NJ’s Senate Environment Chair Announces Formation of Forest Stewarship Task Force

From The NJ Senate Democrats

Trenton – Senator Bob Smith has announced the formation of the Forest Stewardship Task Force.

“Forests are critical to the environmental welfare of our State,” said Senator Smith (D Middlesex/Somerset), Chair of the Senate Environment and Energy Committee.

“They can play a major role in mitigating climate change by sequestering carbon dioxide; providing habitats for endangered wildlife; helping clean and protect drinking water sources; and stabilizing soils.  Proper management of forests is also necessary for preventing wildfires which are becoming more frequent and intense.”

The purpose of the task force, Smith said, will be to study and identify ways in which the State can best manage its forests in order to fight climate change, prevent forest fires, improve ecosystems, and protect soil and water quality, among other things. The task force will take feedback from interested parties and then compile a report on consensus and non-consensus issues with respect to forest stewardship for submission to the Committee.

Related: Fire Service Commences Annual Prescribed Burning Efforts

“For decades, we have been debating what proper management of the State’s forests should look like, and what the State’s policies for forest stewardship should be,” said Senator Smith. “We’ve assembled this task force in order to identify and debate the major issues and ultimately develop consensus solutions which could form the basis for future legislation.”

The task force will be led by the following four co-chairs:

  • Eileen Murphy, Vice President of Government Relations, NJ Audubon
  • Andy Bennett, Board Member, NJ Forestry Association
  • Tom Gilbert, Co-Executive Director, NJ Conservation Foundation
  • Anjuli Ramos, Chapter Director, NJ Sierra Club

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Three electric energy bills advancing in the New Jersey Senate


From the New Jersey Senate Democrats

The Senate Economic Growth Committee today advanced legislation sponsored by Senator Troy Singleton that would address energy resource distribution and installation through the Board of Public Utilities (BPU).

“Energy reliability and efficiency are the goals of these proposals,” said Senator Singleton (D-Burlington). “By implementing advanced smart meter technology and by updating antiquated electric utility infrastructure in our communities, we can better protect New Jerseyans from power outages during storms and other inclement weather. In addition, expanding clean and renewable energy within the state using microgrids and other infrastructure will help with long term sustainable efficiency.”

The first bill, S-339, would require an electric public utility to file an updated plan with the BPU for the procurement and installation of smart meter infrastructure, to measure and record electricity usage data, at a customers’ premises.

The second bill, S-341, would require the BPU to adopt rules and regulations requiring an electric public utility to establish a timeline for the replacement of the utility’s backyard distribution equipment within the portion of a residential property.

The final bill, S-787, would require the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and the BPU to develop a request for a proposal to determine the eligibility for the establishment of microgrids in six regionally diverse locations throughout the state. The microgrids are to be used to power medium and heavy-duty electric vehicles.

The bills were voted out of committee by a vote of (5-0), (5-0). and (5-0), respectively.

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Robert E. Mulcahy, New Jersey icon, dies at 85

Robert E. Mulcahy III

Ex-Byrne chief of staff ran Meadowlands, Rutgers Athletic department

By David Wildstein, New Jersey Globe

Robert E. Mulcahy III, a former Mendham mayor who became one of the most powerful political insiders of his generation as the chief of staff to Gov. Brendan Byrne, died on February 8.  He was 85.

He served as the president and CEO of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority for 19 years and as the Rutgers University Athletics Director for a decade.  In his later years, Mulcahy was the chairman of the New Jersey Casino Reinvestment Development Authority.

Mulcahy was the top gubernatorial aide to use the title of chief of staff when he assumed the post at the start of Byrne’s second term in 1978.  Before that, the job title was typically executive secretary to the governor.

He came from a political family: his father, Robert E. Mulcahy, Jr., was a Millburn school board member who was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for State Assembly in 1938.

At age 27, Mulcahy became a candidate for the Mendham Borough Council in 1963.   At the time, Mendham was all-Republican and Mulcahy was the lone Democratic candidate against incumbents Andrew Fletcher and Francis Hewens.   Mulcahy defeated Hewens.

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In 1969, he won a three-way seat for Democratic state committeeman.  Mulcahy also served as the Morris County chairman for former Gov. Robert Meyner’s unsuccessful bid to return for a third term, and on the County College of Morris Board of Trustees from 1966 to 1970.

Mulcahy endorsed Assemblywoman Ann Klein (D-Morris Township) for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 1973.  After the primary, Mulcahy took an active role in Byrne’s campaign against Republican Charles Sandman.

He resigned as mayor in 1974 to join the Byrne administration as deputy commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Institutions and Agencies, now known as Human Services.  Byrne had named Klein, who gave up her Assembly seat to run for governor, as commissioner.

Byrne later assigned Mulcahy to take an active leadership role at the Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) as the governor began to increasingly rely on him as a troubleshooter for his administration.

After the creation of a new state Department of Corrections to run the prison system – the role had formerly been part of Institutions and Agencies, Mulcahy was nominated as the first commissioner.  At age 40, he became the youngest member of the cabinet.

Byrne was re-elected to a second term after tough primary and general election battles.  His top aide, former Parsippany Mayor Henry Luther III, had left to run the re-election campaign, and after a brief return to state government, he decided to return to his law practice.

Just before Christmas 1977, Byrne announced that his chief counsel, John Degnan, would become attorney general and that Mulcahy would be chief of staff.

In 1979, Mulchay left the Byrne administration to take over the Sports Authority.  He succeeded Robert Harter at a time when the Meadowland Arena (it was the Brendan Byrne arena for a while until Gov. Christine Todd Whitman approved a sale of the naming rights to Continental Airlines) and the Pegasus Racetrack were under construction.

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O’Toole wins 6th term as chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

Gov. Phil Murphy, left, with Kevin O’Toole, the chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

Former N.J. senator continues control of bi-state agency

By David Wildstein, New Jersey Globs

Kevin J. O’Toole was unanimously re-elected to a 6th term as chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on Thursday.

O’Toole, a former Republican state senator originally named to the bi-state post by Gov. Chris Christie, has outmaneuvered any hope of replacing him over the last four years through close relationships with his former colleagues on the Democratic side.

The agency also retained Rick Cotton as executive director.  Cotton was a longtime ally of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, but his successor, Gov. Kathy Hochul, announced her intention to keep him on at a dinner celebrating the Port Authority’s centennial at Cipriani last fall.

One New Jersey seat on the Board of Commissioners has been vacant since September when Raymond Pocino announced his retirement after 19 years in office.  One of the most influential union officials in the state, Pocino is the eastern regional manager and vice president of the Laborers’ International Union of North America.

There has been speculation since last fall that Elizabeth Mayor Christian Bollwage is under consideration for that seat.  Union County is the only county with a major Port Authority facility that has no representation on the board.

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NJ Senator Dick Codey objects to the new configuration of 27th district

Senator Richard J. Codey. (Photo: Kevin Sanders for the New Jersey Globe).

Essex senator argues that ditching Morris County towns does a disservice to county residents

By Joey Fox, New Jersey Globe

State Sen. and former Gov. Richard Codey (D-Roseland) released written testimony today expressing his disapproval of the newly proposed 27th legislative district, which sheds the current district’s Morris County portions and incorporates Irvington and Hillside on both parties’ proposed maps. 

“Under the proposed maps, all the Morris County municipalities would be removed from the 27th,” Codey wrote. “I believe this would be a loss not only for the voters in these areas but also across the county. In the current configuration, my district mates and I are the only Democratic representatives in a county where Democratic registration has grown significantly over the course of the last decade.”

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Codey added that the district could be redrawn to include other western Essex County towns like Cedar Grove, Verona, and the Caldwells, which are currently spread across the 26th and 40th legislative districts. Doing so would “bring together a community of interest, that being western Essex,” Codey wrote.

Notably, the towns that Codey advocates for including are all majority-white, much like the current 27th district, while Irvington and Hillside are both majority-Black and would give the district a Black plurality.

Even in a majority-minority district, Codey likely would not have to worry about his own re-election; after all, the district he was first elected to in 1973 included Black-majority towns like East Orange. But Assemblyman John McKeon (D-West Orange), who is white, would no longer be the heir apparent for the Senate if Codey retires, and Irvington Democrats might begin to agitate for a seat of their own in the legislature.

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