Sweeney Way? Fuggedaboutit! New Jersey lawmaker wants to ban naming public facilities after living officials

Assemblymember Beth Sawyer, who was part of the Republican team that shook New Jersey politics last year by vanquishing the incumbent slate led by Democratic Senate President Steve Sweeney, doesn’t think anyone should have to drive on “Senator Stephen M. Sweeney Way” in Harrison Township.

Nor does she believe there should be a building called the “Stephen M. Sweeney Center for Special Services” at Rowan College of South Jersey in Sewell. Or a think tank named the "Sweeney Center for Public Policy" at Rowan University in Glassboro, even if Sweeney’s name doesn’t adorn the building that houses the center.

“I think it shouldn’t bear his name. If you want to talk about public policy, talk about policy,” Sawyer (R-Gloucester) said in a phone interview. “I don’t believe any politician [deserves it].”

Sawyer introduced legislation last week, NJ A3969 (22R), that would bar naming any “public building, facility, complex, park, bridge, street, highway, or parkway” after a living current or former public official.

“I wouldn’t want it named after me. It’s one thing if somebody has passed on and you want to do this to honor a legacy,” she said. “But a school that’s receiving public funding, I don’t think it’s a good look for Rowan, for our community, and I don’t think it sends a nonpartisan or bipartisan message.

“Our Legislature should not be disgracing the institution by using taxpayer money to plaster names of politicians on public buildings which gives them an unfair advantage when running for re-election, higher office, or to regain a seat they lost,” Sawyer said in a follow-up text message.

Sweeney is far from the only living New Jersey official to have a public facility named after them.

Here are some others facilities that bear the name of mostly Democratic public officials;

— An elementary school in West New York named for Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.). West New York also has a school named after retiring Rep. Albio Sires (D-N.J.).

— An East Orange school named after Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver.

— Several schools throughout the state named after former President Barack Obama.

— An ice rink in West Orange named after state Sen. Richard Codey (D-Essex).

— A bridge between Middletown and Red Bank named after former Republican state Sen. Joseph M. Kyrillos.

— A road in Morris County named after former Republican Gov. Chris Christie.

— A Camden County office building named after former Democratic Gov. Jim Florio.

— The Sharpe James/Kenneth A. Gibson Recreation & Aquatic Center in Newark, named after two former mayors, both Democrats who won nonpartisan municipal elections, and both of whom had brushes with the law. James is still alive; Gibson died in 2019.

— A parking garage in Elizabeth named after Chris Bollwage, the city's Democratic mayor.

In addition, Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation last year, NJ S3984 (20R), naming the Department of Health headquarters after Commissioner Judith Persichilli.

Sweeney chuckled when told about Sawyer’s bill.

“I am heartbroken. I’m starting to think she doesn’t like me,” said Sweeney, who’s mulling whether to challenge the Republican who defeated him, Ed Durr, when the seat is up again next year.

Sweeney said he didn’t ask for any facilities to be named after him. He noted that “Senator Steven M. Sweeney Way,” also known as the Mullica Hill Bypass, was named after him in 2012 by Harrison Township’s all-Republican committee after he secured funding for it.

Sweeney also said he did not ask for the Stephen M. Sweeney Center for Special Services to be named after him.

”I didn’t want them to name the building after me. I wanted them, if they were going to do something, to name it after my daughter," Sweeney said in a phone interview.

Sweeney’s daughter, Lauren, has Down syndrome, and he cites her as his inspiration for his career in politics.

“Look what I’ve done for special needs in the state, what we’ve done for higher education in the state,” said Sweeney, who as Senate president pushed through a major reorganization of the state’s public university system.

Sweeney also took a shot at Sawyer, who’s four months into her first term in the minority party.

“Maybe this will be her first bill passed,” he said.