Leroy@1868PublicAffairs.com
LeRoy Jones joined 1868 Public Affairs after a distinguished career as a State Legislator, County Freeholder and municipal government administrator. He served four terms in the New Jersey General Assembly – including two years as Deputy Minority Leader – where he worked on the Appropriations, Regulatory Oversight, Solid Waste and Recycling, Financial Institutions and Local Government committees, as well as the Assembly Task Force on Foreign Banking and Task Force on Business Retention and Expansion. He also served on the State House Commission.
As a two-term Essex County Freeholder, Mr. Jones served as Chairman of the Budget Committee, on the Minority Affairs Committee, and on the Essex County Planning Board.
He served as the City Administrator of East Orange for seven years, where he was responsible for developing the city’s $100 million operating budget, served as the chief liaison between the Mayor and Council, and managed the city’s ten department heads.
He also served in various positions at PSE&G in his professional career, including Business Development Manager, Director of Workforce Diversity and Public Affairs Manager. Prior to that he worked for AT&T Corp. as a Senior Accounting Specialist, Assistant Manager for Corporate Taxes and Internal Auditor.
Mr. Jones is an experienced local, county and state-level public servant and a distinguished corporate executive. His record of developing and implementing strategic and operational corporate plans gives him unique insight into the day-to-day issues facing our corporate clients. His experience as a Freeholder and Assemblyman give him an unparalleled ability to represent the interests of our clients at all levels of government.
Mr. Jones was appointed by Assembly Speaker Shelia Oliver as a Commissioner of the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority in 2012.
He is currently the Chairman of Essex County Democratic Committee, a position to which he was elected to in 2013 and has been re-elected to since. He also serves as the Chairman of the East Orange Democratic Municipal Committee a position he’s held since 2002. Mr. Jones served as the Essex County Campaign Director for Governor Jon Corzine’s 2009 re-election campaign, where he helped lead Governor Corzine to one the largest Democratic vote pluralities in the history of New Jersey. He also served as Co-Campaign Chairman for Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, who won re-election to an unprecedented fifth term in November of 2018.
He served as an Adjunct Professor at Seton Hall University, teaching Public Policy. He has appeared on numerous public opinion television and radio talk shows and is a frequent expert contributor on Fox Network/ My 9 “New Jersey Now”.
Mr. Jones holds a Master’s Degree in Business Management from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from Seton Hall University.
LeRoy resides in East Orange with his wife Jackie and their children.
Pat@1868PublicAffairs.com
Patrick Torpey brings extensive experience in both politics and policy to 1868 Public Affairs. For more than 25 years Mr. Torpey has been an integral player in state- wide Republican politics. He has served both houses of New Jersey’s legislature as Executive Director of the Assembly Republican Majority Committee, a Senior Research Associate for the Senate Majority and a Senior Policy Advisor on the Assembly Republican staff.
Mr. Torpey has spent the last 20 years as a registered Government Affairs Agent in New Jersey and remains active in electoral politics. He has actively participated in both the legislative and congressional re-districting process in 2000 and 2010 and brings an in-depth knowledge of the make-up of the districts our legislators represent. Active in the political and fundraising efforts of the NJ GOP, he guided Congressman Leonard Lance to victory for the open seat in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District in 2008 and remained a key advisor to the Congressman for the next decade. He has been a member of Governor Christie’s finance team and Lt, Governor Kim Guadagno’s campaign for Governor. Patrick served as the Chairman of the Hunterdon County Republican Committee for six years and is currently the Committee’s First Vice Chair.
Mr. Torpey has been involved with lobbying the Legislature and Governor’s Office on many issues over the past 20 years. Whether efforts to pass the legislation establishing the New Jersey Energy Savings Improvement program, fighting for improvements in home health care, or engaging state departments in regulatory affairs, Patrick brings a results’ orientated approach to the table.
The unique combination of in-depth political and policy experience provides Patrick with an understanding of how public policy and real-world politics marry to affect the way decisions are made in New Jersey.
Mr. Torpey is a graduate of Middlebury College and received a master’s degree in Government Administration from the Fels School of Government at the University of Pennsylvania. He and his wife Nicole reside in Flemington with their son Liam.
Idida@1868PublicAffairs.com
Ms. Rodriguez joined 1868 Public Affairs after many years of collaboration with other members of the firm on a variety of political and public policy initiatives. She is a renowned and respected political strategist and experienced consultant with a concentration in grassroots and grasstops marketing, public relations, government relations and business development.
Ms. Rodriguez has played a key role in numerous high-profile Democratic campaigns at the federal, state and local levels. She served as an advisor on the 2006 campaign for U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, and as a consultant for Jon S. Corzine’s Statewide Hispanic Voter Program for his 2005 and 2009 gubernatorial campaigns.
In 2000, Ms. Rodriguez coordinated Passaic County’s Latino Base Vote for U.S. Senator Corzine’s campaign. She also served as Paterson’s GOTV coordinator for Congressman Bill Pascrell Jr. in 1998.
Ms. Rodriguez served as Assemblywoman Nellie Pou’s Chief of Staff from 1997 to 2003. She worked closely with the U.S. Census to increase citizen participation effort to avoid undercounting and ensure all communities received fair representation in the New Jersey Legislature during the last legislative redistricting process in 2001.
She was instrumental in building community capacity through numerous positions, including as Director of Paterson’s School-Based Youth Services, as instructor for the Pre-College Consortium Program at New Jersey Institute of Technology, and as Community Outreach Organizer for the Puerto Rican Association for Community Organization (PACO) in Jersey City.
Ms. Rodriguez is a member of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs’ Local Finance Board. She is a member of the Passaic Valley Water Commission’s Board of Commissioners, and previously held the position of board president. She also serves on the Paterson Parking Authority’s Board of Commissioners. Additionally, she sits on the board of the Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey. She previously served on the boards of the New Jersey Real Estate Commission and the Paterson Urban Enterprise Zone.
She has been recognized by many organizations for her work in the political and business arenas, as well as for her philanthropic efforts. In 2007, she was honored by the Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey as Professional Services Businesswoman of the Year.
Ms. Rodriguez attended Douglass College in New Brunswick and graduated from William Paterson University in Wayne with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a minor in business administration. She lives in Paterson, where she was born and raised.
Dan@1868PublicAffairs.com
Dan Smith is joining 1868 after years of government experience with the State Legislature most recently serving as the Senior Advisor to Speaker of the General Assembly. He has a distinctive skill set with managing political strategy coupled with public policy formation and advocacy. In March 2019, Dan Smith was appointed to serve on the Board of Commissioners for the Mercer County Improvement Authority.
Mr. Smith proudly served on the Executive Committee for the Mercer County Democratic Committee and was previously appointed Vice Chair in 2014. He continues to be an integral part of the electoral process for state, county, and local governments.
Dan Smith is a current member of the Advisory Board to the Hamilton YMCA and a former volunteer instructor for their afterschool program where he taught grades 6-8 about their local, state, federal government, and the importance of civic duties. He also spent years volunteering at Joseph F. Cappello School working primarily with students diagnosed with autism and other intellectual disabilities.
In 2016, he was a delegate to the Mercer County Central Labor Council and a member on the coalition CPRSS (Coalition for Patient Rights and Safe Staffing), and worked on a number of host committees including the Women of Distinction Sponsorship Committee and Sunshine Foundation.
Mr. Smith earned his Bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University and lives in Hamilton, NJ.
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