Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill (left) has retained Jacquelyn Suárez as commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs.
By Joshua Burd
Jacquelyn Suárez, the head of the state’s Department of Community Affairs, will stay on in the role when Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill takes office in less than three weeks.
In a news release Tuesday, Sherrill said Suárez has earned “the respect and support of community leaders, local officials and colleagues in Trenton” during her more than two years as DCA commissioner and more than a decade in public service. That’s slated to continue as a member of the new administration, where she’ll look to reform the permitting process, target the agency’s resources to create housing that people can afford, revitalize vacant commercial properties for small businesses and mixed uses and provide guidance to municipal officials on best management practices, particularly those that can reduce their residents’ taxes.
“I am honored to have Jacquelyn Suárez serve as the commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs,” said Sherrill, who will succeed Gov. Phil Murphy when she takes office on Jan. 20. “Her collaboration with local governments, work on veteran homelessness and support for small businesses has earned her the respect of leaders across the state.
“In the Sherrill-Caldwell administration, DCA will reform the burdensome permitting process to lower costs, address our housing shortage and expand shared services to reduce New Jerseyans’ tax burden. I’m excited to have an experienced leader like Commissioner Suárez to guide those efforts and help build a more affordable Garden State.”
Suárez took over the role in September 2023 after the death of Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, who had led the agency since taking office in 2018. The longtime member of the Murphy administration spent 2021 to 2024 as director of the DCA’s Division of Local Government Services and chair of the state’s Local Finance Board, where she advocated for local government interests and provided them with technical and financial assistance in areas such as joint services, purchasing and management issues.
She’s also a former associate counsel in the Governor’s Office and legislative liaison in DCA, the agency she would go on to lead as its first Hispanic commissioner. Since taking the helm of the department, Suárez has overseen more than 1,000 employees and managed a $2.15 billion operational budget.
Additionally, she has led the agency in its rollout of the state’s new affordable housing program, implementing a March 2024 law meant to streamline the complex, often controversial process for determining municipalities’ obligations under the Fair Housing Act.
“I am honored to have the opportunity to continue to serve as the commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs,” Suárez said. “I am excited to work with Governor-elect Sherrill on her mission to make New Jersey more affordable — finding creative solutions to lower housing and rental costs and cutting red tape to make it easier to start and grow a small business. We will also continue important efforts like ending veteran homelessness through our Bringing Veterans Home initiative. Our department will work efficiently and collaboratively with residents and municipalities, which is key to delivering lower costs for families across our state.”
The New Jersey native earned her juris doctor from Rutgers School of Law in Camden and her bachelor’s in communications, legal institutions, economics and government from American University in Washington, D.C. She is a member of both the New Jersey and New York bar associations and of the Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey.
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