NJ Taxpayers Paid Over 5 Million for Christie Publicity Blitz

It took more than charm, chutzpah and media savvy to catapult Chris Christie into a national celebrity and presidential contender.
The New Jersey governor also used $5.43 million from state taxpayers to pay the team that helped turn him into a rising star on television, radio, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and other outlets.
While Christie publicly boasted of his successes in downsizing government, the total salaries of his communications officers have increased by nearly 50 percent in five years, according to a New Jersey Watchdog analysis of state records.
The governor’s media team has expanded to include 16 full-time staffers and a payroll of roughly $1.36 million last year. Five of the employees collect six-figure incomes, led by communications director Maria Comella at $140,000 a year.  (Click here for the staff roster and salaries.)

“We have to stop spending so much,” Christie told CNBC in a televised interview shortly after taking office in 2010. “People don’t want bigger government.”
At the time, the governor’s office had an annual budget of $4.68 million a year.  Five years later, that figure ballooned to $6.7 million — an increase of 43 percent.
The expense of Christie’s media team has grown even faster.
In 2010, the state paid less than $912,000 to employees in the governor’s communications office.
Entire article at
http://watchdog.org/196932/christie-media-blitz/