Embattled Rutgers University Board of Governors member William Tambussi has been removed by a judge’s order less than two weeks after he was indicted on racketeering charges, NJ.com reported. However, Tambussi’s removal isn’t related to the charges but to residency issues.
The faculty union Rutgers AAUP-AFT (American Association of University Professors–American Federation of Teachers) sued to remove Tambussi in January, alleging he no longer lived in Camden County, the area he represented in his capacity as a Board of Governors member.
Contacted by NJ.com, Tambussi declined to comment on the judge’s order.
In addition to suing over residency, the AAUP chapter also demanded that Tambussi step down when news broke earlier this month that he had been indicted as part of a racketeering case brought by New Jersey’s attorney general against state Democratic power broker George Norcross.
Tambussi, who is described in the indictment as “the long-time personal attorney” to Norcross, is accused of being an “active participant in the Norcross Enterprise’s plot to use the City of Camden’s government to bring a condemnation action” against a developer whom Norcross and others are alleged to have extorted in a dispute over property and development rights in the city.
The Rutgers AAUP-AFT chapter celebrated the judge’s order in a social media post Thursday.
“We called for the removal of indicted lawyer Tambussi from Rutgers Board of Governors, and WE WON. Now it’s time for [Governor Phil Murphy] to appoint a new member of the BOG who not only lives in Camden, but will serve the people of Camden and the higher mission of the university,” the Rutgers AAUP-AFT chapter wrote in a post on X.
