Commissioner
Department of Community AffairsJoseph V. Doria, Jr. was sworn in as Commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs on January 22, 2008 by Governor Jon S. Corzine. He has more than 30 years experience in state and local government, and had been serving as Acting Commissioner of the Department since October 9, 2007.
As Commissioner, Doria oversees the Divisions of Local Government Services, Codes & Standards, Community Resources, Housing and Fire Safety, as well as the Division on Women, the Office of Smart Growth and the Center for Hispanic Policy, Research & Development. He also chairs the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission, the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority, the New Jersey Housing & Mortgage Finance Agency and the Council on Affordable Housing.
Commissioner Doria has also overseen the Council on Affordable Housing’s (COAH) revision of its third round rules, which have established a need of 115,000 units of affordable housing through 2018, up from 52,000 in the previous rules. He has also convened a Housing Policy Task Force to create an open dialogue on the performance of the State’s policies that influence the availability and affordability of housing.
Prior to joining DCA, Doria served as Mayor of Bayonne for nine years and represented Hudson County in the State Senate. Before becoming a Senator in 2004, he served 12 consecutive terms in the New Jersey General Assembly, including 10 years as Minority Leader and two years as Assembly Speaker.
An educator by training and a true leader at heart, Doria began his career as a social studies teacher at Holy Family Academy in Bayonne before joining St. Peter's College as an administrator and adjunct faculty-member. He served as a trustee on the Bayonne Board of Education for four years, three of them as board president, and served as Hudson County Board of Education President from 1978 to 1979. He has taught college-level courses at St. Peter’s College and Rutgers University.Doria was born in Bayonne in 1946. He has a bachelor’s degree from St. Peter’s College, a master’s degree from Boston College and a doctorate in education from Columbia University’s Teacher’s College. He is a trustee of both St. Peter's College and Our Lady of the Assumption Parish in Bayonne.
Among his personal accomplishments, Doria and his wife Maribeth have been married since 1978. Together, they have one daughter - Margaret Mary - and live in Bayonne.
