Payne, William D.

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William D. Payne

1932—

New Jersey State Assemblyman

With a long history of involvement in community politics, William D. Payne's career as New Jersey State Assemblyman began in 1998 when he was elected to represent the 29th legislative district. Prominent among the legislation he has championed are mentoring schemes for at-risk students, the incorporation of African American studies into New Jersey's public school curriculum, and the criminalization of racial profiling practices. The many committees on which Payne serves include the Regulatory Oversight Committee (as Chair), the Budget Committee (as Vice Chair) and the Federal Relations Committee. He has also served on the New Jersey Criminal Disposition Commission and since 2003 has been the Essex County Deputy Chief of Staff.

William D. Payne was born on July 8, 1932, in Newark, New Jersey. Educated at Rutgers University, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science in 1959. He then began a career in business consulting and in 1969 founded the firm of UrbanData Systems, Inc., where he held the position of president and CEO of the company until 1988. As he developed his public service career, Payne later maintained his own consulting company, William Payne and Associates, which specializes in public affairs and market development.

Although he was not elected to office until 1998, Payne's political career began much earlier. He has a long standing interest in community relations and in widening opportunity. Growing up in a family in which political engagement was considered important, Payne first became significantly involved in local politics in 1980 when he became commissioner and vice president of the Essex County Improvement Authority. At a time when traditionally industrial areas were struggling with difficult economic conditions the Authority's work included purchasing and redeveloping brownfield sites—polluted and abandoned industrial areas—to put them back to use. One project in particular during his time was the development of the Essex County Airport Business Park to attract companies requiring office space close to major transport links.

In 1986 Payne moved on to one of the biggest challenges of his career. As chairman of the Newark Housing Authority he helped plan and implement a radical revision of Newark's housing policy. Around one third of New Jersey's older high-rise housing projects were torn down to make room for new townhouses. Many of Newark's housing projects were uninhabitable and the cost of maintaining empty and semi-derelict buildings was a drain on the whole housing budget. Payne and his team set about developing new housing schemes and by 1989 when Payne moved on, most of the planning was complete. Unfortunately delays and legal problems meant that significant numbers of new housing units were not completed until the mid-1990s, almost a decade after the process began.

Payne's background in marketing led to several appointments as campaign manager, first for his brother Donald's New Jersey Congressional campaign in 1988, and for his nephew, Assemblyman Craig A. Stanley, in 1996. Payne ran unsuccessfully in the Newark mayoral race in 1994, but Payne won his bid for election to the New Jersey General Assembly in 1998. He continued to represent the 29th legislative district for the next decade.

Poverty and education were among the chief issues Payne championed as an assemblyman. His interest in poverty and its links with poor housing and education went back to his earliest days in politics. In 1992 he served New Jersey Council on Adult Literacy and has been a leading voice in a campaign to establish mentoring schemes in New Jersey schools to encourage and protect at risk students. A bill sponsored by Payne provided $750,000 to support mentoring schemes in New Jersey.

More recently, in 2006, Payne headed a campaign to improve the teaching of Black history in New Jersey's schools. Remembering his own experiences as a child Payne told the New York Times that he wanted to make Black history a more important part of the K-12 curriculum in order to change the "subliminal messages that everything good is white." Payne established the Amistad Commission in New Jersey to help promote education in Black history and was also successful in pushing through groundbreaking legislation to criminalize racial profiling in the recruitment of public employees.

At a Glance …

Born William D. Payne on July 8, 1932, in Newark, NJ; children: Eric, Lisa, Gina, Kristi. Education: Rutgers University, BA, Political Science, 1959. Religion: Christian.

Career:

UrbanData Sys., Inc., founder, president and CEO, 1969-88; Essex County Improvement Authority, commissioner, vice chairman, 1980-86; Newark Housing Authority, commissioner, chairman, 1986-89; Congressman Donald M. Payne campaign, campaign manager, 1988; One to One/N.J. School-Centered Mentoring Organization, executive director, 1992-94; Assemblyman Craig Stanley campaign, Irvington, NJ, marketing development consultant, chief of staff, and campaign manager, 1996-97; NJ General Assembly, assemblyman, 1998; William Payne & Associates, principal; NJ Assembly, deputy majority conference leader, 2002-.

Memberships:

NJ General Assembly, appropriations committee; NJ Congressional Award Council, 1995; NJ Tourism Advisory Council; Joint Committee on Mentoring; Small Business Advisory Council, NY Federal Reserve Bank.

Addresses:

District Office—40 Clinton St, Suite 200, Newark, NJ, 07102; Office—125 W State St, Trenton, NJ 08608-1101; Web—www.njleg.state.nj.us/members/payne.asp.