"I was proud to be a part of the Department's first 50 yrs when it was in it's infancy and assisting the municipalities throughout the State. It began as a ragtag group of programs and grew into one cohesive unit. I wish the Department all the best as it begins it's journey into the next 50 years."
- George Hampton, Deputy Director, Administration

 

"Congratulations to DCA on 50 great years of service to the communities of New Jersey!"    
- Paul McEvily, Executive Director, Interfaith Neighbors

 

"A GREAT occasion to celebrate! I worked for the Department for 31 years from 1970 to 2001 and it was a rewarding experience working with municipal governments, officials and the public. I could not have had a better career. I owe that to William M Connolly."
- Charles F. Tarr, Bureau Chief, Bureau of Codes Sevices, Division of Codes and Standards

 

Congratulations to DCA, the staff and Commissioner Richman on celebrating 50 years of focusing on the needs of local communities.  And thank you for the invitation to attend your celebration.  Hearing the history of the Department and the recollections of your predecessors immediately gave me pause to consider all that DCA has been involved in.
Thank you again and best of luck as you start the second half of the first century of the Department of Community Affairs.
- Michael J. Darcy, CAE, Executive Director, New Jersey State League of Municipalities

 

“NJ DCA has a special place in my heart/memory, even though I only worked in the Department for four years under Commissioner Jane Kenny from 1999-2002.
When I first came to state government in 1987, Gene Schneider, Budd Chavooshian, and Dick Ginman “adopted” me. They wanted to make certain that the State Plan would maintain continuity with the work that they had done in developing the  State Development Guide Plan by the Division of State and Regional Planning within the NJ DCA.  They learned a bit about progress on the State Plan from me, but I benefited disproportionately from the stories they shared with me about the groundbreaking work that they had done with respect to the establishment of NJ DCA; the 701 municipal workable plans; the Pinelands; the Hackensack Meadowlands; social unrest in Newark and Plainfield; and the earlier iterations of state plans during that period. They revered Paul Ylvisaker and shared stories about the first NJ DCA Commissioner with me as well.
Those guys became very special to me; I came to understand the importance of NJ DCA to each of them.”
- Martin Bierbaum, Office of State Planning

 

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If you would like to submit a testimonial for DCA's 50th Anniversary, please send email to Tammori Petty