N.J. Community Affairs chief Lori Grifa to step down

Lori Grifa will step down next month as commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, concluding a nearly two-year tenure that involved guiding towns on a new 2 percent cap on property-tax increases and overseeing changes in affordable-housing policies.

Grifa said Monday that she would return to the law firm Wolff & Samson, where David Samson, the former state attorney general for whom she was chief of staff in 2002 and 2003, is a founding member.

Taking her place is state Deputy Labor Commissioner Richard Constable, who served as a prosecutor with Gov. Christie when he was U.S. attorney and handled public corruption cases.

At the Labor Department, the Governor's Office said, Constable created a unit to prevent fraudulent unemployment-benefit payments.

The Community Affairs Department works closely with local governments on housing and finance issues and building codes, among other things.

Over the summer, Christie abolished the controversial Council on Affordable Housing, which oversees municipal affordable housing obligations, and shifted its responsibilities into the DCA.

At a news conference with Grifa and Christie, Constable stressed the need for the DCA to work with towns to stay within the 2 percent tax cap, which took effect in January, and curb large sick and vacation day payouts to public employees.

The governor said he did not anticipate many more changes in his cabinet before his term ends in 2013, after recently speaking with commissioners about who would stay for the next two years.

This month, Board of Public Utilities Commissioner Lee Solomon said he would resign. Health and Senior Services Commissioner Poonam Alaigh also left, attributing her decision in March to a family illness.