Christie: ‘I Am Not Going To Leave This Job Unfinished’

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chris-christieNew Jersey Gov. Chris Christie made headlines when he criticized his own Republican Party for delaying funding for Superstorm Sandy victims.

But the storm also revealed a softer side to the tough-talking governor. CBS 2’s Kristine Johnson sat down with Christie last week for an update on the cleanup.

“There’s a lot more work that we still need to do,” Christie said.

The devastation is not what it once was, but six months after Superstorm Sandy battered the Garden State, Christie believes New Jersey is coming back strong.

“What we’ve seen is some progress that’s really even amazed me, and we’re going to have all the boardwalks open by Memorial Day weekend,” Christie said. “I never thought that was going to be possible.”

The progress is unexpected, given the damage that Christie saw streaming live from a New Jersey State Police helicopter during the storm.

“We were all gasping in the operations center – houses that had been moved to the middle of streets, water everywhere, sand everywhere,” he said.

Christie said his first order of business was to get things as close to back to normal as possible, as soon as possible.

“Let’s try and get people back to normal, which might get their kids back in school, get their power back on, get gasoline back in gas stations, and then they can deal with the other parts of the devastation,” Christie said.

The priority now is to rebuild. New building codes will require significant elevation of structures in some areas, and billions of dollars will pay for a dune system to protect 130 miles of coastline from water damage.

As the plans move forward, Christie wants every dollar accounted for.

“We’re going to do is try and do this smartly – get people to agree to rebuild in New Jersey before we get money, and also have reputable builders that are approved by the government beforehand so that it lowers the incidents of people, you know, being exposed to potential rip off artists,” Christie said.

Superstorm Sandy also publically revealed a softer side of the sometimes brash governor. Johnson asked him if it was a conscious effort.

“The conscious effort was being there,” Christie said. “I don’t know how you could walk around those streets and see those folks and not react that way.”

One of the most noteworthy moments in the wake of the storm involved Christie warmly embracing President Barack Obama amid the devastation. That move angered some Republicans, who said it helped tip a close presidential election to the Democrat and away from Mitt Romney, who Christie endorsed and for whom he campaigned last fall.

But six months later, Christie continued to praise President Obama for being “a man of his word” when it came to his swift response to the storm.

“I don’t have any regrets because anyone who’s had the job that I have knows that your first job is to get the job done for the people who elected you and not to worry about politics, whether it’s presidential politics or any other type of politics,” Christie told WCBS 880′s Steve Scott.

Source: CBS LOCAL

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