Murphy weighs in on self-serve, PARCC, as Camden beckons

EWING — At a Monday event prior to his inauguration on Tuesday, Gov.-elect Phil Murphy revealed how he would like to handle two hot-button issues left over from the tenure of Chris Christie, while several groups in one New Jersey city want Murphy to step in and help their cause.

NJ.com reported that Murphy said he would continue the Garden State's tradition of shunning self-serve gas, echoing Christie's proclamation during an August 2012 episode of "Ask the Governor" that it was "never going to happen." Murphy, as quoted in the report, said self-serve was "a passionate thing" and "part of our fabric." Oregon, which had been the only other state where pumping your own was prohibited, recently began to allow it in some counties.

In a separate NJ.com report from the same event, however, Murphy formally broke with one of Christie's pet causes, saying he would work to "soon" end public school PARCC testing, which Christie held onto even after scrapping Common Core standards in 2015. But, Murphy admitted, "The answer to the logistics of how it's done, honestly, I don't know."

Even before Murphy formally takes office, constituent groups are lining up to get his attention. A third NJ.com report said that activists based in Camden are already planning to call Murphy's office on Tuesday to ask for his support in stopping the planned razing of the old Camden High School, the century-old, so-called "Castle on the Hill."

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