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On Wednesday, New Jersey officials launched the search for a new leader to replace Katrina McCombs, outgoing superintendent of the Camden City School District.

According to a notice on the school district’s website, the New Jersey Department of Education has hired Illinois-based HYA Associates to lead the search. The firm was selected “in a competitive bid process that required multiple rounds of review,” the website said.

A community input survey is open to students, parents and staff until June 11. The district will concurrently hold focus groups June 2–12. A feedback report will be presented to the School Advisory Board the week of June 17.

Ronsha A. Dickerson, a Camden resident and executive director of the Camden Parent and Student Union, said the search process is leaning in the right direction.

“This is not a bad thing, but it should have been in place already,” she said, adding that the community has been calling for an open process for a superintendent search since 2013, when the state took over the school district. “Our main concern is to keep the process transparent for the community.”

A New Jersey county is set to tokenize $240 billion worth of property deeds after signing a deal with the blockchain-backed land record management firm Balcony.

Balcony said on May 28 that it signed a five-year deal with the Bergen County Clerk’s Office to tokenize 370,000 deeds on the Avalanche blockchain, adding that this was “the largest blockchain-based deed tokenization project in US history.”

Bergen County is New Jersey’s most populous county and is located northwest of Manhattan in New York City across the Hudson River. Bergen County has nearly 1 million residents, producing around $500 million in annual property tax revenue.

The deal was backed by Blizzard, an Avalanche-focused venture capital fund.

Balcony said the project will allow Bergen County to obtain a tamper-proof, searchable chain of title across all of its 70 municipalities.

Balcony expects the integration will cut deed processing times by over 90% while reducing the risk of fraud, title disputes and administrative errors. 

Balcony CEO Dan Silverman said the project was a “turning point” for government record systems and real estate.

“We’re demonstrating how secure, distributed systems can replace outdated infrastructure and deliver real-world value for both governments and the public.”

Balcony plans expansion in New Jersey and beyond

Balcony said it is working with several other counties in New Jersey — including Camden, Orange and Cliffside Park — to modernize their real estate management records.

It said that Orange County lost nearly $1 million in municipal revenue due to incomplete and outdated records under the current management system, highlighting the need for a more effective solution.

The tokenization of 370,000 property deeds in Bergen County brings the total number of tokenized deeds in New Jersey to approximately 460,000.

Balcony said it intends to expand beyond New Jersey in the future.

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The 2021 New Jersey gubernatorial election was not supposed to be that close.

A week before the general election, polling consistently showed Democratic incumbent Phil Murphy with a solid lead over Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli.

On Election Day, Ciattarelli nearly pulled off an upset. But, Murphy managed to squeak through with 3% more votes in a low-turnout election, becoming the first Democrat since 1977 to win a second term.

In 2025, with Ciattarelli attempting his third run for governor, and former Senate President Steve Sweeney hoping his home base will propel him to the Democratic nomination, South Jersey is no longer a pit stop on the campaign trail. In fact, it could be the key to winning the general election.

Ciattarelli’s 2021 run stirred up Republican excitement

Political analysts credit a surge of voters in Republican-leaning counties for helping Ciattarelli get close to victory, particularly in South Jersey. The Republican was able to flip three counties that went for Murphy in 2017: Atlantic, Cumberland and Gloucester counties.

Four years ago, as he was doing a campaign stop at the New Italy American Society in Vineland, Cumberland County, Ciattarelli told the audience “no gubernatorial candidate has spent more time in South Jersey” than him. Vineland Mayor Anthony Fanucci said Ciattarelli has continued to visit the region since his last gubernatorial run.

“Jack has a special place in people’s hearts down here, because he’s paid more attention than anyone that I can remember in my history of being not just an elected official, but living in New Jersey,” he said.

Fanucci said he supported Ciattarelli in 2021 and is “gladly” endorsing him again this year. He said the former assemblyman took time to familiarize himself with issues of importance to South Jersey, such as tourism, agriculture, infrastructure and economic development, as well as many others.

“I know he won’t forget the south, let alone anywhere else in the state,” Fanucci added.

Before Ciattarelli, the last time the Rev. Benjamin Ocasio Sr. remembered a gubernatorial candidate visiting Vineland was when former Gov. Chris Christie was running for a second term in 2013. He feels throughout the years that other candidates have “forgotten that there is a South Jersey.”

Ocasio, pastor of the Rock of Salvation Church in Vineland, said he also saw Republican candidate Bill Spadea this year. But he would like to see statewide leaders visit the area more often, though understands their schedules being set in advance.

“Obviously, I get to see my mayor, and I get to see the city council, and they do try to pop in to different affairs,” he said.