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New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill will begin her four-year term Tuesday as the state faces an affordable housing crisis. She said making the state more affordable does not happen without making housing more affordable.

During her campaign, she called on the state to “work collaboratively with local governments on the conversion of underused office parks, strip malls, and industrial properties into homes, transit-oriented development, and mixed-use projects, which increases housing inventory while minimizing sprawl.”

That strategy has worked well for other states, according to John Boyd Jr., principal of The Boyd Company, a corporate site selection firm.

“It’s going to create new development opportunities,” he said, adding that the company expects to see that trend “continue to occur in the months and years ahead.”

Adam Gordon, executive director of the Fair Share Housing Center, said he is “pretty hopeful” that Sherrill can oversee the conversion of underutilized commercial and industrial properties.

He said a 2024 law signed by Gov. Phil Murphy that required municipalities to update their master plan and zoning provided incentives to reuse office parks and strip malls.

The plans still must be compliant with a series of court decisions that ensures each municipality builds their “fair share” of affordable housing known as the Mt. Laurel Doctrine.

“We’re seeing a lot more compliance with the law a lot quicker,” Gordon said. “I’m very optimistic that we’re going to see a lot of that redevelopment happen under these plans.”

Boyd, however, points out that states like Texas and Idaho are able to build homes faster because they have fewer regulations, unlike New Jersey.

“You have 560 plus municipalities, that’s 560 plus zoning and permitting systems that companies and developers need to navigate and 560 plus tax climates that companies need to navigate through,” he added.

Boyd says streamlining regulations will help New Jersey build homes faster.

Gordon, who was a volunteer on Sherrill’s transition team, hopes that the Legislature takes that up in the new session. He said cutting red tape is a much-needed “bold action” to address the housing crisis.

“I think we have to shake up business as usual and this presumption that we can have endless regulatory processes and sacrosanct home rule,” he said. “A lot of those processes are 50, 100 years old and they’re not responding to the realities of how bad it’s gotten for so many New Jersey families.”

CAMDEN, N.J. (WPVI) — A neighborhood cleanup in Camden turned into a snow and ice removal effort Monday as volunteers gathered in the Fairview Village neighborhood to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and recognize his historical ties to the city.

The day of service brought together residents, local officials and New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill, who joined volunteers scraping ice from sidewalks and walkways despite the winter weather.

Among the volunteers was Clinton Douglas, a Georgia Pacific employee, who said Dr. King’s legacy continues to have a personal impact.

“His efforts directly affected me, and I appreciate it. Anything I can do to give back, that’s what I’ll do,” Douglas said.

Sherrill, shoveling alongside community members, noted King’s connection to Camden during his early years.

“He lived in Camden during his years as a student at Crozier Theological Seminary from 1948 to 1951,” Sherrill said.

Local elected officials also participated.

Camden County Commissioner Colleen Bianco Bezich attended the event with her family, calling the day meaningful both personally and communally.

“It means everything as a parent just to be able to share this with my child and to be here with community members, neighbors and family to say, ‘We are a community,’” Bezich said.

Her child, Luca Bezich of Haddonfield, said, “I like shoveling snow, and I like doing stuff with my mom.”

Other volunteers echoed the importance of working together on a day dedicated to service.

Crystal Wessel of Haddon Heights said the conditions did not deter participants.

“Regardless of how cold it is or what’s going on, we just need to be out here meeting each other, talking to each other and helping each other out however we can,” Wessel said.

Before joining the cleanup, Sherrill spoke about her priorities as she prepares to be sworn into office.

“Begin right away to work to drive down costs for people across the state. Here in Camden, I’ve heard a lot of concern about housing prices as well,” Sherrill said.

She was also asked about Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in New Jersey, as tensions flared in Minneapolis between ICE agents and protesters.

“I plan to continue to enforce the immigrant trust directive, which I’ve committed to ensuring people in New Jersey know that our police force protects and serves them and we’re keeping our streets safe,” Sherrill said.

Sherrill also pledged to work with the city of Camden to bring more resources to recognize Dr. King’s history in the city.

Governor-elect Sherrill is scheduled to be sworn in on Tuesday in Newark.

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Since its inception, the Camden County Police Department has invested heavily into cameras to catch crime happening in real-time. The department’s use of them has been documented by Vice News and The Atlantic.

The agency expanded its use of technology last year with the launch of its drone program.

Earlier this month, South Jersey Democratic heavyweight and businessman  George E. Norcross III and NFI CEO Sidney R. Brown donated more than $400,000 to expand the drone program, through their foundations.

“This generous donation will support the department in expanding this program through the purchase of new drones and software, which will in turn support criminal investigations and crime prevention throughout the City of Camden,” Camden County Commissioner Director Louis Cappelli Jr. said in a press release.

The drone donation comes as crime continues to trend downward in the city. The drones have already been credited with recovering illegal firearms and intercepting all-terrain vehicles.

But Dillon Reisman, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey who focuses on technology, said although Camden has come a long way in public safety, there should be more transparency and limitations to ensure the safe use of technology like drones.

“We shouldn’t let that be the justification for mass proliferation of technology,” he said. “[It] actually can run counter to community well-being.”

Is New Jersey becoming a surveillance state?

Reisman said he “would almost say” there has been “exponential growth” in the use of cameras by New Jersey law enforcement — at the local and state level.

“It’s so ubiquitous,” he said. “You could go down the list of all sorts of places, and you’ll see the expansion of surveillance tools to kind of keep constant surveillance on the people who live there.”

Camden County spokesman Dan Keashen said the department follows guidelines established by the attorney general’s office. He added that they are “very cognizant” of issues involving technology, which is why they do not use facial recognition technology, for example.

Policies for body cameras were written by the Policing Project at the New York University School of Law. The department’s drone program was modeled after the New York Police Department’s initiative.

Keashen said the city benefits from the technology.

“We want to make our department smarter and the community safer,” he said.

The department, Keashen adds, has rules about what’s recorded and how long it’s kept.