidating.
Wildstein's role in the September closing of lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge thrust his work into the public eye. The furor over the events has dominated state politics, eroding Christie's approval ratings and potentially derailing any national ambitions he holds.
Christie, 51, was a year behind Wildstein at Livingston High School. Years later, in 2010, Wildstein became the second- highest executive for the state at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He was named director of interstate capital projects during Christie's first year in office.
Emails that surfaced in early January indicated that a Christie aide, writing to Wildstein, suggested creating traffic in Fort Lee after Mayor Mark Sokolich hadn't joined other state Democrats in endorsing the governor's re-election.
In August, Christie's then-deputy chief of staff, Bridget Anne Kelly, e-mailed Wildstein: "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee." Wildstein replied: "Got it."
In a letter released Jan. 31, Wildstein's lawyer said Christie knew about the ensuing four-day traffic snarl at the bridge to Manhattan as it occurred, contradicting the second- term Republican's assertions Jan. 9 that he had no knowledge of them.
The letter from the lawyer, Alan Zegas, said "evidence exists" of Christie's knowledge, without citing any.
Christie responded by criticizing Wildstein in an email to friends and supporters.
"Bottom line — David Wildstein will do and say anything to save David Wildstein," Christie wrote. "In David Wildstein's past, people and newspaper accounts have described him as 'tumultuous' and someone who 'made moves that were not productive.'"
Christie's email pointed to statements by Zegas that Wildstein would talk about the closings if granted immunity from prosecution. Wildstein invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during an appearance before lawmakers in January and refused to answer questions.
No one answered a knock at Wildstein's home in Montville, N.J., or returned a call, seeking comment for this report.
Both Christie and Wildstein began their political careers before they graduated from high school in suburban Livingston, 22 miles west of New York City. Christie has said they met as youth volunteers on the Tom Kean for Governor campaign in 1977.
Wildstein was still in high school, bespectacled with a mop of dark-brown hair, when he sought a position on the Essex County Republican Committee, suing unsuccessfully to run after he was denied for being under 21, said Renee Green, the town clerk at the time. He also ran as a write-in for the board of education, winning just a handful of votes.
Wildstein gave away little of himself in his 1979 senior- year high-school yearbook. Classmates wrote inscriptions by their portraits listing honors and memberships, recalling trips and parties, and quoting lyrics from the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Paul Simon. Wildstein wrote nothing.
Christie, a year behind him, posed with a grin as president of the junior class.
"We didn't travel in the same circles in high school," Christie said during his two-hour apology news briefing on Jan. 9. "You know, I was the class president and athlete. I don't know what David was doing during that period of time."
Wildstein stood out for his meticulous detail while logging statistics for the baseball teams, said Tony Hope, who coached and taught physical education. Christie also played baseball, though the two were never on the same team, Hope said.
Put the internet to work for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment