James P. Vreeland

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James P. Vreeland
Member of the
Mayor of Montville, New Jersey
New Jersey Civil Service Commissioner
In office
1984–1990
Appointed byBrendan Byrne
Personal details
Born(1910-02-04)February 4, 1910
Towaco, New Jersey
DiedJuly 2, 2001(2001-07-02) (aged 91)
Lincoln Park, New Jersey
EducationBoonton High School (1927)
Rutgers University
Lehigh University

James P. Vreeland (February 4, 1910 – July 2, 2001) was an American Republican Party politician who served four terms in the New Jersey Senate after a term in the New Jersey General Assembly. He served in the Senate from 1974 to 1984, representing the 24th Legislative District until 1982, and then served one term representing the 26th Legislative District.[1] Vreeland also served a term on the Morris County, New Jersey Board of Chosen Freeholders from 1970 until his resignation in 1972.[2]

Biography

He was born on February 4, 1910, in the Towaco section of Montville, New Jersey, and graduated from Boonton High School in 1927. He attended both Rutgers University and Lehigh University.[3]

Vreeland's first political position was when he was elected to the Montville Township Committee in 1956. He served as

Mayor of Montville in the early 1960s, during a period when the area was facing extensive population growth and land speculation with the forthcoming development of Interstate 80 and Interstate 287 that would bring more development to the area. Though Vreeland stated that he had no plans to sell his 60-acre (240,000 m2) vegetable farm, he was a moderate on the issue of imposing zoning changes desired by many residents to require new homes to be built on properties of at least 1-acre (4,000 m2), instead of the half-acre zoning that was then in place.[4]

Vreeland won in his first bid for the New Jersey Senate, defeating Democrat John C. Keefe by a margin of 52.6% to 47.4%.[5] Vreeland expanded his mandate in the 1977 general election, defeating Democratic nominee Norma K. Herzfeld by 66.8%-33.2%.[6]

In redistricting following the 1980 United States census, Vreeland was relocated to the 26th Legislative District and in the 1981 election defeated Democrat Benjamin Steltzer by his widest margin, taking 70.1% of the vote to 29.9% for the challenger.[7]

As part of an effort to cut the $2.76 billion budget (equivalent to $14.8 billion in 2023) proposed by Brendan Byrne, the Governor of New Jersey in 1976, Vreeland was one of seven members of the Joint Appropriations Committee who proposed a $2,500 reduction in the governor's salary. Vreeland argued that the cut "wouldn't hurt [the Governor] too much", though the effort was defeated.[8]

In 1977, rankings published by the Americans for Democratic Action, Vreeland and fellow Republican Frank Davenport received the lowest rankings in the state, receiving a rating of 8% based on a series of 20 votes considered by the legislature; Teaneck Democrat Matthew Feldman was the only legislator to receive a 100% rating.[9]

In what the Philadelphia Daily News described as a "stunning upset", Assemblymember Leanna Brown defeated Vreeland in the June 1983 Republican primary. Brown went on to win the November general election, becoming the first woman from the Republican Party to serve in the upper house of the State Legislature.[10]

Together with their son, James P. Vreeland III, the Vreelands operated a farm in Towaco, New Jersey, near U.S. Route 202, where visitors could pick their own strawberries, tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, peppers, and eggplants depending on the season.[11]

He died at the age of 91 on July 2, 2001, at the Lincoln Park Subacute and Rehabilitation Center in Lincoln Park, New Jersey.[3][12][13]

References

  1. ^ Vreeland, James P., OurCampaigns.com. Accessed August 4, 2004.
  2. ^ Morris County Freeholders History, Morris County Department of Planning & Public Works, December 13, 2013. Accessed January 6, 2014.
  3. ^ a b "James P. Vreeland Jr., 91, former state senator, devoted to community service and to farming". New Jersey Hills. July 11, 2001.
  4. ^ Grutzner, Charles. "Jersey Township Faces Urbanizing; Changes Create Friction in Long-Rural Montville", The New York Times, December 25, 1961. Accessed February 23, 2011.
  5. ^ NJ State Senate 24, 1973 Election, OurCampaigns.com. Accessed August 5, 2010.
  6. ^ NJ State Senate 24, 1977 Election, OurCampaigns.com. Accessed August 5, 2010.
  7. ^ NJ State Senate 26, 1981 Election, OurCampaigns.com. Accessed August 5, 2010.
  8. ^ Staff. "Legislators Begin Voting On 500 Budget Proposals", The New York Times, April 28, 1976. Accessed June 13, 2022.
  9. ^ Staff. "New Jersey Briefs; Newark Cabbies End Work Stoppage Feldman Rated 'Liberal' Addonizio Plea Fails", The New York Times, May 24, 1977. Accessed August 5, 2010.
  10. ^ Staff. "N.J. Voters Go To The Polls", Philadelphia Daily News, June 8, 1983. Accessed August 5, 2010. "James Vreeland, R-Morris, who was defeated by Assemblywoman Leanna Brown in a stunning upset."
  11. ^ Staff. "Pick a Peck of Peas or Peppers", New York (magazine), July 3, 1972. Accessed August 5, 2010.
  12. ^ "James Vreeland Jr., 91, tilled soil, served state", The Star-Ledger, July 4, 2001. "He had his fair share of titles. Mayor, freeholder, commissioner, assemblyman and senator."
  13. Newspapers.com
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