Senate Gets Levin Appointment

By Henry J. Holcomb, INQUIRER TRENTON BUREAU
Posted: December 11, 1992

TRENTON — Gov. Florio's appointment of Cherry Hill Mayor Susan Bass Levin to the Delaware River Port Authority board was finally sent to the full Senate yesterday by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Levin's appointment has been tied up by pressure politicking by Democrats and Republicans.

Neither dispute is related to Levin's qualifications. State Sen. William L. Gormley (R., Atlantic), chairman of the Judiciary Committee and a critic of linking gubernatorial appointments to such political pressure tactics, added Levin's appointment to his agenda after extensive coverage of the delay.

Sen. John Adler (D., Camden) had sat on Levin's nomination for four months. Adler said he had no problem with Levin but was "using it to get Florio's attention on a matter" that he would not disclose.

Other sources said he was holding the Levin appointment hostage while his close ally, Camden County Democratic Chairman George Norcross 3d, pressured Florio to nominate Cherry Hill lawyer Ralph J. Kmiec to a $100,000-a-year Superior Court judgeship. Florio, several sources said, has agreed to nominate Kmiec. Adler finally approved Levin's appointment in October.

Then conservative Republicans, led by Senate Majority Leader John H. Dorsey (R., Morris) and Sen. Joseph L. Bubba (R., Passaic), successfully pressured Senate President Donald T. DiFrancesco (R., Union) to put a hold on the appointment.

Dorsey and Bubba say they are blocking Levin's confirmation and several other appointments to pressure Florio to give a Superior Court judgeship to former State Sen. Lee Laskin, a Cherry Hill Republican.

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