BUCCO TO CORZINE: WITHDRAW KOLLURI APPOINTMENT TO ETHICS COMMISSION

Questions Lingering Regarding Rocco Riccio Patronage Job at New Jersey Turnpike Authority

Senator Anthony Bucco (R-25) called on Governor Corzine to withdraw the appointment made last night of Kris Kolluri to the State Ethics Commission until such time as Governor Corzine and Kolluri, the former Commissioner of Transportation and head of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, are willing to fully explain the patronage hire of Rocco Riccio at the Turnpike Authority.

Bucco said the following:

“Neither Corzine nor Kolluri have come clean about Rocco Riccio nor have they explained how he managed to land a job at the Turnpike Authority after being accused of impropriety in prior Corzine Administration positions.

“It appears that Governor Corzine used money from the pockets of tollpayers to buy Rocco Riccio’s silence with a patronage job at the Turnpike Authority under Kolluri’s management.

“Corzine’s poor judgment to use tollpayer funds to silence Rocco Riccio is only compounded by his poor judgment in appointing a co-conspirator in this scheme to the State Ethics Commission. The public deserves a full disclosure of the circumstances under which Corzine and Kolluri put Riccio on the payroll of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.”