In September 2013, several traffic lanes on the George Washington Bridge connecting New Jersey and New York were closed, apparently for some kind of traffic research. The New Jersey Governor, Republican Chris Christies, had been incriminated of purposely masterminding the traffic snarl up as payback against the Fort Lee Mayor, Democrat Mark Sokolich, for failing to endorse his re-election as governor. It was considered one of the worst snarls up ever since on a typical day, it took six minutes to drive through a four mile stretch but on this day, it took 16 minutes. Initially, the Governor claimed he had no knowledge of the masterminds of the lane closures but e-mails made public showed that his Deputy Chief of Staff, Bridget Anne Kelly had ordered the Port Authority to close entry lanes to George Washington Bridge on purpose (Milligan, 2014). He reacted by calling a press conference to address the revelation that some of his staff had intentionally played a part and Kelly was dismissed. The Governor further accepted responsibility for the incident.
This event exposed major ethical lapses in the governor’s office. It is morally wrong to do something that might endanger the lives innocent civilians. Christie barely required secondment from the Fort Lee mayor to win the 2013 race. But when a public office is viewed as a political office to honor friends and punish enemies, it is only a matter of time before such a misuse occurs (Kleiner, 2014). For instance, during the saga, emergency response was delayed and this led to the death of a 91-year-old woman. The woman died of cardiac arrest since it took a lot of time for the emergency response team to reach her and rescue her life. Generally, the traffic delays affected the safety and basic quality of life of thousands of people. This was morally wrong. Whether or not Chris Christie himself dictated the vengeful closure of the George Washington Bridge, the fact that the staff under his control believed that it was right to do so showcases severe faults in the ethical culture of his administration (Marshall, 2014).
In this case, Kelly’s intention was to instigate a political payback to the mayor by causing a short-term political harm not knowing that in the end the people would be seriously hurt. It is important that the public’s interest comes first for any elected leader and once this is overlooked; there are higher chances that effective leadership will be undermined. One of the defining traits of a leader is the public’s view that he or she can be trusted to speak frankly about matters that are both easy and hard. On this bridge scandal, the public felt that there was more to the story than what the governor revealed. This was detrimental to the perception the public had on the governor leading to a decline in poll numbers and job approval ratings among New Jersey residents.
Chris Christie had the chance to demonstrate that he was able to react speedily, responsibly and effectively to the challenges these questions raised about his leadership (Marshall, 2014). His quick reaction by firing the masterminds deserved credit though it did not immediately result in positive reaction from the public. This was a clear indication that somehow the honesty people had on the government was taking a downward trend.
Additionally, majority of people view leadership as a position to better the lives of the electorate but from the events that took place, it was evident that settling political scores was the government’s priority instead of creating realistic solutions to the underlying problems. The events depicted the administration as petty and heavy handed.
In conclusion, an effective leader’s duty is to make people trust his or her leadership credentials. Incidences of power abuse like this instills fear and hate instead.
References
Milligan, S. (2014, January 9). Bridge Over a Troubling Personality. US News. Retrieved March 7, 2014, from http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/susanmilligan/2014/01/09/chrischristies-bridge- debacle-shows-a-personality-problem
Kleiner, S. (2014, January 13). Before Bridgegate Punished an Enemy, Christie's Office Rewarded Friends. The Daily Beast. Retrieved from http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/01/13/before-bridgegate-punished-an-enemy- christie-used-his-office-to-reward-friends.html
Marshall, J. (2014, January 10). Ethics Observations On Sticks, Leadership, And Chris Christie’s Vindictive Bridge Closing Scandal. Ethics Alarms. Retrieved March 9, 2014, from http://ethicsalarms.com/2014/01/10/ethics-observations-on-sticks-leadership-and-chris- christies-vindictive-bridge-closing-scandal/
