Norcross's Indicted Lawyer Must Step Down From Rutgers Board: Union

NEW JERSEY — Rutgers University's faculty union has called for George Norcross's indicted attorney to be removed from the institution's Board of Governors.

William Tambussi was one of six people indicted in a corruption probe centered around Norcross, a longtime powerbroker in New Jersey politics. Tambussi was charged with first-degree racketeering and several other first- and second-degree offenses.

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Tambussi is a member of the Rutgers University's Board of Governors — an administrative body that determines policies at all university institutions. Rutgers AAUP-AFT, the faculty union, has called for Tambussi to resign or get removed from the board.

"Tambussi has to go," said Union President Todd Wolfson. "How can the Board of Governors claim to be legitimate in overseeing the university's mission — including serving the people of Camden and New Jersey — when the person who's supposed to represent Camden on the board stands accused of enriching himself at the expense of the city and its campus?"

Tambussi's attorney and a university spokesperson didn't immediately return Patch's requests for comment.

The Board of Governors has a meeting Thursday, with a public portion beginning at 1 p.m. It will mark the board's first meeting since the indictment was unsealed on Monday.

Tambussi is not directly mentioned on the meeting agenda.

Tambussi is Norcross's longtime personal attorney and has served as outside counsel for several institutions at the center of the case. He, Norcross and four others were accused of using their political influence to corruptly obtain lucrative waterfront real estate in Camden, threatening and extorting victims who got in their way.

Tambussi was charged with racketeering (first-degree), six counts of financial facilitation of criminal activity (first-degree), two counts of conspiracy to commit theft by extortion (first-degree), conspiracy to commit theft by extortion (second-degree), two counts of misconduct by a corporate official (second-degree), and official misconduct (second-degree).

A decade ago, then-Gov. Chris Christie appointed Tambussi — a longtime Democratic Party ally — to the board as part of a deal with Democratic lawmakers, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. The board required 1 of 8 governor appointees to live in Camden County, which Tambussi did at the time.

The Rutgers union sued Tambussi and the university earlier this year, claiming that Tambussi is disqualified from serving on the board since he no longer lives in Camden County. Tambussi is listed as an Atlantic County resident.