Gov. Christie waited until his seventh year in office to wrestle with tech infrastructure. No one expects to see fixes before he leaves office. Watch video
Even if you easily tire of Jersey jokes, you must admit this one never gets old:
Gov. Christie promises that one of these days, the state will get it right when it comes to fixing the bureaucratic burlesque known as the Motor Vehicle Commission.
Until there are tangible signs of progress -- notably in the antiquated computer system that is chiefly responsible for creating those three-hour lines -- we reserve the right to remain skeptical, and ask why the governor is still working around the margins rather than attacking the problem with all his resources.
If you ever read the MVC budget, you know that it's a cash cow. It produces revenue of roughly $1.3 billion a year, and no one has ever explained why the majority of it is sent elsewhere, including $101 million redirected into the general fund. Yet everyone's jaw drops when computers crash and the sidewalks of Lodi and South Plainfield become grimmer than a bread line.
The governor's most recent act had been a reminder to outraged patrons to renew their licenses earlier in the month to avoid the crush.
Last week he offered more weak tea for the hundreds of people convened daily on concrete saunas around MVC buildings across the state, Band-Aids such as more customer service training and the elimination of online renewal fees.
You may remember how he got there.
The old agency was whipped into shape by Gov. James McGreevey after he formed the Fix DMV Commission in 2002, and most of the serious problems were fixed in subsequent years after the Division of Motor Vehicles was rebranded as the MVC.
But the MVC's crabby computer mainframe was already 20 years old when everyone agreed it needed replacement in 2005. In the years since --especially since Christie took office -- the overhaul bounced between vendors, costs escalated, delays struck, and the MVC gave the third and final vendor (Hewlitt-Packard) $16 million just to get lost in May 2015.
Then the MVC decided to use its own staff to handle a $25 million, multi-year makeover, paring it down to five priorities. So far, they have completed - a $2 million federally-mandated commercial license database upgrade.
Miles to go. Christie had waited until Year 7 to wrestle with tech infrastructure. He is awaiting a replacement plan from his IT office that will serve MVC and seven other departments, but no one expects to see the finish line before he leaves office. As the lines grow, the MVC -- a governmental model of shuttered facilities, reduced staff, delay upgrades, and punch lines -- becomes a part of his legacy.
If the administration objects to any part of that understatement, it can show up for hearings held by the Senate Legislative Oversight Committee in a few weeks and say so.
But if MVC chief Ray Martinez passes up the chance to provide updates, a more definitive timetable, and an explanation as to why so much revenue is diverted, we'll take it as a sign that the current administration would rather hand off the responsibility to the next one, because its leader is motivated more by careerism than getting results.
Spoiler alert: The measure of a leader is always about the burdens he is willing to take on, so this is likely to follow the same disappointing pattern. Whether it's pension payments or education funding or lead abatement, this governor is a master at half-measures and short-run politics, and he won't do what it takes to find long-term solutions.
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