Paul Moriarty

:"For the Welsh rugby footballer of the same name, see Paul Moriarty (rugby)"Paul Moriarty (b. September 25 1956, Salem, Massachusetts) is an American Democratic Party politician, who serves in the New Jersey General Assembly where he represents the 4th legislative district, having taken office on January 10 2006. Moriarty was elected to the Assembly on November 8 2005, filling the seat of fellow Democrat Robert J. Smith II, who did not run for re-election and had held the seat in the Assembly since 2000.

In the Assembly, Moriarty serves on the Consumer Affairs Committee (as Vice-Chair), the Education Committee and the Tourism and Gaming Committee. [http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/members/BIO.asp?Leg=250 Assemblyman Moriarty's legislative web page] , New Jersey Legislature. Accessed March 14, 2008.]

Biography

Running on a platform of open government, property tax relief, and the elimination of waste and inefficiency, Moriarty was elected Mayor of Washington Township, representing 25% of the voters in the 4th district, with overwhelming, bipartisan support. He garnered 60% of the vote in a hotly contested four-way race.

Moriarty worked as an investigative journalist at KYW-CBS-3 for 17 years protecting consumer rights and investigating unscrupulous or unethical businesses. Before KYW-CBS 3, Moriarty was a news producer at WCAU-TV.

Moriarty's has earned over 30 Emmy Awards, honors from the National Press Association, the Associated Press and the Radio-Television News Directors Association. He was a member of American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) for 20 years while working as a journalist. He served six years as a shop steward, and is a strong believer in the collective bargaining process.

In Trenton, Moriarty has stated that he plans to fight to protect property tax rebates, restore fiscal accountability through comprehensive department-by-department audits and ensure that children are getting the best quality public education.

Moriarty received a B.A. from Temple University in Communications.

He has been a resident of Washington Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey since 1996. Paul and his wife Lisa have a daughter, Meghan.

Controversies

On June 1 2006, Assemblyman Moriarty, along with State Senator Stephen M. Sweeney (D, 3rd legislative district) and fellow Assembly Democrat Jerry Green (D, 22nd legislative district), held a press conference to announce their support for significant cuts (on the order of 15%) to New Jersey state worker salaries and benefits. This effort was proposed to avoid a one-point increase in the state's sales tax designed to cover a multi-billion dollar gap in the state's budget. Significant negative reaction from the state's labor unions resulted primarily because of Sweeney's position as an Ironworkers business agent and treasurer from Gloucester County for Ironworker's Local 399, and also due to his position as the chairman of the Senate Labor committee which controls most labor-related bills, but also because of Moriarty's history as an AFTRA shop steward and stated support of the collective bargaining process. Moriarty's call to impose cuts on state workers in the third year of a four-year contract gave the appearance of a 180° shift, wherein he was now advocating breaking the existing contract negotiated through the collective bargaining process. [Volpe, Gregory J. [http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_docid=11225CE458276920&p_docnum=23&p_queryname=NaN&p_product=NewsBank&p_theme=aggregated4&p_nbid=A52J52PJMTE4NTg0NzQ0OS4yODY4NjU6MTo3OnJhLTE4ODg "Lawmakers urge cuts for state workers"] , "Asbury Park Press", June 2, 2006. Accessed August 8, 2007. "Sen. Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, and Assemblymen Jerry Green, D-Union, and Paul Moriarty, D-Gloucester, unleashed a series of proposals Thursday to curb spending on state workers, which sparked immediate outcry from labor groups."]

After forming a recall committee, on June 9 2006, a Washington Township resident filed a petition to recall Mayor Moriarty. As of July 6 2006, the Petition form for the recall of Mayor Moriarty was approved by the Municipal Clerk. [ [http://www.recallmoriarty.com website to recall Mayor Moriarty] , accessed August 1 2006.] This effort was ultimately unsuccessful, failing to attract the approximate number of 8,000 signatures needed for recall. [Nguyen, Anna. [http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_docid=115FA7B10FEC08D8&p_docnum=3&p_queryname=NaN&p_product=NewsBank&p_theme=aggregated4&p_nbid=A52J52PJMTE4NTg0NzQ0OS4yODY4NjU6MTo3OnJhLTE4ODg "Wash. Twp. mayor: I'm walking the walk"] , "Courier-Post", December 9 2006. Accessed August 8, 2007. "'If he can sit in his office, he can sit with the council to answer questions from residents', said Mordente, who launched an unsuccessful bid to recall Moriarty that ended in November."]

District 4

Each of the forty districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the New Jersey General Assembly. The other representatives from the 4th District for the 2008-2009 Legislative Session are:
*Senator Fred H. Madden, and
*Assemblywoman Sandra Love

References

External links

* [http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/members/BIO.asp?Leg=250 Assemblyman Moriarty's legislative web page] , New Jersey Legislature
*"New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms"
** [http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/ethics/FinancialDisclosure/MoriartyP2007.pdf 2007] [http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/ethics/FinancialDisclosure/MoriartyP2006.pdf 2006] [http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/ethics/FinancialDisclosure/MoriartyP2005.pdf 2005]
* [http://www.MaddenMayerMoriarty.com/ Madden, Mayer and Moriarty legislative website]
* [http://votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=58078 Assembly Member Paul D. Moriarty] , Project Vote Smart
* [http://www.districtfourdems.com/ Moriarty and Mayer Assembly campaign website]
* [http://www.stopspendingmymoney.com/ Initiatives to Curb Excessive State Employee Compensation]
* [http://www.recallmoriarty.com Steve Mordente's website to recall Mayor Moriarty]