Corzine’s New Chief of Staff

New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine last week announced that Department of Environmental Protection commissioner Lisa Jackson will replace Bradley Abelow as the governor’s chief of staff.

Jackson will begin her post Dec. 1 and push forward the administration’s economic and energy agendas. There has been speculation for months that Abelow, a Goldman, Sachs & Co. alumni and the state’s former treasurer, was planning on leaving the Corzine administration.

Abelow has been serving as chief of staff since August 2007 and said his immediate plans are to spend more time with his wife and children. He has yet to decide on his next position, but said that he would help the governor on an informal basis when needed.

“I’m not at the point where I can with any certainty tell you where I’m going to end up, but what I found over time is that what’s important is to be in positions that are challenging and that I learn from and have something to contribute,” Abelow said in a phone interview. “It’s going to be hard to find something, I think, that has the same rewards that working in government has, so we’ll see.”

As of now, a return to Goldman Sachs seems unlikely.

“They haven’t called, and — at least if I believe what I read in the papers — they seem to be not hiring at the moment,” Abelow said.

Corzine, a Democrat, appointed Jackson, who has 20 years of public service experience, as DEP commissioner in 2006. She also has worked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Jackson has a master’s degree from Princeton University and a bachelor’s degree from Tulane University.

“As head of the Department of Environmental Protection, commissioner Jackson has tackled some of the most serious environmental challenges ever faced in New Jersey, from global climate change to alternative energy,” Corzine said in a press release. “Lisa’s leadership, work ethic, and skills at handling complex issues make her a perfect fit to manage the day-to-day operations of the governor’s office.”

The appointment received immediate support from General Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts. “Simply put, Lisa Jackson is a superb pick,” he said.

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