ROBERTS APPOINTS BILL CASTNER AS MAJORITY OFFICE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

For Release:
January 4, 2006

ROBERTS APPOINTS BILL CASTNER
AS MAJORITY OFFICE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Martorony to Serve as Special Assistant to Roberts

(TRENTON) -- Assembly Majority Leader Joseph J. Roberts Jr. today announced the appointment of William J. Castner, Jr., Esq., as the new Executive Director for the Assembly Majority Office.
Roberts also announced that Gene Martorony, the current executive director for the Assembly Majority, will remain on staff and serve as Special Assistant to the Speaker.
Castner, 33, of Cherry Hill, joined the Majority Office staff in January 2002 and has overseen the office's policy and research operations. He served as General Counsel and Deputy Executive Director in the 2004-2005 legislative session.

"Bill Castner is a hard worker who has earned a tremendous reputation among our leadership team as well as the confidence of our respective members," said Roberts (D-Camden). "He is a consummate professional with a strong command of the issues, a firm understanding of the law, and a deep appreciation for the legislative process. I have every confidence that he will do an exemplary job on behalf of the entire caucus and the people of this state."

Castner's previous professional experience includes work as a fiscal analyst for the Office of Legislative Services, as a litigator for the Fair Share Housing Center where he represented the Camden County Branch of the NAACP, and as a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice James Zazzali and Appellate Division Judge Sylvia B. Pressler.

He graduated magna cum laude from Rowan University, received his law degree from Rutgers Law School in Camden, his master's from the Eagleton Institute of Politics, and completed graduate courses in public policy at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Roberts praised Martorony for raising the level of professionalism in the Majority Office under Speaker Albio Sires the past two years and credited him for playing a key role in helping to set a foundation that enabled Democrats to expand their Assembly Majority.

"Gene Martorony is a tremendous resource and we fully intend to use his wealth of managerial experience as much as possible," said Roberts.