MONDAY,AUGUST 16,2004
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey addressed a news conference Thursday at the Statehouse in Trenton, N.J., as his wife, Dina Matos McGreevey, middle, and his mother, Veronica McGreevey, listen. McGreevey announced that he would resign effective Nov. 15 and admitted that he is a homosexual and had a consensual affair with a man.
Governor comes out, resigns office
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
From liberal Massachusetts to conservative Arizona, gay politicians have gone public and survived. New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey's decision to come out on live television could have made him the most prominent among them — the nation's first openly gay governor.
But there was much more to it than McGreevey's sexual orientation — allegations of sexual harassment and rumors of being blackmailed, on top of months of fund-raising investigations and indictments. And that, say gay activists and political strategists, is what made all the difference: It wasn't McGreevey's homosexuality but his political missteps that mean the end of his career.
"I think gayness is being used," said Alan Rosenthal, a Rutgers University political science professor. "It's not the root cause of his resignation. And it's certainly not the root cause of McGreevey's demise."
Many things force politicians out of office - allegations of corruption, sex, infidelity. Rarely is it all of them.
If it were homosexuality alone, there's much to argue he could have stayed. Rep. Jim Kolbe, (R-Ariz.) declared his orientation in 1996 as a gay magazine prepared to "out" him, and has not lost a race since. Democratic Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts was reprimanded for hiring a male prostitute as an aide, but has held his office since 1980.
"Why would you resign just because the public now knows you're gay?" said Jennifer Veiga, a Democratic Colorado state senator who came out to her constituents while seeking her fourth term as a state House member. She's won two elections since.
she said. "It's a question of people seeing gay and lesbians in public life and understanding that we are the same as them, we share the same values. And we even make mistakes."
McGreevey himself, in a painfully revealing confession with his wife and parents by his side, said his sexual orientation should be no bar: "It makes little difference that as governor I am gay." Rather, it was "the circumstances surrounding the affair" that made the office "vulnerable to false allegations and threats of disclosure."
Those circumstances the first-term Democrat chose not to explain, taking no questions after his brief announcement Thursday.
Sources have said only anonymously that the man involved in the affair was Golan Cipel, an Israeli poet who briefly was the state's homeland security adviser.
driven.
A senior McGreevey political
adviser told The Associated Press that Cipel threatened McGreevey several weeks ago that unless he was paid "millions of dollars," Cipel would file a lawsuit charging the governor with sexual harassment.
On Friday, Cipel's lawyer claimed the governor made repeated sexual advances toward his former employee and has now made him the victim of a "smear campaign."
Cipel's ties to the governor had already brought complaints, after he got the security post in 2002 without any background check or official announcement, and a $110,000 salary. He was reassigned a few months later and soon after left government.
when the governor's top campaign donor was charged with trying to thwart a federal campaign-finance investigation by luring a witness — his own brother-in-law — into a compromising position with a prostitute and sending the video to the man's wife.
That controversy was followed by questions about other McGreevey associates, appointees, friends and fundraisers caught in scandals, investigations or indictments. The most lurid, until now, was
"You've got to put this in context with the difficulties he was facing," said Neil Newhouse, a Republican political strategist. "He was just political toast."
The governor said his resignation wouldn't take effect until Nov. 15 to avoid a special election, a delay Republicans have criticized.
"I don't think it has to do with being gay, or even an extramarital affair," said Rosenthal, who has studied New Jersey politics for years. "This was just the last thing. People got together — Democratic leaders got together
Democratic leaders got goat — and let the governor know they've just got to have another candidate."
Boeing buyout picks up steam
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WICHITA — With one key union already on board, organizers of a proposed employee buyout of Boeing Co.'s commercial operation in Wichita have begun campaigning for the broad support needed to offer a serious bid
A small group of Boeing Wichita workers and union leaders formed a coalition earlier this month to devise an Employee Stock Ownership Plan, or ESOP. The effort gained critical backing Thursday with a vote of support from the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace in Wichita.
Only about 20 employees of Boeing Wichita turned out Friday for an informational meeting that had been publicized at least a week earlier.
But thousands of filers have been circulated, and a presentation to members of the Machinists union was set for Saturday following that union's monthly meeting
ing that union is a victory. "People are aware," said Richard Phenneger of Phenneger & Morgan, a spokane, Wash.-based consulting firm that works on ESOP efforts and is advising the Wichita coalition.
Officials of Chicago-based Boeing officials have been seeking a buyer for the Wichita plant. Boeing CEO Harry Stonecipher said last month that he expects a decision on whether to sell will be made by year's end.
Boeing Wichita has about 12,300 employees _about 7,000 in its commercial airplane facility and the rest in the military airplane operation, which would be unaffected by the sale.
Among those attending Friday's meeting at a Wichita middle school was electrical engineer David Moffett, who recently joined the grassroots effort.
"If the company wants to sell the place, let's sell to employees," Moffett said.
Phenneger told those in atten-
f the company wants to sell the place, let's
sell to employees." David Moffett Boeing electrical engineer
dance that Boeing employees would not have to come up with the money to buy the operation.
In the next two weeks, he said he expects to have a letter of intent from an investment banking group. The group would line up investors to finance the purchase of the facility once Boeing accepted a bid.
Because of the tax benefits in ESOP programs, investors recognize the benefits to them, Phenneger said.
nager said.
Employees gain ownership of the company as the debt to the investors is retired, he said.
The next step is to form an employee steering committee to include representatives from Boeing's unions, which would develop operating procedures.
Before submitting a bid to Boeing, the group must raise from $200,000 to $300,000 to cover research and other costs.
Most of the money would come from employees, who would agree to contribute $100 each, said John Hood, a Boeing employee helping spearhead the effort. All the money would be refunded if a bid were unsuccessful, organizers said.
A similar but smaller effort to buy a Boeing facility in Spokane, Wash., through an ESOP was unsuccessful. Boeing ultimately sold the facility to Triumph Group.
But the bid made the cut from one of 20 to the top five, said SPEEA president Jennifer MacKay, who helped with the effort.
The new owner cut wages and jobs of the workers but not those of the managers, MacKay said.
"The company made decisions we had no control over," she said