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Asbury Park Press :: Monmouth Edition

WEDNESDAY 03.11.15

EX-WALL SUPER
FOUND GUILTY

Senior Scoop
inside today!
All the latest trends, tips,
events and much more

PETER ACKERMAN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

James Habel waits for the jury to read the verdict in his official misconduct trial in state Superior Court in Freehold on Tuesday.

If there is an indictment, U.S. Sen. Bob

Menendez may not go anywhere
and fight the charges.

Habel faces at least 5 years in prison

Habel had been on trial since

KATHLEEN HOPKINS @KHOPKINSAPP

Who might
take seat of
Menendez?
Political jockeying begins
after corruption charges

alls former top school administrator was

mid-January in a case that

sent to the Monmouth County Jail on Tues-

spotlighted lavish spending

day to await a certain five-year prison term

and weak controls in the

and the likely loss of his $10,000-a-month

Wall school district.

pension, after a jury found him guilty of offi-

cial misconduct for lying about 105 vacation days he spent

in Florida but never reported to the school district. In addition to official misconduct, the jury also found James Ha-

For a photo gallery and

bel, former schools superintendent in Wall, guilty of four

previous coverage of the

counts of falsifying documents by significantly under-

James Habel official

reporting his personal use of a $60,000 Yukon Denali issued

misconduct case, visit

APP.com

See GUILTY, Page A6

BOB JORDAN @BOBJORDANAPP
TRENTON Politicos are divided over whether corruption charges being prepared by the Department of
Justice eventually will force U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., to step down. That hasnt discouraged jockeying for the position or speculation.
If the seat becomes vacant, Republican Gov. Chris
Christie is in charge of choosing a temporary replacement and scheduling a special election. He even could
maneuver his way to the Senate if his presidential
hopes fizzle.
Sen. Christie, however, doesnt quite sound right to
Ben Dworkin, the director of the Rebovich Institute for
New Jersey Politics at Rider University.
I would find that extremely implausible because
Chris Christie, as he himself has stated, cant stand the
U.S. Senate, said Dworkin. Working in a very slow and
deliberative body, which the Senate is, does not lend itself to Christies significant political talents.
More on a Christie self-selection later.

See POLITICAL, Page A5

INSIDE
Justice Department ramps up public corruption cases.
STORY, A5

Christie: ExxonMobil deal not mine

BOB JORDAN @BOBJORDANAPP
SOMERVILLE Gov. Chris Christie says the controversial pending settlement with ExxonMobil in an environmental damage lawsuit is a good deal for the
state, but insists he had no influence on negotiations.
The Exxon settlement is a good deal, Christie told
about 250 people at a town hall Tuesday. He added,
however: The attorney general makes the decision. I
dont interfere with the attorney general.
Bradley Campbell, who headed the states Department of Environmental Protection in 2004, when the
lawsuits were filed, wrote in an op-ed for The New
York Times that Christies chief counsel inserted
himself into the case, elbowed aside the attorney general and career employees who had developed and
prosecuted the litigation, and cut the deal favorable to
Exxon.
The state will receive a fraction of the money that

See DEAL, Page A4

JASON TOWLEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Gov. Chris Christie conducts a town hall meeting Tuesday at

Van Derveer Elementary School in Somerville.

INSIDE
Senate begins effort to thwart Exxon settlement. STORY, A4

CONVENIENCE IS CLINTONS DEFENSE IN EMAIL CONTROVERSY PAGE 1B

Vigil held for Brookdale student

STORY, A13

Blue Devils capture sectional title

SPORTS, C1

ADVICE
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D7
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A3
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OPINION
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A14
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VOLUME 136
NUMBER 60

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