The Pinelands Commission is comprised of 15 Commissioners - 7 appointed by the Governor of New Jersey; one appointed by each of the seven Pinelands counties; and one appointed by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior. The gubernatorial appointees are subject to the review and consent of the NJ Senate. Members of the Commission serve staggered three-year terms and are uncompensated for their service. Commissioners devote significant personal time to their Pinelands duties. The full Commission meets monthly. Additionally, like many legislative bodies, the Commission is divided into various committees, which also meet monthly. Members typically serve on two committees each. There are also regular public meetings ranging from public hearings on specific development projects and regulatory issues to forums and panel discussions on topical issues. Each of these responsibilities may require many hours of review and preparation, meetings with other agencies and stakeholders and consultation with Pinelands staff. To follow are brief biographical sketches of all of the Commissioners.
Norman Tomasello, Vice-Chairman -- Having served as the Camden County representative on the Commission since 1996, Mr. Tomasello is retired after 50 years of operating a 110‑acre fruit and vegetable farm in Winslow Township. Mr. Tomasello served as Mayor and Committeeman in Winslow for 15 years. There, he also served as Public Safety Director and on the township planning board. He is Chairman of the Camden County Agricultural Development Board, and is a member of the County Mosquito Control Commission. He served as president of the Camden County Board of Agriculture for ten years and as Chairman of the Gloucester and Camden County Farmers Home Administration. Mr. Tomasello is a member of the New Jersey Farm Bureau, on which he served as a past Director. He also is a founding member of the Elm Volunteer Fire Company No. 1.
Candace McKee Ashmun -- Ms. Ashmun has served as a member of the Pinelands Commission since its creation in 1979. She has also served on the State Planning Commission and as Executive Director and three‑term President of the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions. Ms. Ashmun is a trustee of the Coalition for Affordable Housing and the Environment and Vice President of the Board of the Fund for New Jersey. At the local level, she has served on the Bedminster Board of Education, Board of Adjustment and Environmental Commission, and served as Vice Chair of the Far Hills Planning Board. A private consultant to nonprofit organizations, Ms. Ashmun has received numerous awards, including the American Planning Association Distinguished Leadership Award.
William J. Brown -- Mr. Brown has represented Cape May County on the Commission since 1981. A licensed insurance agent, real estate broker and certified real estate appraiser, Mr. Brown is the president of the William J. Brown Agency, Inc., a real estate and insurance firm in Marmora. He is the former mayor of Upper Township and currently serves as a member of the community's planning board. Mr. Brown is past Director and President of 1st National Bank of Tuckahoe, and past member and President of the Cape May County Board of Taxation. A World War II Navy veteran, Mr. Brown is retired from 25 years of service as an Engineer at the Woodbine State School. He currently serves as Vice President of Jersey Cape Diagnostic Training and Opportunity Center.
Reverend Dr. Guy Campbell -- Dr. Campbell has been a member of the Commission since 2002. He has served as pastor of Evergreen Baptist Church in Palmyra since 1969, during which time the church membership has grown from 60 people to more than 400 families. He serves as the Fourth Vice-President of the National Baptist Convention and is a member of the Convention's Foreign Mission Board. Dr. Campbell serves as moderator of the Bethany Baptist Association of Southern New Jersey and is past President of the Baptist Ministers Conference of Philadelphia and Vicinity as well as the Baptist Pastors' Conference of Burlington County and Vicinity. In addition, the Reverend has held membership in a host of clerical organizations, including the Baptist Ministers Conference of Woodbury and Vicinity and the Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity. A native of South Carolina, Dr. Campbell received his B.A. degree from Trenton State College and a Masters of Divinity degree from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. The Virginia Seminary and College of Lynchburg conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters and the Morris College of South Carolina conferred up him the Doctor of Divinity degree.
Leslie M. Ficcaglia -- Representing Cumberland County since 1996, Ms. Ficcaglia served as a member of the Maurice River Township Planning Board for almost twenty years, including seven as Chair. She was Vice‑Chair of the Cumberland County Planning Board until 2007, and is currently a member of the County Tourism Council, trustee of the Citizens United to Protect the Maurice River and its Tributaries, and sits on the Delaware Bayshores Advisory Council of The Nature Conservancy. Mrs. Ficcaglia is a past trustee for the Association of NJ Environmental Commissions and heads her township's environmental committee. She also received the 2003 federal Environmental Protection Agency's Region 2 Environmental Quality Award for Individuals for contributions to the protection of natural resources in the Southern New Jersey Delaware Bayshores Region and Pinelands Reserve. A professional portrait artist and retired psychologist, she was active in the City of Millville's downtown revitalization project. There, she was the founding chair on the board of the Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts. She has a bachelor's degree from New York University and a master's degree from Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington.
Paul E. Galletta -- A lifelong resident of Hammonton, Mr. Galletta began serving as Atlantic County's representative on the Pinelands Commission in April 2007. Mr. Galletta is the owner and director of the Atlantic Blueberry Company, the largest cultivated blueberry farm in the United States. He is a member of the Atlantic County Board of Agriculture, the New Jersey Beekeepers Advisory Board, the New Jersey Farm Bureau, the North American Blueberry Council, the U.S. High Bush Blueberry Council and the New Jersey Blueberry Advisory Council. He is also vice chairman of the Hammonton Parks and Recreation Commission. He organized, founded and chairs the Hammonton Lake Water Quality Committee, and he helped organize and is a current member of H.O.P.E. (Hammonton Organized for a Positive Environment). He is vice president of the Hammonton Italian Sons and Daughters' board of trustees. Mr. Galletta also coaches many youth sports programs in Hammonton.
John Haas -- Representing Ocean County on the Pinelands Commission since December 2005, Mr. Haas has served as the District Recycling Coordinator in Ocean County for the past 20 years. A resident of Seaside Park, Ocean County, Mr. Haas has worked in the Ocean County Department of Planning and Solid Waste Management for the past 25 years. He also has experience as a former member of the Borough Council, Board of Education and Planning Board in Seaside Park. Mr. Haas served on the steering committee of the ad hoc committee to preserve Cedar Creek and co-authored the committee's report. The report was instrumental in the effort that resulted in the preservation of the Cedar Creek watershed. In 2005, the Solid Waste Management Association of North America recognized Ocean County for having the best recycling program in North America. Mr. Haas holds a bachelors of science degree in biology from Monmouth University and a masters of arts degree in environmental education from Rowan University. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Association of New Jersey Recyclers.
Robert Jackson -- A resident of Middle Township in Cape May County, Robert Jackson joined the Commission as a gubernatorial appointee in June 2008. Mr. Jackson served as the Mayor of West Cape May from 2001-2005. He is currently the Legal Redress Chairman of the Cape May County National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and is the President of the Board of Cape Human Resources. In addition, he is a member of the New Jersey Natural Areas Council. An avid surf fisherman, Mr. Jackson has a background in marine environmental studies and is a former owner of a surf fishing center.
Daniel M. Kennedy -- Mr. Kennedy joined the Commission as Burlington County's representative in October 2007. He has served as the Coordinator of Burlington County's Farmland Preservation Program since 2004. Mr. Kennedy currently manages all facets of Burlington County's agriculture retention programs, including easement and fee simple transactions, as well as monitoring and promoting transfer-of-development rights programs and participation in the Pinelands Development Credit program. He holds a master's degree in City and Regional Planning from Rutgers University and a bachelor's degree in Environmental Science from the University of Delaware. He is a licensed New Jersey Professional Planner and is certified by the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP). Mr. Kennedy is a member of Bordentown City's Environmental Commission.
Stephen Lee -- First appointed to the Pinelands Commission in 1982, Mr. Lee is an effective voice for the Pinelands agricultural and land stewardship community. A partner in Lee Brothers, Inc., a 1,800‑acre cranberry and blueberry farm in the heart of the Pinelands, he also serves on the Board of Directors of Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. Mr. Lee served for 16 years on the Board of Trustees of Burlington County College, including seven years as Chair. He served as Chairman of the Burlington County Planning Board, as a member of the County Farmland Preservation Committee, and on the Pinelands Environmental Council, an agency which preceded the Pinelands Commission. Mr. Lee chaired a local farm credit bank and served as a founding chair of the parish pastoral council of the Holy Eucharist Catholic Church. He holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from Rutgers and served in the US Air Force and NJ Air National Guard, attaining the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
Judith Y. Link -- A resident of Hamilton Township in Atlantic County, Ms. Link joined the Commission as a gubernatorial appointee in July 2009. Link has owned and operated Young's Skating Center in Mays Landing since 1995, and she has served on the Hamilton Township Environmental Commission since 2000. During her tenure on the Environmental Commission, Link has analyzed and investigated development applications that were presented to the township's Planning Board to determine their environmental and ecological impacts. She holds a bachelor's of science degree in biology from Ursinus College and a master's of science in biology (entomology) from West Chester University. She taught biology at Wissahickon High School in Ambler, Pa., for 12 years.
Edward Lloyd -- Mr. Lloyd joined the Commission as a gubernatorial appointee in 2002. Possessing a strong background in New Jersey environmental law, Mr. Lloyd is Clinical Professor of Environmental Law at Columbia Law School. He previously served for 15 years as Director of the Rutgers University Environmental Law Clinic. Mr. Lloyd is General Counsel and past Executive Director of the New Jersey Public Interest Research Group. He has served on the New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on Environmental Litigation, and has testified before Congressional and legislative committees on issues including energy conservation, solar power, clean water standards and regulations, freedom of information, water supply planning and conservation, and solid waste. A graduate of Princeton University, Mr. Lloyd holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Wisconsin.
Robert W. McIntosh -- Mr. McIntosh is the appointee of the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, and he has served as a member of the Commission since 1995. Mr. McIntosh is the Associate Regional Director for Planning and Partnerships for the Northeast Region of the National Park Service. Prior to his current position, he served as General Superintendent of the Gateway National Recreation Area in New York and New Jersey, and as Regional Director of Heritage, Conservation and Recreation Services. In addition, he has held various National Park Service policy and management positions in Washington, Philadelphia, Albuquerque and San Francisco.
Francis A. Witt -- Francis Witt began serving as Gloucester County's representative on the Commission in February 2004. He is a Partner in the firm of Joseph F. McKernan Architects and Associates in Cherry Hill, where he also serves as Treasurer and Marketing Principal. A licensed Real Estate Agent for over 30 years, he has represented a host of US and international companies as a consultant. Mr. Witt has a long career in public service. He served for 16 years as Mayor of the Borough of National Park and, prior to that, served eight years on Borough Council. He is past Vice President of the New Jersey League of Municipalities and past President of the Gloucester County Mayors' Association. Mr. Witt served 15 years on the Board of the Gloucester County Utilities Authority, including as Director and Chairman, and on the board of the Gloucester County Solid Waste Council. Additionally, he is active in a number of civic, business, church and governmental organizations.
The Executive Director
John C. Stokes, Executive Director -- Mr. Stokes is responsible for managing the daily operations of the Pinelands Commission and its staff of 59. He reports to and advises the members of the Commission on all matters before them. One of the chief authors of the original Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP), Stokes started with the Commission in March 1980 as an Assistant Director and was instrumental in bringing 52 Pinelands municipalities into conformance with the CMP. Prior to joining the Commission, he served as Land and Water Conservation Fund Grant Program Director for the US Department of the Interior, Northeast Region. He first joined the Interior Department in 1972, serving in various policy and planning positions in Philadelphia and Washington, DC. In 1979 Mr. Stokes was awarded a National Intergovernmental Fellowship. He has served as chairman of his hometown planning board, as a member of the his town environmental commission, treasurer of the Camden County Council of Girl Scouts, assistant district administrator of the National Little League and member of the Haddon Avenue Transit Corridor Study Committee. Stokes holds a B.S. degree from North Carolina State University. He is a New Jersey Professional Planner and member of the American Institute of Certified Planners.
