Charles Kuperus

New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas Fisher will join two Democratic legislators in a competitive re-election campaign during an appearance at the Rutherford Farmers Market next week. Assemblymen Frederick Scalera (D-Nutley) and Gary Schaer (D-Passaic) will join with Fisher to "highlight the availability of Jersey Fresh produce."

Fisher, a former four-term Democratic Assemblyman, becomes the first state agriculture official to boost legislators during an election season.  In the past, the state Secretary of Agriculture has largely stayed clear of partisan politics.  The Department of Agriculture has twelve years worth of press release available on their website; not reflect election year political activity by the Secretary.

There should be no real over reaction to this: it's not like the presence of the Cumberland County Democrat will influence pro-farming independents in Nutley and North Arlington.

Willard Allen, Philip Alampi, Arthur Brown and Charles Kuperus, the four Agriculture secretaries who have served since 1938, did not do campaign swings. In 2003, Kuperus, who was a Republican Freeholder from Sussex County, went on the campaign trail in support of Gov. James E. McGreevey's farmland preservation ballot referendum.  But Kuperus did not include legislators in his appearances.

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The resignation of Charles Kuperus as Secretary of Agriculture created an opportunity for Gladys Lugardo to become the first Hispanic to serve on the Bridgeton City Council. Kuperus was replaced by Assemblyman Douglas Fisher, creating an open seat that went to Bridgeton Council President Celeste Riley.  Lugardo, who lost a City Council bid in 2006 by just seven votes, replaced Riley on the Council.  Councilman Dennis Thompson was elected to succeed Riley as Council President.

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New Jersey has one of the most powerful governorships in the nation, but on agricultural issues, the Governor has relatively little clout - the result of a deal with South Jerseyans to gain political support for the ratification of the 1947 State Constitution.  As a result, the Governor has limited say on the appointment of one member of his or her cabinet, the Secretary of Agriculture, and even takes direction from an agricultural trade association on the appointments of policy-makers.  This is a throwback to the old days when state boards exercised considerable power, especially in the areas of health, education, the environment, and alcoholic beverage control.

The eight members of the New Jersey Board of Agriculture are elected by members of the agriculture community at the State Agricultural Convention.  By tradition, the Governor then appoints the choices of the convention to four-year terms on the Board, with the consent of the State Senate.  The Board sets policies that direct the Secretary of Agriculture and the New Jersey Department of Agriculture.  By law, the top four commodity groups in the state - based on a "two year average of the gross value of production," according to the department website - are entitled to seats on the Board.

The Board also nominates the Secretary of Agriculture (SOA), who becomes a cabinet member with the Governor's approval.  Unlike other cabinet posts, where the Commissioner runs the department, the SOA is essentially the secretary to the Board. 

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Assemblyman Douglas H. Fisher (D-Brigdeton) is expected to be nominated on Monday as New Jersey's new Secretary of Agriculture.  Sources say that the Chairman of the Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee is the choice of the state Board of Agriculture to replace Charles Kuperus, who stepped down in December at the request of the board.

If Fisher's appointment is approved by Gov. Jon Corzine, the District 3 Democratic County Committee will hold a special election convention to fill his Assembly seat.  Senate Majority Leader Stephen Sweeney (D-West Deptford), Fisher's running mate, declined to say who was being considered for the seat.

"There are some who are interested, but until we hear it from Doug, I’m not going to venture anyone’s name," Sweeney told PolitickerNJ.com.

Fisher, 61, was elected to the State Assembly in 2001 after serving nine years on the Cumberland County Board of Freeholders and three years as a Bridgeton City Councilman.  A former supermarket owner, he has been a real estate agent since 2000.

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New Jersey should have a new Secretary of Agriculture by the second week of February, according to a report in Today's Sunbeam, the Newhouse-owned daily newspaper in Salem County.  The cabinet post, which is chosen by the state Board of Agriculture with the approval of the Governor and State Senate, has been vacant since Charles Kuperus resigned at the end of last year.  Fourteen candidates were interviewed and five were selected as finalists, sources told PolitickerNJ.com.

According to sources, one of the candidates interviewed as Assemblyman Douglas Fisher, a four-term Cumberland County Democrat and Chairman of the Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.

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New Jersey has one of the most powerful governorships in the nation, but on agricultural issues, the Governor has relatively little clout - the result of a deal with South Jerseyans to gain political support for the ratification of the 1947 State Constitution.  As a result, the Governor has limited say on the appointment of one member of his or her cabinet, the Secretary of Agriculture, and even takes direction from an agricultural trade association on the appointments of policy-makers.  This is a throwback to the old days when state boards exercised considerable power, especially in the areas of health, education, the environment, and alcoholic beverage control.

The eight members of the New Jersey Board of Agriculture are elected by members of the agriculture community at the State Agricultural Convention.  By tradition, the Governor then appoints the choices of the convention to four-year terms on the Board, with the consent of the State Senate.  The Board sets policies that direct the Secretary of Agriculture and the New Jersey Department of Agriculture.  By law, the top four commodity groups in the state - based on a "two year average of the gross value of production," according to the department website - are entitled to seats on the Board.

The Board also nominates the Secretary of Agriculture (SOA), who becomes a cabinet member with the Governor's approval.  Unlike other cabinet posts, where the Commissioner runs the department, the SOA is essentially the secretary to the Board.

Read More >

As it examines who will succeed state Secretary of Agriculture Charles Kuperus, the New Jersey Board of Agriculture finds itself in the awkward position of trying to negotiate with a governor who last year considered scrapping the department in its current form.

In an effort to save cash, Gov. Jon Corzine wanted to subordinate Agriculture to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), a move universally condemned by stewards of New Jersey's 9,600 working farms, some of whom rumbled down West State Street in tractors of defiance.

The Secretary of Agriculture is the only cabinet appointment not made by the Governor.  The State Constitution gives the appointment power to the Board of Agriculture.  The Governor can that approve or veto their choice.

Having weathered the Highlands Act political war earlier in his career, and lately in a cliffhanger with his off-again, on-again department, Kuperus announced his resignation from overseeing the department's $9.3 million budget, effective at the end of this year.

He says he's not bitter at all, and points out in defense of Corzine that from the beginning he made the budgetary suggestion at the Statehouse, the governor was clear that he was only initiating a public conversation.

"Like anything with respect to public service, you have to be looking ahead," said Kuperus, a farmer, a former Sussex County freeholder and a Republican who was named to the post by Gov. James E. McGreevey after the 2001 election.   "The state has very significant issues. We happen to be a small agency, but one that touches every New Jerseyan's life. Even the Hudson County Board of Freeholders declared that they wanted the Department of Agriculture preserved, in part because we helped them when they had a longhorn beetle outbreak."

In the lead-up to his departure, the eight-member Board of Agriculture - made up of farmers and other agricultural industry reps - is set in the middle of this month to review between 12 and 20 applications from those who wish to be the new secretary, a job that pays $141,000 a year.

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FISHER: FARMERS LOSING GREAT ADVOCATE
WITH KUPERUS RESIGNATION

(BRIDGETON) - Assemblyman Douglas Fisher today lamented the decision by state Agriculture Secretary Charles Kuperus to leave his post at year's end, calling the departure a tremendous loss to New Jersey's farming community.

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Charles Kuperus is expected to resign his cabinet post as New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture.  A Republican, he was serving as a Sussex County Freeholder when Democrat James E. McGreevey appointed him after the 2001 gubernatorial election.  Kuperus is the lone Republican in Gov. Jon Corzine's cabinet, and since Corzine pledged during his 2005 campaign that he would make bi-partisan cabinet appointments, its possible that he'll pick a Republican for Secretary of Agricuture, or to replace Lisa Jackson at the Department of Environmental Protection.  

For the record, Corzine doesn't actually appoint the Secretary of Agriculture.  In New Jersey, Governors make recommendations to the State Board of Agriculture, who actually votes on the cabinet post.

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GOVERNOR AND AGRICULTURE SECRETARY JOIN NY JETS
TO ENCOURAGE HEALTHY EATING IN SCHOOLS

LODI

– Governor Jon S. Corzine today teamed up with Agriculture Secretary Charles M. Kuperus, New York Jets President Jay Cross and offensive tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson at Columbus Elementary School in Lodi to launch the Eat Right, Move More campaign. The campaign encourages Garden State students to eat the nutritious foods now being offered in schools throughout the state as part of a new school nutrition policy that focuses on healthier eating and more physical activity. Read More >