Corzine's ex known as tough union chief

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_In_the_News_Carla_Katz.html

Corzine's ex known as tough union chief

By TOM HESTER JR.
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

TRENTON, N.J. -- Carla Katz is a union president described as smart, dedicated and tough - a relentless and passionate negotiator who's at home at the bargaining table.

Lately, she's been less well known for her love of labor than for a past love - New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine, whom she dated for two years before the multi-millionaire was elected governor. She received millions of dollars in gifts after the couple ended their two-year relationship in 2004.

Katz, 48, had refused to talk much about her relationship with the 60-year-old governor, even as state Republicans have raised ethical questions about whether the ex-lovers should be permitted on opposite ends of the bargaining table.

Katz broke her silence Wednesday, telling columnist Cindy Adams and The New York Post that Corzine's gifts didn't buy her silence on matters that could embarrass him. She said she has "nothing on" the governor.

Now she hopes the focus will shift back to labor issues affecting the 16,000 state, county, local government employees and private health care workers she represents.

Born to an Italian Catholic mother and British Jewish father, Katz grew up in the gritty, industrial city of Paterson, N.J., not far from New York. Her father was a factory worker until they moved south to Burlington County, where he became a decade-long mayor of Edgewater Park, N.J.

FULL story at link.

every other day. I really hate to be confronted with it here too. :grr: