Carla A. Katz (born December 19, 1959) served as president of Local 1034 of the Communications Workers of America from 1999 until 2008, representing 16,000 public and private sector workers in the state of New Jersey. Revelations of a romantic relationship with New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine raised questions of whether the relationship improperly influenced contract negotiations between Katz's union and the state of New Jersey.
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Katz was born to Arnold and Angelina Katz and was raised in Paterson, New Jersey with her brother Allan and sister Genise. Arnold Katz worked as a factory laborer in Paterson before getting a sales job and relocating his family to Burlington County. He later served as mayor of Edgewater Park in 1982 and 1983.[1][2]
After finishing high school, Katz attended Burlington County College, Boston University, and Johns Hopkins University, and obtained a bachelor's degree in labor studies from Rutgers University in 1981. She also received a master's degree from Rutgers. A year after graduating from Rutgers, she started as an organizer for the CWA, becoming president of Local 1034 in 1999. She married Lawrence McKim, an artist and high school teacher, and they settled in Alexandria Township, New Jersey, where they raised two children, Montana and Cooper. Katz and McKim divorced in 2001.[1]
Katz first met Jon Corzine in the spring of 1999, when he was running for the United State Senate. As Katz later recalled, Corzine offered her a job on his Senate campaign, but she declined the job offer.[3] Corzine and Katz were soon dating, appearing in public as a couple in early 2002, shortly after Corzine's separation from his wife Joanne. (The Corzines divorced the following year.) Katz lived with Corzine at his apartment in Hoboken from April 2002 until their breakup in August 2004.[4]
After Corzine's breakup with Katz, their lawyers negotiated a financial arrangement in November 2004. According to later press accounts, the settlement for Katz exceeded $6 million, including a large lump sum of cash (in part used to buy a $1.1 million condominium in Hoboken), a college trust fund for her children, and a Volvo sport utility vehicle.[4] In December 2004, Corzine also forgave a debt of $470,000, a loan that he had provided Katz in 2002 so that she could buy out her ex-husband's share of their home in Alexandria Township.[5]
In the summer of 2005, when Corzine was running in the New Jersey gubernatorial election, news first emerged of his previous relationship with Katz and the financial package she received after the breakup. Corzine was elected despite the scandal. After Corzine was sworn in as governor in January 2006, Katz maintained close contact with him. In the fall of 2006, during an impasse in contract negotiations between the Corzine administration and the state's seven major state employee unions (including the CWA), Katz contacted the governor by phone and e-mail, personally lobbying for a renewal of the negotiations.[4]
Despite Corzine's pledge that he had ended all financial dealings with Katz and her family before taking office in 2006, in September 2007 it was reported that Rocco Riccio, who is married to Katz's sister Genise, had received $15,000 from Corzine after being forced to resign from a position with the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.[6]
A state ethics panel, responding to a complaint from Bogota mayor Steve Lonegan, ruled in May 2007 that Katz's personal contact with Corzine during labor negotiations did not violate the governor's code of conduct.[4] Separately, New Jersey Republican State Committee Chairman Tom Wilson filed a lawsuit to release all e-mail correspondence between Corzine and Katz during the contract negotiations. On May 30, 2008, New Jersey Superior Court Judge Paul Innes ruled that at least 745 pages of e-mail records should be made public, but Corzine's lawyers immediately appealed the decision.[7][8]
Corzine won his case on appeal, and on March 18, 2009, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that it would not hear arguments in the case, effectively ending the legal battle to make his e-mails with Katz public.[9] Corzine spent approximately $127,000 of taxpayer funds to keep the e-mails secret. Despite these efforts, on August 1, 2010, The Star-Ledger published 123 of the Corzine-Katz e-mails, revealing the extent of their personal contact during negotiations over a new state workers contract in early 2007.[10]
On July 7, 2008, Katz was removed from the presidency of CWA Local 1034 for financial improprieties after a unanimous vote of the union's national board. In a press release, the board stated: "An extensive internal review revealed probable cause to believe that the local is engaged in ongoing financial malpractice, the misappropriation of union funds, a failure to comply with state and federal law, as well as the CWA constitution, and the suppression of dissent. The CWA national executive board has determined that it has no choice but to take this action to protect the rights and resources of the members of Local 1034." A temporary administrator, Ruth Barrett, was appointed to oversee Local 1034.[11]
In March 2009, Katz was expelled from the CWA after an internal tribunal unanimously found her guilty of financial mismanagement. She was ordered by the tribunal to reimburse more than $138,000 to the union for funds improperly used for personal and political expenses. Katz has filed a lawsuit to regain her status with the union.[12]
Katz enrolled in Seton Hall University School of Law in 2004, earning her law degree in May 2008.[11] She has also been active as a lecturer at Rutgers University and contributes to the "NJ Voices" blog on NJ.com.[13]
In May 2009, the radio station WKXW (101.5 FM) announced that Katz would join the afternoon drive show "The Jersey Guys" in a series of appearances.[12]
It was reported in March 2010 that Katz would join the Livingston-based law firm of Fox & Fox LLP.[14] She is Of Counsel with the firm, specializing in labor law.[15]