Patrick Foye: Hero (More Bridgegate Stuff)

[alcibiades_mystery]

It's typical to think of all our "bureaucrats" (i.e., public servants / government workers) as either indifferent jerks or scheming sycophants. Bureaucratic prose, for its part, has taken on the legend of what scholar Richard Lanham has dubbed "The Official Style," a tangle of grammatical and semantic nonsense meant to confuse, obfuscate, and most of all, dodge accountability.

But then we see the email written by Patrick Foye, who ran the New York State side of the Port Authority relationg to the George Washington Bridge. His memo to his New Jersey colleagues is perhaps the most refreshing document to come out of this whole mess: it is a testament to an abiding care for the public and the need for process that that care entails. It is also a shining example of fearless business prose that should be used as a sample in business writing classes across the country. I'll provide this image, out there on the web:



Some notes of interest:

1) "...without notifying Fort Lee, the commuting public we serve..." - Foye seems to be the one person in this mess who can conceive of his actual job: to serve a public in a democratic society. It is clearly the first thing on his mind: the failure to serve that public.

2) "I am appalled by the lack of progress, failure to inform our customers and Fort Lee and most of all the danger created to the public interest, so I am reversing this decision now..." - Once again, Foye places the public above all other considerations, and he has a sense of how process is a part of serving the public. Most interesting here, however, is his flash of true anger (refreshing in an email of this kind: an emotion!), coupled with his clear accountability for reversing the decision. Foye is sticking his neck out here, as we know from the other documents: the Christie people were seeking retaliation against him, and Christie himself later went to Cuomo to complain about Foye. This is courage.

3) "This hasty and ill-advised decision..." The repetition of this point in the list drives home the point. They say Christie is a "straight talker?" I say Patrick Foye is the straight talker here!

4) "I will get to the bottom of this abusive decision...I intend to learn how PA process was wrongfully subverted and the public image damaged..." Correct process and the public interest are of a piece. Their violation is a serious matter. He's putting people on notice.

Foye seemed to be the only one thinking about the relationship of the government agency to real people's lives. And he did not soft shoe his disdain for what had happened. Reading his email is what returns some faith in our civil servants after this utter mess.

More Patrick Foye's, please!!!

[okaawhatever]

1. Thx for this. most papers haven't provided the entire email. The bottom bullet points haven't

been printed in any media sources. Foye is impressive and I believe a good hire for Cuomo. FWIW I do believe Cuomo got Foye to back off the investigation once the lanes were reopened. That happened as a result of the Christie-Cuomo phone call. We'll see though. If the phone call can be proven, it will prove Christie knew about it all from the beginning and lied.

[Oilwellian]

3. I'm not sure why you think that

Foye didn't backed off of the investigation. Foye's email in the OP is dated in September. Christie called Cuomo to complain about Foye in December, two whole months after the bridge lanes reopened. He also testified before the NJ legislature in December and spoke quite candidly.

[okaawhatever]

5. Maybe I have my timing wrong, but from the initial email there was a lapse of time where Foye didn't

appear to pursue the criminal investigation he mentioned in the letter. He was accused of sending the info anonymously to the WaPo or WSJ. That made me believe he had backed off an official investigation and was trying to expose it through leaking to the media. That's why I think that but I could have my timing off.

[Historic NY]

6. He testified he couldn't do more at the time...

For his part, as enraged as Foye was, he testified Monday, there was nothing he could do. Wildstein, who resigned Friday for being a "distraction,"gets to stay on for several more weeks in what Wisniewski called a “no show job.”

"If he were a New York appointee, would you have called him into your office and said 'why'd you do this?'" Wisniewski asked.

Foye: Yes and shortly thereafter fired him.

Wisniewski: But he was a New Jersey appointee.

Foye: Yessir.

Wisniewski: And so you did not follow that course.

Meanwhile, for employees like Fulton and Durando, who together have more than half a century’s worth of service in the Port Authority, all of this battling between appointees of New York and New Jersey is more than worrisome.

“Your testimony tells me there is a culture of fear – is there a culture of fear?” Wisniewski asked Durando.

There was a very long pause. Ten seconds. An eternity.

“I think your answer speaks for itself.”

http://www.wnyc.org/story/cuomo-and-christie-bridge-too-far/

[okaawhatever]

7. Ahhh...thank you so much for that. I've read the actual documents but not the transcripts from the

investigation.

[lindysalsagal]

2. they were such fools to think you could cover up something that effects thousands

of people.

its one thing to hide something personal, but dozens of political insiders knew exactly what was planned and how many procedure breaches were required to pull it off

[monmouth3]

4. And on the night of the start of Yom Kippur?? I'm not Jewish but that would really tick me off.

More Patrick Foye please, yes indeed.

[dorkzilla]

8. ...and typically around these parts, synagogues get extra security during Yom Kippur...

...due to terrorist threats. It stands to reason that Homeland Security would also have frowned upon the "traffic study" because of the timing with this high holy day.

[starroute]

12. So the lane closing was in the worst possible week for three reasons

1 - Start of school on Monday.

2 - Anniversary of 9/11 on Wednesday.

3 - Eve of Yom Kippur on Thursday.

[dorkzilla]

17. You got it! n/t

[freshwest]

9. an abiding care for the public and the need for process that that care entails' is what the cowboy

style of governance by the GOP has left us with in too many states. Thank you for posting this as you did with an example of a public servant who did understand the Golden Rule.

Who would want this done to them while going to do what one must do, travel to take care of business or first responders to save lives, and have people who think all of thatis a joke?

To be ruled by people who love to make your life harder, for petty spite and private gain?

Kudos to Mr. Foye. He knows what makes the world work. We are grateful for people like him, that show the difference between fascism and democracy.

[niyad]

10. thank you, patrick foye

[stg81]

11. appointed by a Democratic governor

[Beaverhausen]

13. I agree but wonder why this came on Day 4

Weren't there warnings and complaints starting the first morning?

[MH1]

15. That was my question too.

I would speculate that he attempted to resolve the issue and/or get more information informally first. But why 3 days to do that, before he took real action? I hold off judgment for now. It looks like he did the right thing but took a long time to do it. So he may be a "hero" but unlike some here, I don't use that term lightly. So I'll withhold it for now.

[Dustlawyer]

14. Foye is one of those government employees that Republicans say we don't need, don't do

anything but create red tape, and a waste of our tax dollars. He is the same as those lazy teachers at a Sandy Hook Elementary...
The people, for a short time at least, learned during the government shut down that a lot of areas of our government are not only good, but necessary! If they could also learn that capitalism needs to be regulated. Just ask all of the victims of the Gulf oil spill. By the way, they are the only ones who will tell you really what is going on down here. BP is the single largest advertiser in media on the Gulf Coast so you won't hear their stories there, just BP's propaganda.
For too long we have allowed this cancer of the Plutocracy to spread. They have, through their media, polarized Republicans and Democrats to the point where we blame each other for the problems created by the greed of the 1%. Republican and Democratic politicians are both complicit in this climate of anger and corruption. They all, with very few exceptions, stay in office at the whim of the 1%, not "We the People." This HAS to change, otherwise we are lost!

[Hassin Bin Sober]

16. I have several friends who work for Cook County and City of Chicago

My friends smart hardworking liberal Democrats who care about people.

One of my friends was even written up in the papers because he drove out to a dying woman's house to complete her civil union paperwork so she could be civil union'd to her long term partner before she died (this was before marriage was legalized).

Yes. I'm very proud of my friends.

I'm not surprised there are good people in government.

I'm also not surprised the darling of the "hate government" party appointed evil douche bags with nothing but contempt for their constituents to positions of power.

[efhmc]

18. I think many more public servants would do more to help the general

public if they had the power to do so.

[alcibiades_mystery]

19. Oh, I agree

Foye is just a particularly striking example of how the Right Wing is wrong about government and civil servants. There are a million and one small examples everyday, I expect.

[rocktivity]

20. This proves that there was no traffic study

Last edited Sat Jan 11, 2014, 09:55 PM - Edit history (1)

And this proves that you need approval for a traffic study from both the Port Authority AND Governor Soprano:

...(The) Port Authority...gave the township $60,000 to conduct a traffic study relating to the redevelopment of the downtown area along Morris Avenue, according to David Amlen, the township’s Democratic mayor at the time...

Christie never asked for his endorsement in the gubernatorial election...“Because I’m loyal to my party, but not blindly loyal, I didn’t endorse either candidate.”

Though the email was sent in September, Amlen said he wasn’t informed of the approval until November, after Christie had won re-election. But he said the timing wasn’t important to him, so long as the grant was approved...

Which puts Governor Soprano between a rock and hard place: It is now quite possible that he either knew what was going on or helped set it up himself.

It's official now: the first shoe has dropped.


rocktivity

P.S. Who do you think you're kidding, Mayor Amlen? You know you got that grant as a reward for NOT endorsing Barbra Buono!

[Cha]

21. He is a "hero".. I said that a couple of

days ago! To Patrick Foye!

I like me some John Wisniewski and Loretta Weinberg, too!

thanks am

[grantcart]

22. Thanks, can you add a link so I can read the whole thing?

[DallasNE]

23. Foye Does Not Serve At The Pleasure Of Chris Christie

That makes all of the difference in the world.

[Skittles]

24. love his concern and I agree with you about the prose

excellent

[loudsue]

25. That is an awesome read. I'm glad Christie is getting skewered.

What a douche bag he is. What a good dude Foye is.

[Renew Deal]

26. So is this guy the only reason the lane closure got corrected?

Because his order came on Friday and the stunt ended on Friday.

[alcibiades_mystery]

28. Pretty much

[stevenleser]

27. Thanks to you cluing me in, I am honoring him on my radio show this week.