Two nominations for state office Gov.-elect Chris Christie made Wednesday may signal his priorities on education and the environment.
Christie's choice to head the Department of Environmental Protection, Robert Martin, of Hopewell Township, is a Republican donor and retired consultant who has a summer home in Avalon.
He is a former partner at the publicly traded consulting firm Accenture, where he worked in energy and utility consulting. In November, Christie appointed Martin to his transition team to cover those two issues. He was nominated Wednesday to take the job held by acting Commissioner Mark N. Mauriello.
To some environmentalists, Christie's DEP pick, Martin, is a virtual unknown."We don't know where he stands on a lot of issues," said Jeff Tittel, spokesman for the Sierra Club.
"We want to see where he stands on protecting clean water, beaches, cleaning up toxic sites, sprawl and open space. There is a lot to learn."
Tittel said Martin has experience with clean-energy issues that New Jersey will face in trying to accomplish its goal of providing 20 percent renewable energy by 2020.
"He has a strong management background in information technology. From a management standpoint, he'll be a very good commissioner," Tittel said.
Martin made an unsuccessful bid for state Senate in 2007 in Mercer County's 15th Legislative District.
He could not be reached for comment Wednesday at his home outside Princeton.
In the past decade, he has been a regular political contributor, donating thousands of dollars to Republican candidates, county parties and the Republican State Committee.
Last fall, he donated $3,400 to Christie's campaign.
He also donated $2,000 to Republican Doug Forrester's 2005 unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign against Gov. Jon S. Corzine and another $2,600 to help former Assemblyman Bill Baroni, R-Mercer, win re-election that year.
He made $1,000 donations to the Cape May County Republican Organization in 2003 and 2004.
'A man of enormousability and talent'
"He's a man of enormous ability and talent," Cape May County Republican Party Chairman David Von Savage said.
Von Savage said Martin would approach New Jersey's environmental regulations with an appreciation for how they affect individuals and businesses.
"I think he understands how stifling and onerous it is for the private sector to get approval for any project," Von Savage said. "I'm not talking about the Pinelands, either. I'm talking about the DEP's refusal to grant a permit … to install a bulkhead along the Delaware Bay shoreline to keep a house from falling into the bay, which is outrageous and shows how out of touch the tenured DEP bureaucrats have become."
Martin was appointed last year to an advisory committee for the nonpartisan Reform Institute, a public-policy group that U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., founded.
Martin and his wife, Brenda, own a summer home assessed at $2.1 million on 17th Street in Avalon.
Avalon waged a successful battle against the DEP last year over the agency's insistence that municipalities install public bathrooms and allow 24-hour access to beaches replenished with state money.
Avalon Mayor Martin Pagliughi declined to comment Wednesday on Martin's nomination.
"But I don't think I'll have to worry about putting in public restrooms every half mile. You can put that in there," Pagliughi joked.
The nominations must be confirmed by the state Senate.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Contact Michael Miller:
609-272-7247
Posted in New_jersey on Thursday, January 14, 2010 2:20 am
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