George Zoffinger Resigns Amid State Ethics Investigation

New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority (NJSEA) President & CEO GEORGE ZOFFINGER resigned “unexpectedly last night amid a state ethics investigation,” according to Margolin & Sherman of the Newark STAR-LEDGER. The ethics investigation centers on whether Zoffinger “violated state conflict-of-interest rules by failing to disclose that his son was an associate at the [NJSEA’s] law firm.” Zoffinger, who has headed the organization for the past five years, said, “If it’s a mistake, it’s an honest mistake.” Zoffinger said that he will “step down from his $195,000-a-year job” after Gov. JON CORZINE names a successor. He added that he had been “planning to leave long before the ethics questions were raised, and had offered his resignation to Corzine in December.” Corzine’s Chief of Staff, TOM SHEA, “confirmed that Zoffinger has previously offered the governor his resignation.” Shea: “We are working on an orderly transition to new leadership” (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 1/31). In New Jersey, John Brennan reports Zoffinger, a “longtime critic of the $375[M] arena being built in Newark,” also said that he “would be interested in forming a group to buy [Continental Airlines Arena] should [Corzine] be willing to sell it to private interests” (Bergen RECORD, 1/31).