Helicopter to a ballgame?

[z31maniac]

^And we are saying that they could better utilize that training time, then taking the Gov to his son's ballgame.

Do you not see that part of it?

[Dozyproductions]

Did you guys forget that this was fulfilling the pilots required training flight hours?

[markseven]

I like Christies blunt style, but this is a misappropriationof resources.

Take a fucking car.

I'm so tired of both sides and the bullshit.

He was a rock star until this. What a doof.

[z31maniac]

I like Christies blunt style, but this is a misappropriationof resources.

Take a fucking car.

I'm so tired of both sides and the bullshit.

[KenC]

LOL, if this were Arnold, half of you would be outraged.

[Dozyproductions]

Whoever gets upset at this is a moron. Obama and his family stay at suPer expensive hotels on our taxes. He just likes to go for rides like any of us would. Cool thing is the Missions are planned and he can just join. So the real question here is: are you jelly?

the difference is that christie is doing exactly what Obama should be doing and this makes it "seem" like he is renegging on his commitments.

[NKRoberts]

To have them fly over to pick up a cup of coffee at star bucks is absurd.

did i miss this part of the article?

[Javier h]

BS.

The training missions should be spend on flying over potential areas of concern and perhaps working in concert with other law enforcement agencies. To have them fly over to pick up a cup of coffee at star bucks is absurd. You might as well park the damn thing outside a movie theater during lunch hours.

Turns out the flack blew up and now he's paying a few grand to pay for his own pocket.

He's not doing it out of kindness.

Unbelievable.

And sure he wasted tax payers resources, I bet he had his secretary make a few phone calls to coordinate the schedules and ascertain scheduling conflicts. These trips had to be coordinated at some level. Someone had to clear the schedule and plan the trip.

And for the love of Gawd, that guy should have jogged over there for health reasons alone!!!

Seriously, take a car like anyone else with security. At the end, he is a public servant and works for us.

[F34R]

Whoever gets upset at this is a moron. Obama and his family stay at suPer expensive hotels on our taxes. He just likes to go for rides like any of us would. Cool thing is the Missions are planned and he can just join. So the real question here is: are you jelly?

[NKRoberts]

Doesn't seem that unreasonable to me.

Same here. Not a big deal.

[shiftbmw]

Hmm...I though training missions cost nothing?

I think the point was that it doesn't cost the taxpayer additional money as you figure that money for police training missions was already in the budget. It seems they just use one of their training missions to transport the governor. Doesn't seem that unreasonable to me.

[Kershaw]

meh, not concerned.

[slammin.e28]

State Police Superintendent Col. Rick Fuentes released a statement arguing the flights don't cost the taxpayer anything.

Fuentes said the time police pilots fly the governor count as training time.

Hmm...I though training missions cost nothing?

Christie's trip yesterday included one hour of flight time, which costs $2,500, said State Police spokesman Sgt. Stephen Jones.

[Javier h]

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/06/state_police_say_gov_christies.html

TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie has taken the state helicopter 35 times since taking office in January 2010, including to survey flood and storm damage, according to State Police.

State Police Superintendent Col. Rick Fuentes released a statement arguing the flights don't cost the taxpayer anything.

Fuentes said the time police pilots fly the governor count as training time.

"It is important to understand that State Police helicopters fly daily homeland security missions, and use flight time for training purposes, more so lately as we acclimate our pilots to the new aircraft," Fuentes.

Fuentes said because of this, the flights have no extra cost to the taxpayers.

"Therefore, there is no additional cost to taxpayers or the State Police budget, nor is there any interference with our daily mission by adding the state’s chief executive to any of these trips," Fuentes said. "Any flights transporting the Governor would be subordinated to priority needs for our aircraft including rescue and emergent law enforcement missions."


Fuentes pointed out that Christie is on duty 24 hours a day

"His transportation, safety and security are my responsibility, and he therefore travels with the State Police Executive Protection Unit, whether on state or personal business," Fuentes said in a statement. "As part of our long-standing security protocol, the EPU provides secure, protected travel by vehicle in the overwhelming majority of the Governor’s business and personal travel, except in those rare instances when the Governor’s schedule warrants use of air travel."

On Tuesday, Christie used a state police helicopter to fly to a baseball game in Bergen County, where his son Andrew was playing. He left the game, along with First Lady Mary Pat Christie aboard the helicopter. An hour and half later, he arrived via car at Drumthwacket, the governor's mansion in Princeton, for a meeting with a group of GOP donors from Iowa who were trying to court him to run for president in 2012.

Christie's trip yesterday included one hour of flight time, which costs $2,500, said State Police spokesman Sgt. Stephen Jones.

The helicopter left downtown Trenton, flew to the field in Montvale for the baseball game, and then flew to Princeton. Jones did not specify the exact landing sites.