Politics & Government
Gov. Christie Appoints Livingston Native To Lead Port Authority
Deborah Gramiccioni, who graduated from Livingston High School, will replace Bill Baroni as executive deputy director of the bi-state agency.
Gov. Chris Christie tapped a Livingston native to be his top appointee in the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey as the governor accepts high-level resignations from the bi-state agency after September closures of several lanes to the George Washington Bridge.
Deborah Gramiccioni will replace Bill Baroni as executive deputy director of the Port Authority after Baroni resigned Friday, according to NorthJersey.com. The resignation of Baroni is the second high-level executive at the bi-state agency in the last two weeks.
The other executive who recently resigned was David Wildstein, the former agency’s director of interstate capital projects and the former Republican mayor of Livingston, according to NorthJersey.com.
Baroni and Wildstein came under intense scrutiny after the latter announced the closure of several lanes in September to the George Washington Bridge that are usually dedicated to Fort Lee traffic, according to NorthJersey.com. The four-day lane closureswere said to be part of a traffic study, according to NorthJersey.com.
But critics have suggested the lane closures were a political move by Christie’s appointees after the Fort Lee mayor, a Democrat, did not endorse Christie during November's gubernatorial election, according to the article.
Gramiccioni, who graduated from Livingston High School and was inducted to the Livingston Hall of Fame, was most recently deputy chief of staff for policy and cabinet liaison for Christie.Gramiccioni also spoke on behalf of the governor when he was inducted into the Livingston Hall of Fame in October.
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