Lance questions Stender's committment to economic issues based on her absence from commission

In July, 2005, Acting Gov. Dick Codey appointed Assemblywoman Linda Stender to the New Jersey State Employment and Training Commission.

Since then, the commission has held 13 meetings at Rutgers University’s Piscataway campus -- 12 miles from Stender’s hometown of Fanwood.  Stender, who’s still a member of the commission, has not attended a single one of them. 

The position is unpaid, and other board members sometimes skipped meetings as well, although few as consistently as Stender.  But her opponent for the 7th Congressional District seat, State Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Flemington), argues that she didn’t do the job that was asked of her – especially in light of the nation’s economic crisis. 

“When elected officials commit to doing a job, they are expected to do it.  Clearly Assemblywoman Stender failed to show up and do the job asked of her,” he said.  “With our economy in crisis and unemployment rising, the work of the State Employment and Training Commission is more important that ever, so it’s extremely unfortunate that Linda Stender failed to attend a single Commission meeting.”

The commission describes itself as “’think tank’ for a developing new and innovative workforce investment policies that will further New Jersey’s agenda of sustaining a skilled workforce capable of meeting the demands of a 21st Century global economy.”  And its members and staffers insists that the commission does do important work. 

Verizon New Jersey President Dennis M. Bone, who just became the commission’s chairman this year, said that it’s tasked with overseeing how federal dollars that go into New Jersey’s workforce programs are spent.  On a state level, the commission comes up with the master plan for workforce policies.

He couldn’t speak to Stender’s involvement with the commission, since he only recently became chairman. 

“I think the only thing I can definitively say is that she did not attend the one meeting that I presided over,” he said.

But Henry Plotkin, the commission’s executive director, backed Stender up.  He said he remembers her attending at least some meetings, even though every record lists her as absent.  Nevertheless, he said, she did important work for the commission.

Plotkin said that, after the commission reviewed the process by which certain private colleges and trade schools were accepting unqualified students and their money in exchange for junk diplomas, Stender helped by authoring legislation in the Assembly against the practice.  The legislation was never made it to the floor.

“She was interested in the issues and did want to use her position as Assemblywoman to sort of move her agenda forward,” said Plotkin. 

Stender’s campaign responded that, even if Stender didn’t attend the commission’s meetings, her staff was in touch with it.

“Linda Stender has always had an exemplary attendance record in the Legislature and in all her committee assignments. Her staff always kept in close contact with the members of the State Employment and Training Commission and worked closely with Executive Director Henry Plotkin to address real problems such as students being ripped off by proprietary schools,” said Stender spokeswoman Irene Lin.  “This is a pathetic attempt by Leonard Lance to distract voters from the fact that the current economic meltdown now happening is a direct result of 8 years of George Bush's failed policies, which Lance fully supports and would continue in Washington. With job losses and 401ks disappearing, New Jerseyans know we need a new direction to fix our economic crisis and that only Linda Stender can bring the change we need.”