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BY TOM HESTER SR.
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
UPDATED
Gov-elect Chris Christie Tuesday named former Jersey City mayor and Republican gubernatorial candidate Bret Schundler as commissioner of the Department of Education and Bob Martin, a retired consultant and a campaign advisor, as commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection.
Christie described Schundler and Martin as experienced and innovative leaders who will execute his vision on education and environmental protection.
"Education and our environment are critical to our state's well-being and economic future,'' Christie said in Trenton. "It's time to change the way we approach these fundamental issues and I am confident that with Bret and Bob's strong credentials and innovative ideas, we will be able to enact meaningful change."
Schundler is presently chief operating officer at King's College, a Christian liberal arts school in New York City. He lost a bid for the governor's office to Gov. James E. McGreevey in 2001.Martin is a retired partner with Accenture, a global management consulting, technology services, and outsourcing firm. He advised Christie on environmental matters during his campaign for governor.
Schundler and Martin are expected to play important roles in the Christie administration. Christie has pledged to improve urban schools, encourage charter schools, take on the teachers' union and confront environmental issues.
Martin's appointment drew comment from Jeff Tittel, director of the Sierra Club of New Jersey.
Tittel said Martin does not have any experience in environmental matters but described him as "a very bright and dynamic individual with a strong background in management and a real commitment to clean energy.''
"We know Bob Martin has a strong commitment to management and information technology but we don't know where he stands on the critical environmental issues." Tittel said. "Issues like conserving open space, protecting waterways, fixing parks, preventing sprawl, cleaning toxic sites, improving public transportation, encouraging urban redevelopment, and protecting public health and safety."
Tittel said that when Martin appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for confirmation, Sierra Club members will be interested to learn where he stands on the important issues facing New Jersey's environment and the public health of residents.
"His experience in management and information technology will be of particular value as the DEP faces budget cuts and a lack of staffing,'' Tittel said. "The Sierra Club is concerned that coming from the business community, Martin may have preconceived notions about the Department of Environmental Protection, and environmental laws and regulation. Streamlining DEP and making it more efficient does not mean weakening environmental protections or ignoring environmental law, we look forward to see where Martin stands."
Tittel concluded, "Chris Christie has made some strong commitments to environmental protections, we look forward to seeing how Martin will carry those issues forward."
Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce (R-Morris) has praise for the selection of Martin and Schundler.
"Bob Martin's diverse background and wealth of experience makes him an excellent candidate to serve as commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection,'' DeCroce said. "His understanding of the issues from both the public and private perspective will ensure that all voices are heard. Bob is a person of high character and someone who has the ability to deal with the challenges of protecting New Jersey's natural resources and ensuring that DEP is responsive to the needs of our residents and business community.''
DeCroce added that "Bret Schundler's experience as mayor of Jersey City gives him a keen understanding of the issues facing schools, students, teachers and administrators. He has proven experience in successfully managing one of New Jersey's largest cities. Bret understands the issues facing public education in our state. He has always expressed his ideas on how to improve the system, and will listen to all points of view. He is someone who will bring a high level of energy and enthusiasm to the department and will work tirelessly to improve New Jersey schools."
Prior to becoming King's College CEO, Schundler served at the college as an adjunct professor of public policy and was the managing partner of People Power America, which licenses TeamVolunteer, an online utility used by political campaigns and non-profit organizations.
At age of 33, Schundler became the first Republican since World War I to be elected the mayor of Jersey City, a city that is only 6 percent Republican. In 1993, he was re-elected with 69 percent of the vote, the largest margin of victory for a mayor in that city's history. In 1997, he was re-elected in another landslide to become Jersey City's longest serving mayor in 50 years.
Nationally, Schundler is also known as a promoter of ethnic and religious toleration. He was honored by the National Conference of Black Mayors for having one of the best programs in the country for promoting racial brotherhood. And he was awarded the prestigious Canterbury Medal for Religious Liberty after he won a U.S. Federal Court of Appeals decision that protects religious expression in public.
Schundler was born in Morristown and grew up in Woodbridge and Westfield. He was an All-State football lineman at Westfield High School, studied at the University of Haifa in Israel, and graduated with honors from Harvard University. Schundler and his wife Lynn have a daughter, Shaylin, and a son, Hans Otto III.
Martin retired in 2008 as a partner with over 25 years of experience with Accenture. Accenture is the largest business & technology consulting firm in the world, with over 140,000 employees worldwide.
While Martin has extensive experience consulting to numerous types of businesses and industries, most of his consulting work has been in the utility and energy industry. He has experience in all aspects of business and management consulting, including business strategy & planning, business transformation & re-engineering, IT strategy, systems implementation and change management. He also has extensive experience project managing large systems integration and business reengineering projects.
Martin also has international experience. He lived in England from 1991 to 1995 and worked with several large UK water and electric utilities as the companies privatized and the markets deregulated. He also spent extensive time working with utility and energy companies throughout Europe and Canada.
Martin ran unsuccessfully for state Senate from Mercer County in 2007. He currently serves as the chairman of the Finance Committee for the Mercer County Republican Committee. He has served as chairman of the Salvation Army Advisory Board of Greater New York, and currently serves on the Princeton Healthcare System Foundation Board.
Martin was a policy advisor to Christie and assisted him in shaping and drafting his energy and environmental policy. He has also advised several other U.S. Senate, Congressional and gubernatorial candidates in other elections in recent years, primarily in energy policy.
Martin has a degree in economics and sociology from Boston College and a masters in business administration from The George Washington University. Martin was born and raised in Massachusetts. He and his, Brenda, have lived in Hopewell Township for over 14 years. They have three children, Andrew, Sara and Caroline. Brenda Martin is a teacher at the Cambridge School in Pennington.
