NJ Gov Corzine puts his guy Kris Kolluri onto Turnpike and ACE as chairs

Kris Kolluri Gov Corzine at St Pats Day parade New Jersey Turnpike website this morning hadn't quite caught up with the news of a new boss

In what is seen as a move to facilitate privatization Governor Jon Corzine has installed his transport secretary or Commissioner Kris Kolluri as chairman of both the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and the Atlantic City Expressway (ACE).

The Turnpike chairmanship was vacant because Joseph Simunovich, the last chairman was forced to step down for accepting flights in the private plane of Joseph Sanzari, a contractor to the Turnpike. Simunovich was censured and fined by the state ethics panel.

At the Atlantic City toll authority Kolluri takes the place of Frank Spencer who is leaving to take a position at a labor union called the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America.

Kolluri said yesterday that he had been working with the state Treasurer on "monetization" as they are calling the process of doing a toll concession for the tollroads of the state.

It helped, he said, to have a "unified review of what the state expects to get from these assets."

Kolluri is already chairman of Nj Transit which runs an extensive passenger rail system.

The Atlantic City Expressway under the South Jersey Transportation Authority (SJTA) was due to be merged with the Garden State Parkway into the New Jersey Turnpike in 2002 under then Gov James McGreevey but South Jersey interests lobbied to keep it independent. SJTP also operates the Atlantic City Airport.

The Corzine administration is continuing its study of privatization in the form of longterm concessions or sales of a variety of state assets with the help of UBS consultants. The governor has said he expects to make a firm proposal next month.

There is widespread skepticism and hostility to the notion among the public and legislators, but few alternatives are on offer in a budgetary situation where spending cuts and tax increases are also unpopular and damaging.

Bio

A bio of Kolluri from the governor's office slightly edited:

Kris Kolluri was sworn into office as Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) on March 13, 2006. Prior to that, Kolluri specialized in redevelopment and transportation law as an attorney at Parker McCay of Marlton.

Kolluri was Chief of Staff to New Jersey Transportation Commissioner Jack Lettiere. In this capacity, he served as counselor to the Commissioner and managed the development and implementation of the department's legislative and regulatory policies and communications strategies.

Before taking this post, Kolluri was Assistant Commissioner of Intergovernmental Relations for the New Jersey Department of Transportation, in charge of legislative relations, customer advocacy and public outreach and the the divisions of Policy, Legislation and Regulatory Actions, and Federal and International Transportation.

Prior to working in state government, Kolluri held a variety of top positions in Congressional offices. Most recently he served as Senior Policy Advisor to House Democratic Leader Richard A. Gephardt...Kolluri received a Bachelor of Science degree in Management and Marketing from Rutgers University, a Masters degree in International Business from Johns Hopkins University and a law degree from Georgetown University.

He lives in West Windsor with his wife and two daughters.

TOLLROADSnews 2007-03-23