Berkeley Striper Club is proud to nominate Senator Bob Smith for the JCAA Sportsperson of the Year. Senator Smith represents the 17th Legislative District and all the citizens of New Jersey. Having served in the New Jersey State Legislature since 1986, first as a State Assemblyman and in 2002 as State Senator, Bob Smith is considered one of the State’s leading environmental lawmakers. Currently, Senator Smith is the Chairman of the Senate Environment and Energy Committee and a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee as well as a member of the State House Commission.
As Chairman of the Senate Environment Committee, Senator Smith has ensured that legislation important to recreational fishing, hunting and environmental communities move efficiently through his committee and to the Senate. He works in a bipartisan manner and is more concerned with getting the job done than in gathering credit for himself or his party. When the Berkeley Striper Club or JCAA have asked his support in posting bills before his committee, he never asks which party is the sponsor. He asks the right questions to gather information about the impact of the legislation on all of the citizens of New Jersey. For the past 3 sessions he has moved the Pots Off the Reef Bill through his committee and onto the Senate for a vote. For 4 sessions he has done the same for Hooked on Fishing Not on Drugs legislation. Along with Assemblyman John McKeon, he brings the Senate and Assembly Environment Committees to the shore for hearings on important shore-based issues. He also will bring together people with diverse perspectives to find ways to address environmental issues. He has done that for Barnegat Bay, on forestry issues and fertilizer concerns.
Senator Smith’s legislative accomplishments include the Highlands Preservation Act, Site Remediation Reform (LSRP), Barnegat Bay cleanup, including the most stringent fertilizer law in the United States, the Recycling Enhancement Act, Electronic Waste Management Act, the most recent $400 million Green Acres Initiative (approved by New Jersey voters in 2009) and a host of legislation stimulating solar and alternative energy in New Jersey.
Senator Bob Smith is a uniquely qualified legislator. Prior to becoming an attorney in private practice, Senator Smith was a Professor of Chemistry and Environmental Science at Middlesex County College. He holds Master’s degrees in Chemistry from the University of Scranton and Environmental Science from Rutgers University, as well as a J.D. in law from Seton Hall University.
He and his wife Ellen live and work in Piscataway Township. They are parents to two grown daughters and are proud grandparents of seven grandchildren. Senator Smith owns a home at the shore and is now teaching his grandchildren to be stewards of the environment through fishing and other outdoor activities.
We all spend a good deal of time complaining about gridlock and partisan politics. It is refreshing and reaffirms our faith in the political process to find someone of the caliber of Senator Smith. Berkeley Striper Club is proud to nominate Senator Bob Smith as JCAA Sportsperson of the Year.
