Stronger than the Storm

Stronger than the Storm was an advertising campaign to promote tourism in New Jersey in 2013. It portrayed the state as being resilient and having recovered from the impact and aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, which had caused severe damage in Autumn 2012. The media blitz included billboards, radio spots, and television commercials featuring the Jersey Shore and including appearances by the Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, and his wife and children. The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provided funding for the promotional campaign. The awarding of the contract to marketing firm MWW and the propriety of Christie's use of the ads during a re-election campaign has drawn media and governmental scrutiny. In January 2014, HUD initiated an audit of the expenditure. The audit is one of two simultaneous federal inquiries begun in 2014 involving the Chris Christie administration use of federal funds provided by the Hurricane Sandy relief bill.

Sandy funding and bids

Hurricane Sandy, which had landfall on October 29, 2012, caused a 13-foot tidal surge that inundated many coastal communities on the Jersey Shore, the Hudson Waterfront, and the New Jersey Meadowlands.[1] As part of recovery funding, New Jersey received a waiver from HUD to use $25 million for advertising to promote tourism in the state the following season. The campaign was administered by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, directed by Michelle A. Brown, which was responsible for the distribution of Sandy relief funds.[2] Of four bidders, two were invited to do presentations to the board on March 15, 2013.[3][4] The contract was awarded to the marketing firm MWW, based in East Rutherford.[5]

Production and release of TV ads

MWW's plan included six TV and radio spots, billboards (at Times Square and the Lincoln Tunnel, among other locations) a social media blitz, and an advertising jingle. The campaign targeted markets in New Jersey, New York City, New York State, Philadelphia and other parts of Pennsylvania, Baltimore, Washington, and eastern Canada.

MWW engaged a sub-contractor, Brushfire, Inc. to produce the TV commercials. Brushfire wrote the lyrics for the Stronger than the Storm theme song. Songwriter Brian Jones of Bang composed the music. The jingle for the 30-second television commercial was later turned into a full-length single.[6]

The official roll-out of the "Stronger than the Storm" campaign coincided with the May 24, 2013 broadcast of the "Today Show" live from Seaside Heights, with Christie as co-host.[7] During the show, NBC cameras cut to Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno and local officials cutting a blue ribbon stretched along the shoreline.[8] The ads ran until September 1.[9]

Criticism of contract and Christie appearance

In April 2013, a bill was introduced into the New Jersey Assembly that would "prohibit the Governor or the Lieutenant Governor from appearing in certain announcements and federal or State-funded advertisements during gubernatorial election year."[10] In May 2013, before the release of the commercials, Democrats in Assembly again questioned the use of the funds and the propriety of featuring the Christie family.[8]

On August 4, 2013 the Asbury Park Press published an article that identified fees to be paid for employee compensation for MWW at $4.7 million, $2.2 million more than the other bidder. It also noted that the panel that made the decision to hire MWW was led by Brown, who had once borrowed $46,000 from Christie.[11] On August 6, the paper reported that the firm had recently hired the former executive director of the Burlington County Republican Committee, Rich Levesque, who was noted as having "strong relationships over the years with many of Governor Christie's closest advisors as well as many of his cabinet appointees".[12]

On August 8, Frank Pallone, the U.S. representative for New Jersey's 6th congressional district, wrote a letter to HUD requesting an inquiry into the potential misuse of disaster aid for political gain.[13] Pallone said he thought Christie's Sandy ad campaign "smelled" and called for investigation to dispel any appearance of impropriety, drawing attention to the $2.2 million difference between the accepted bid and the next most expensive bid, which included no plans to include the governor in the ads.[14] Barbara Buono, State Senator from the 18th Legislative District and Christie's opponent in the 2013 gubernatorial election, called the ads an abuse of the funds.[15]

In a hearing on Sandy relief funds before the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky) said, "In New Jersey, $25 million was spent on ads that included somebody running for political office", and asked, "Do ya' think there might be a conflict of interest of there?"[16]

In March 2014, The New Republic reported that documents requested in regard to the contract award decision were redacted to conceal committee members.[17] Also in March 2014, Christie claimed that the uptick in tourism in 2013 was evidence that the campaign was successful.[18] It was also announced the MWW would produce the 2014 season ads, without a new bidding process, and that Christie would not appear in the campaign called Going Strong.[19]

HUD audit

On January 14, 2014, HUD announced that it would review the expenditure.[20][21] A press release stated that it is "an audit and not an investigation of the procurement process".[22] The audit is based on irregularities with billing and adherence to the contract pricing, as determined by the federal government.[23] MWW, in a press release, stated that it welcomed the review and that it had not presented the idea of Christie appearing in ads until after the contract was awarded. It said it was confident that it had followed correct billing procedures.[24]

The federal audit released on September 3, 2014,[25] did not find fault with the appearance of the governor and his family in the ad, but instead found fault with the mechanics of awarding the contract, specifically that key procurement requirements had not been met.[26]

Hoboken Sandy relief fund investigation

Several days after the HUD announcement, on January 18, 2014, Mayor of Hoboken Dawn Zimmer, appearing on MSNBC,[27] claimed that Lt Governor Kim Guadagno and Richard Constable, director of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, had earlier insinuated to her that more Sandy relief funds would be released to the city if it approved a project in its northwest quadrant.[28][29] On February 22, the Federal Bureau of Investigation interviewed members of the city's government and potential witnesses, who were instructed to preserve any evidence they might possess.[30] They were also asked by the office of United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, Paul Fishman, to not discuss the matter publicly.[31] On January 31, the city acknowledged that it had received subpoenas from that office.[32][33]

See also

References
  1. "New Jersey Transit Corporation's After Hurricane Sandy Action Report" (PDF). Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service. December 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 8, 2014. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  2. "New Jersey Economic Development Authority - Who We Are - Executive Team". Njeda.com. September 26, 2013. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
  3. "Evaluation-Committee-report-Stronger-Than-Storm-ad-campaign". Asbury Park Press. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
  4. Jordan, Bob (January 15, 2014). "Rejected Sandy ad bidder: Officials wanted Christie as the star". The Daily Journal.com. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
  5. Jordon, Bob (August 4, 2013). "'Stronger than the Storm' ads go to politically active firm, cost $2M more than runner-up, report says". nj.com. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
  6. Izzo, Michael Izzo (June 30, 2013). "Jersey pride on display in 'Stronger than the Storm'". USA Today. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
  7. Mills, Andrew (May 24, 2013). "N.J. Gov. Chris Christie appears on Today show in Seaside Heights". The Star-Ledger.
  8. Portnoy, Jenna (May 16, 2013). "Dems object as Christie clan stars in publicly funded tourism ads". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
  9. Johnson, Brett (August 28, 2013). "Gov. Christie says controversial 'Stronger Than the Storm' ads will soon end". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
  10. "Assembly No. 3971". State of New Jersey 25th Legislatiure. April 4, 2014. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
  11. Jordan, Bob (August 5, 2014). "Gov's 'Stronger than the Storm' commercials go to politically active PR firm, cost $2M more than runner-up firm". Asbury Park Press. Retrieved February 14, 2015.
  12. "Firm behind Christie's 'Stronger than the Storm' commercials hired top GOP insider before winning contract $4.7 million in fees went to politically active firm". Asbury Park Press. August 6, 2014. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
  13. "Pallone Calls for Investigation into Christie's Misuse of Disaster Aid for Political Gain" (Press release). Frank Pallone House of Representatives. August 8, 2013. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
  14. Hutchins, Ryan (January 13, 2014). "Pallone said he thought Christie's Sandy ad campaign 'smelled', called for investigation". The Star-Ledgrt. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
  15. Hayes, Melissa (August 7, 2014). "Buono calls on Christie to repay funds spent on 'Stronger than the Storm' ads". The Record. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
  16. Kaplan, Rebecca (November 7, 2013). "Rand Paul slams Christie for post-Sandy ads". CBS News. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
  17. MacGillis, Alec (March 18, 2014). "The Chris Christie Scandal Just Got Worse". The New republic. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  18. O'Neill, Erin (March 21, 2014). "Chris Christie cites tourism data as evidence 'Stronger Than the Storm' worked". The star-Ledger. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
  19. Portnoy, Jenna (March 21, 2014). "NJ tourism ads 'Going Strong' without Christie". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved March 22, 2014.
  20. Frates, Chris (January 14, 2014). "Feds investigate Christie's use of Sandy relief funds". USA Today. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
  21. Geraghty, Jim (January 13, 2014). "Christie's Spokesman: 'Stronger Than the Storm' Approved by Obama Administration". National Review. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
  22. "Statement by David A. Montoya, Inspector General, on the Audit of New Jersey Post-Hurricane Sandy Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Plan" (Press release). HUD. January 14, 2014. Retrieved February 14, 2014. On August 8, 2013, this office received a request from Congressman Frank Pallone Jr., regarding the State of New Jersey's Post-Hurricane Sandy Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Action Plan. Audits of Federal expenditures of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, including disaster-related activities, are something that this office does routinely. The Department granted a waiver to allow the State to use $25 million of its award on a marketing campaign to promote the Jersey Shore and encourage tourism. An audit was initiated in September 2013 to examine whether the State administered its Tourism Marketing Program in accordance with applicable departmental and Federal requirements. This is an audit and not an investigation of the procurement process. We expect to issue our audit report expeditiously. We will have no further comment until the audit report is issued..
  23. McElhatton, Jim (January 14, 2014). "Stronger than the Storm: Murky details cloud winning bid in Christie ad furor". The Washington Times. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
  24. Giovas, Kim (January 13, 2014). "Feds Taking Closer Look At 'Stronger Than The Storm' Ads". CBS Philly. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
  25. http://www.hudoig.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2014-PH-1008.pdf
  26. O'Neill, Erin (September 3, 2014). "'Stronger Than the Storm': Federal audit finds N.J. did not fully comply with procurement rules". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  27. Kornacki, Steve (January 18, 2014). "Christie camp held Sandy relief money hostage, mayor alleges". MSNBC. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
  28. Freidman, Matt (January 18, 2014). "Hoboken mayor claims Christie administration held city's Sandy recovery funds 'hostage' to help developer". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
  29. Giambusso, David; Baxter, Chris (January 18, 2014). "Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer alleges Chris Christie's office withheld Sandy aid over development deal". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
  30. Rashbaum, William K. (January 23, 2014). "Hoboken Mayor is said to have told of threat". The New York Times. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
  31. Isikoff, Micheal (January 22, 2014). "FBI questions Hoboken mayor's aides over alleged Sandy relief funds threat: sources". NBC News. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
  32. Hayes, Melissa (January 31, 2014). "Christie scandal: Hoboken documents subpoenaed by U.S. attorney". The Record. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
  33. Freidman, Matt (January 31, 2014). "U.S. Attorney subpoenas Hoboken in Hurricane Sandy funding investigation". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
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