Gov. Christie's helicopter rides raise ire of Democratic lawmaker

By Ginger Gibson and Donald J. Brower
The Star-Ledger

Wednesday, June 1, 2011 –- A brand-new State Police helicopter was Gov. Chris Christie’s ride of choice yesterday as he traveled to and from his son’s baseball game in Bergen County.

His office won’t say where he came from or where he went afterward. But about an hour and 10 minutes after leaving the game, Christie arrived, by car, at the governor’s mansion in Princeton to meet with a group of Iowa businessmen trying to recruit him for a presidential run.

The use of state helicopters has opened New Jersey governors to criticism for decades, especially when it did not involve official state business.

“It is a means of transportation that is occasionally used as the schedule demands. This has historically been the case in prior administrations as well, and we continue to be judicious in limiting its use,” said Christie’s spokesman Michael Drewniak in an e-mail. He declined to answer additional questions.

As the game at St. Joseph Regional High School in Montvale was about to begin, a noise from above distracted the spectators who watched the 55-foot-long helicopter buzz over the trees in left field, circle the outfield and land in an adjacent football field.

Christie left the helicopter and got into a black car with tinted windows that drove him about 100 yards to the baseball field.

The governor watched from the bleachers as his eldest son, Andrew, played starting catcher for Delbarton School. Christie played the position of catcher in high school as well.

During the fifth inning, Christie and first lady Mary Pat Christie got into the car, rode back to the helicopter and departed. His son’s team won the game, 7-2.

The Republican governor traveled in an AgustaWestland helicopter, which can reach nearly 200 miles per hour, that was purchased for $12.5 million and added to the state fleet May 4.

The helicopters are designed for law enforcement, emergency medical transportation and homeland security duties, said Paul Loriquet, spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office. Helicopters not outfitted specifically for medical use can also be used to ferry executives, he said.

Loriquet said the contract for the helicopters was signed in 2009 during the Corzine administration.

He did not have a cost per hour for the choppers. When former Gov. James E. McGreevey reimbursed the state for using choppers for political use in 2002, it was at a rate of $1,200 an hour.

The governor had no public events on his schedule, offering no insight about where he might have been traveling from or if he took a detour on his way to Princeton.

Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) said he has no objection to the governor attending his son’s game or meeting with Iowa donors, but said he does not believe the governor should use the helicopter to link the two.

“The people of the state of New Jersey should not be required to pick up the tab so he can meet with Iowa donors at Drumthwacket,” he said.

Wisniewski also objected to Christie using Drumthwacket to host a political event, pointing out that he doesn’t live in the house and that it would be like meeting donors in the governor’s office.

“It’s not just contributors, it’s people who want him to run for another office with a political agenda. That’s where he’s crossed the line,” Wisniewski said. “He’s a governor who as U.S. attorney would rail against elected officials blurring the line. But this governor has selective memory and selective outrage.”

Chris Baxter and Chris Megerian also
contributed to this report.

This just in: Gov. Christie claims the pilot needed the practice.
Also in later: The Governor reimbursed the state $2100.