Hearing on future of N.J. Sports and Exposition Authority's operations set for Trenton

NewJerseyNewsroom.com
March 2, 2010
By Tom Hester, Sr.

The New Jersey state Senate Legislative Oversight Committee Wednesday will meet to examine the future role of the state Sports and Exposition Authority and the use of its assets, in light of the changing sports and concert entertainment landscape in New Jersey.

The hearing is set for 10 a.m. in the Statehouse Annex in Trenton.

"The mission of this committee will be to explore the highest and best use for the Sports Authority and its assets moving forward," said Senate Majority Leader Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex), the Oversight Committee chairwoman. "In light of the global recession and our state's precarious financial situation, this issue demands our attention."

The hearing will include a number of panels to examine the overall fiscal operations of the authority, the agency's history and purpose, future operational plans, the concerns of local communities surrounding the entertainment facilities it manages, and the vision for future use of these properties.

Among those expected to take part in the panels are Dennis Robinson, the Sports Authority's president & CEO, Robert Ceberio, director of the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission; Oceanport Mayor Michael Mahon, Prof. James Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University; David Rosen, state Office of Legislative Services budget and finance officer, as well as commerce and labor representatives.