Governor Christie Town Hall Meeting - Hillsborough

Today, at the municipal building in Hillsborough, NJ, Governor Christie conducted another town hall meeting to engage with the public. I was greeted with some pretty long lines as evidenced by this picture.



The line went fast as the doors opened and we were all seated. It was exciting to be there and the Governor had not even arrived yet. I think at these types of functions you have your typical crowds. The folks that have a vested interest in being there and who want to engage the Governor and then you have the folks that just want to be disrespectful. I was fortunate to sit right in front of one of the disrespectful attendees who happened to bring his toddler child with him. Go figure.

And then it started.



Governor Christie came out with First Lady, Mary Pat Christie and started to settle in. As he did, you could feel the energy in the room settle as well. Governor Christie has a great sense of humor and made a great introduction touching on collective bargaining, pension and health benefits. There was applause from the audience at the appropriate times and Christie gracefully made his way to the question and answer part of the town hall.

He answered tough questions from the audience. Questions relative to funding for women's health care services, cost of living adjustments, sending his children to private school as opposed to public schools, small business ownership and casino development.

My favorite line of the town hall was when he said, "Every student that steps into a classroom in New Jersey is my responsibility." I like that he makes districts in places like Newark and Camden his business where he did not have a plethora of constituent support. As he said "I think 25 people voted for me in Newark and 17 in Camden." It doesn't matter though, he will continue to support those schools and children because as he said, "I don't want future Governor's to be sitting in classrooms that are failing."



Overall, a very impressive town hall held by Governor Christie and I look forward to attending more of them in the future!