Douglas Fisher

ROBERTS STATEMENT ON APPOINTMENT OF DOUG FISHER TO BE STATE'S AGRICULTURE SECRETARY

(TRENTON) -- Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts, Jr. (D-Camden) today released the following statement upon the appointment of Assemblyman Douglas Fisher (D-Cumberland) to be the new Secretary of Agriculture:

"New Jersey's farming community could not have chosen a more qualified and dedicated advocate than Doug Fisher to be Secretary of Agriculture."

Paul Reed, the Salem County Republican Chairman, would like to see his own county - the least populous in New Jersey - get some representation in the state legislature.  But even with Democratic Assemblyman Doug Fisher (D-Bridgeton) set to be nominated as Secretary of Agriculture, no local Republicans have stepped forward yet.

"We haven't had representation in Salem County for a long time, and we need representation up there," said Reed.  "I've asked around and don't have any.  It doesn't mean there won't be anybody who wants to step up between now and April.  I've been looking through the bushes, but I don't have any prospects at this time."

Salem County, with a population of about 65,000, is the only county in the state without a representative in the legislature, and has been since former Assembly Speaker Jack Collins, a Republican, retired in after the 2001 election.  It is located completely in the 3rd Legislative District along with parts of Gloucester and Cumberland Counties.  It makes up about 31 percent of the district's population to Gloucester's 48 percent and Cumberland's 21 percent.

"In my 28 years in the Senate, there was always a representative from Salem.  That's not to say that a representative wouldn't be acceptable from Cumberland - it certainly would have. It just worked out that's the way it was," said former state Sen. Raymond J. Zane, who lost reelection to Senate Majority Leader Stephen Sweeney (D-West Deptford) after switching parties in 2001.  "I don't think it would be a good idea for all three to be from Gloucester County."

Beth Timberman is unlikely to get promoted to the State Assembly because Democrats need her to run for re-election to the Salem County Board of Freeholders.

Beth Timberman is unlikely to get tapped for an open State Assembly seat because Democrats don't want to risk losing control of the Salem County Board of Freeholders in November, party insiders say.  Timberman and Jeffrey Hogan are expected to seek re-election this year.   Democrats have a 5-2 majority after Republican Dale Cross won the open seat of retiring Democratic Freeholder Charles Sullivan.  Republicans can win control if they could win two Freeholder seats in one of New Jersey's few politically competitive counties.

Timberman, whose late husband, Woodstown Councilman Nick Wulderk, was a highly regarded Democratic strategist before his untimely passing in 2004, is finishing her second term on the Freeholder Board.  She was the top vote getter in her 2006 re-election campaign, finishing about 3,000 votes ahead of Republican Freeholder Benjamin Simmermon, who lost his re-election bid to Hogan. 

H. Donald Stewart was 32-years-old when he won a State Assembly seat in 1971. He spent ten years representing southwestern New Jersey.

As third district Democrats begin the process of filling the soon to be vacant seat of Assemblyman Douglas Fisher (D-Bridgeton), there is no shortage of potential candidates for the rare opportunity of representing the southwestern corner of New Jersey in the State Assembly.  Since the district was created in 1973, only seven men have held the two seats.

The district includes all of Salem County and parts of Cumberland and Gloucester counties. Overall, 45% of the population comes from Gloucester, with 29% from Salem and 26% from Cumberland.  Salem is the only county in New Jersey that doesn't have a resident in the Legislature.

Gloucester has held the Senate seat and one Assembly seat since 1973.  The other Assembly seat was held by Salem from 1973 to 2001, when Fisher won an open seat.  For sixteen of the 36-year history of the third district, voters elected a Democratic Senator and two Republican Assemblymen.  For the other two decades, all three seats were held by Democrats.

Freshman legislators tend to be young - the average age of a freshman legislator from the third district is 40 (Fisher was the oldest man to enter the Legislature from this district when he won his first term in 2001).  Third district legislators tend to stay around for a while: the average tenure of service is ten years.

In 1973, State Sen. James Turner was convicted on charges that he to plant drugs in the home of Assemblyman Kenneth Gewertz.

New Jersey's third legislative district, which has included parts of Gloucester and Salem counties since it was created in 1973, has had the lowest turnover of any legislative district in the state: only two State Senators and just seven Assemblymen over the last 35 years.  The likely resignation of Assemblyman Douglas Fisher to become New Jersey's Secretary of Agriculture will trigger a special election convention fill a rare opening in the Assembly.

Democrat Raymond Zane, a Gloucester County Freeholder, won the seat in 1973 after a classic political feud between two Gloucester County legislators resulted in the criminal conviction of the incumbent.  Republican State Sen. James Turner was so determined to destroy the career of Democratic Assemblyman Kenneth Gewertz that he conspired to plant drugs in Gewertz's car and garage. But the tactic went bad after the police detective sensed that the tip he received from Turner might not be completely altruistic. An investigation led to Turner's arrest on charges that he hired three known criminals to plant a large amount of amphetamines in the Gewertz home. A jury convicted the 44-year-old Turner in less than two hours and he was sentenced to five years in prison. Turner was removed from the Senate after his conviction, but refused to drop his bid for re-election to a second term in 1973. Gloucester County Republicans withdrew their endorsement and ran Sheriff Walter Fish as a write-in candidate after a Superior Court Judge rebuffed their bid to remove him from the ballot. Zane was an easy winner, and the big surprise was the more than 20% of the voters supported Turner's return to the Legislature.   Gewertz, perhaps one of the most colorful men to ever serve in the New Jersey Legislature, was able to keep his seat until Democrats finally dumped him in 1979.

Zane held the Senate seat for 28 years before losing re-election in 2001 after he lost the backing of the Gloucester County Democratic organization and became as a Republican.  A feud between Zane and longtime Democratic County Chairman Michael Angelini began in 1999 when top members of the local Democratic organization became angered over Zane's refusal to back Democrat John Burzichelli, the Mayor of Paulsboro, in his campaign against GOP Assemblyman Jack Collins, the Speaker, and Gary Stuhltrager.

Phillip Alampi was the New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture from 1956 to 1982 -- the longest serving cabinet member in state history. His tenure spanned three Democratic Governors and two Republicans.

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. 

Assemblyman Nelson Albano (D-Vineland) is in line to succeed Douglas Fisher as Chairman of the Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.

The departure of Douglas Fisher from the Legislature will mean Speaker Joseph Roberts will need to appoint a new Chairman of the Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.  There's a good chance that Nelson Albano, a two-term Assemblyman from Vineland, will get the job.  Albano, one of a handful of Democrats from politically competitive districts, is expected to face a tough re-election campaign this year without the benefit of popular State Sen. Jefferson Van Drew (D-Dennis) at the top of the ticket. 

ASSEMBLY DEMOCRATS ON CHILD PROTECTION BILL PACKAGE

Measures Would Educate Parents, Reduce Poverty & Enhance Education

(TRENTON) - Assembly Democrats today issued a multimedia package on the Assembly passage of a three-bill package to enhance the quality of life of New Jersey's children.

The measures would require the state to give information about Shaken Baby Syndrome to new parents (A-725), create a council on child welfare and social services tasked with developing a statewide plan to reduce child poverty (A-1411) and create a task force to study and implement best practices for diagnosing, treating and educating students with reading disabilities.

Sources say that Assemblyman Douglas Fisher (D-Bridgeton) will be the state's new Secretary of Agriculture.

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.

ASSEMBLY APPROVES GREENWALD/FISHER BILL
TO EDUCATE PARENTS ON SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME

(TRENTON) -  The Assembly today voted 77-0 to approve legislation Assembly members Louis D. Greenwald and Douglas H. Fisher sponsored to require the state include information about Shaken Baby Syndrome to new parents.