Gov. Chris Christie has gained national popularity for his everyman persona and ability to summarize complicated matters into easily understandable terms.

But when he went into a rant on Thursday during which he blamed $120 million of damaged trains during Hurricane Sandy on a mid-level NJ Transit manager, he apparently didn’t have his facts straight.

Not only did Christie blame the hundreds of waterlogged locomotives and rail cars on the worker, he also told the editorial board of the Record of Woodland Park that the employee, being a civil servant, couldn’t be fired.

Several sources said Friday the employee was demoted, though he could have been fired because he had no civil service protection.

The sources identified the worker as William Lawson, a superintendent of equipment management. The sources asked not to be named because they were not permitted to discuss the matter publicly.

Speaking to the Record on Thursday, Christie was quoted as saying: “It was a lower-level manager that made the decision on the cars ... where they were placed. It was not vetted up the chain as it was supposed to be vetted up the chain. (NJ Transit executive director) Mr. (Jim) Weinstein handled it internally because he’s a civil service employee, and you can’t just fire the person.”

Civil service was purposely excluded as part of the NJ Transit statute when the statewide transportation agency was formed in 1979.

Furthermore, the sources said, while the employee was blamed for not keeping rolling stock out of the Hoboken rail yards, relatively few of the damaged trains were stored there. The vast majority of the 343 damaged locomotives and rail cars were kept at the Meadows Maintenance Complex in Kearny, where NJ Transit officials have vehemently defended their decision to keep trains, saying the facility had never flooded before.

Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak last night said in an email: “The individual in question was disciplined within the procedures provided for at NJT. The discipline was related to his particular failure amid the overall losses caused by the unprecedented impact of Sandy. The equipment is insured, services were quickly restored in the aftermath, and we are moving on with the experience and lessons learned.”

NJ Transit had nothing to add to the governor’s comments.

Gov. Chris Christie on Friday, a day after he was quoted by a newspaper as blaming an NJ Transit manager for $120 million of damage to trains during Hurricane Sandy.

However, the Record reported that a review of emails it obtained through a public records request shows that in contrast to Christie’s remarks, at least 15 agency executives and managers were aware of fleet movements into low-lying areas. Included in at least one email was Weinstein — whom Christie has held blameless for the damage and who the governor praised enthusiastically during the editorial board meeting.

In the spring, seven months after Sandy, the demoted employee represented NJ Transit on an advisory committee that was studying bringing trolley service to a Liberty State Park.

Repeated attempts to reach Lawson on Friday were not successful.

Two longtime NJ Transit conductors said the employee was being made a “scapegoat” and that higher-ups made the much more costly decision to keep trains at the Meadows Maintenance Complex. The conductors declined to be identified because they are not authorized to speak.

"How can a low level manager be in charge during an emergency?" asked NJ Sierra Club director Jeff Tittel. "Isn't it supposed to be the people in charge like the head of NJ Transit and the governor's office?



"Maybe next they will say that the dog ate the plan, the sun was in their eyes, or whatever else excuse they could come up with, instead of taking responsibility for their lack of action leaving one of the best transportation systems in the country a wreck," he added.

NJ Transit reported that 343 total trains were damaged during Sandy, but did not list the numbers of trains damaged from each rail yard.

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