SAYREVILLE – Officials in Sayreville recognized a long-time state legislator who is a resident of the borough.
At a Borough Council meeting on Jan. 22, Mayor Kennedy O’Brien and council members presented a proclamation to government official John Wisniewksi.
During his political career, Wisniewski, a Democrat, served in the New Jersey General Assembly for 22 years from 1996-2018, and represented Sayreville’s legislative district. He did not seek re-election in 2017 and instead ran for governor, losing in the Democratic primary to eventual winner Phil Murphy. His term in the Assembly ended on Jan. 9.
According to the proclamation, read aloud by O’Brien, Wisniewski was born in Perth Amboy before his family moved to Sayreville. His mother Cecilia was the former court administrator for the borough and his father Felix was a borough councilman. A graduate of Sayreville War Memorial High School, Wisniewski holds a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University and a juris doctor from the Seton Hall University School of Law in Newark.
As a state official, Wisniewski served as chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee, served as chairman of the New Jersey Fire Safety Commission, was an advocate of the next-of-kin registry known as Sara’s Law (named after Sayreville resident Sara Dubinin) had a role in discovering and investigating the Fort Lee lane closure scandal (Bridgegate), and served as deputy speaker of the Assembly, according to the proclamation. In addition to his tenure in the Assembly, he served as chairman of the Sayreville Democratic Organization.
Wisniewski thanked O’Brien and the council for presenting him with the proclamation and reflected on his time in government service.
“I was thinking as I came into the room here tonight that I think the first council meeting I sat through was 40 years ago when my dad was a councilman,” Wisniewski said. “It was 1978 and I was working on his re-election campaign. And so 40 years later, here I am, after spending 22 years in the General Assembly.
“I want to reflect on one thing you [O’Brien] said. When I first was elected, it was about 1997 or 1998, and you said, ‘You’re doing such a good job as assemblyman. I could see you here in 20 years.’ You were wrong because I was here in 22 years,” he joked.
“Like everybody who runs for office, I got involved with politics because I thought that I could contribute something to my community that has been so wonderful to me,” Wisniewksi said. “Graduating from Sayreville High School and going to Rutgers University and Seton Hall Law School, my roots and my foundation are in this community. It’s a community that I love. And while I am ending my service in the General Assembly, I still will be involved in my community and my state. What that means in the future, I don’t know, but I want you to know that because I care about this community, I’ll continue to be involved in this community.”
