RELEASE: February 17 , 2004

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Acting Commissioner Davy makes key appointments

Department of Human Services (DHS) Acting Commissioner James M. Davy has appointed several individuals to key positions on his Central Office staff.

Effective immediately, Joseph E. Ochs, of Scotch Plains, Union County, moves from DHS Director of the Office of Cooperative [Labor] Relations to the position of Chief of Staff. Ochs has extensive experience as a licensed professional counselor, working for the Professional Career Institute, Inc. in Princeton and the Clark Psychology Center in Clark, NJ. His managerial and business development experience in private industry had included Garden State Elevator Industries and The Rouse Company. During the 1970’s and 80’s, his human services experience included directing programs for the Bergen Supported Work Program in Hackensack, The Community Drug/Alcohol Program of Hudson County, and The Jersey City Mayor’s Council on Drug Abuse. Ochs earned his bachelor degree in humanities and master’s degree in counselor education from Seton Hall University. He also holds a certificate in conflict management from Rutgers and is certified as a mediator by the State of New Jersey, Administrative Office of the Courts.

Rolando Torres, of Lawrenceville, Mercer County, who served Davy as Deputy Chief of Management and Operations in the Governors Office, will assume the position of Special Deputy Commissioner for Legal, Policy and Legislative Affairs. Prior to working with Davy in the Governor’s Office, he served as Special Deputy Commissioner in the NJ Department of Banking and Insurance and was Vice President and Corporate Counsel at Prudential Insurance Co. From 1995 to 1999, Torres was Director of the Division on Civil Rights in the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety (DLPS). Prior to that he was Assistant Director - Enforcement for DLPS, Special Counsel for the New Jersey Department of the Public Advocate, and an assistant public defender in the Hudson Region. Torres earned his bachelor of arts degree from Herbert H. Lehman College, C.U.N.Y. in the Bronx and his juris doctorate from Rutgers University, School of Law in Newark.

L. Carole Dortch-Wright, of Perth Amboy, Middlesex County, who served as Deputy Director of Management and Operations for Davy in the Governor’s Office will join DHS as Assistant Commissioner for External Relations and Constituent Affairs. She has worked as an expert consultant/trainer for such clients as the 7,000 member Cathedral International in Perth Amboy and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, where she began a minority women’s health education initiative in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Marylnd which became the model for the FDA’s national program “Take Time to Care.” Her work in community development and communications has included managing Hope and Healing Services immediately following the 9-11 attack, as well as services acknowledging police, fire and emergency medical service personnel in Perth Amboy, Asbury Park and Plainfield. She holds a bachelor of arts degree from Jersey City State College and is certified in secondary education, training and development, as a behavioral analyst, facilitator, and trainer. She is also a recording artist, song writer and author.

Davy, of Pennington, Mercer County, 50, has been Chief of Management and Operations in the Office of the Governor since the start of the McGreevey Administration, responsible for the management and coordination of Cabinet and State government operations and instrumental in developing the Administration’s policy agenda. He recruited the most diverse Cabinet in New Jersey history, restructured the state’s school construction program and created the School Construction Corporation, directed labor negotiations, and coordinated State government’s response to heightened terrorism concerns.

He earned his master’s degree in Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University and his undergraduate degree at Thiel College in Pennsylvania. He has also taught as an Adjunct Professor in Seton Hall University’s Masters in Public Administration Program.

Prior to joining State government, Davy served as Business Administrator in Woodbridge Township for 10 years and held similar positions in South Brunswick, Hopewell and West Milford. During 2001, he was Chief of Operations for the McGreevey for Governor Campaign and later was Director of the Governor’s Transition Team.

A past President of the New Jersey Municipal Management Association, he also chaired the Governmental Affairs and Public Policy Committee for the International City Management Association and served on several committees for the New Jersey State League of Municipalities between 1978 and 2001. A native of Philadelphia, he lives in Pennington with his wife Lucille and two sons.

Burlington County residents will fill three key secretarial positions for the new Commissioner. Ileana Sconza, of Chesterfield, is Davy’s new Executive Secretary; Coryndi Scott, of Willingboro, is the Commissioner’s Secretary; and Vanessa Graham, of Burlington Township, who formerly worked at the Board of Public Utilities in Newark, joins DHS as a secretary in the Commissioner’s Office. All three have moved over from the Governor’s Office.

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