Those of us involved in New Jersey transportation suffered a
tough blow this weekend with the tragic death of John Sheridan, former
Commissioner of Transportation, and his wife Joyce in a fire at their home.
For me, John was a friend, a mentor, a standard of
excellence. He was one of the most
all-round competent people I have ever known, and demonstrated that public
service could be a noble, exciting, and rewarding pursuit, despite its many
frustrations.
I worked with John very closely on two projects back in the
day: a battle with the feds over designated truck routes in the state (doesn’t
seem like a big deal today, but was then) and (better known) the birth of the
New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund.
One of my contributions to the latter project was to suggest calling it
the “New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund” rather than the original working
title of “New Jersey Transportation System Improvement, Operations, and
Maintenance Fund” – although technically, at least in the minds of some, it wasn’t
really a trust fund at all. John
agreed with me.
In these and other projects I was continually impressed with
his leadership. He was always
composed and thoughtful, a master of both strategy and tactics, accommodating
when he could be, hard-nosed when he had to be, and always a gentleman.
We will miss him.
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