N.J. public employee pension council chief Robert Grady resigns

N.J. public employee pension council chief Robert Grady resigns

NOVEMBER 19, 2014, 4:06 PM    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2014, 4:26 PM
BY MELISSA HAYES
STATE HO– USE BUREAU |
THE RECORD

Robert Grady, one of Governor Christie’s closest advisers, resigned Wedneday as chairman of the council that oversees the state’s $80 billion public employee pension fund.

Grady, who commutes monthly from his home in Wyoming to New Jersey to participate on the board, announced his departure at the State Investment Council meeting.

Tom Byrne, the board’s vice chairman, said Grady told the fellow board members that he had only intended to serve through Christie’s first term but remained on after the director of Treasury’s Division of Investment resigned last year. Byrne said Grady wanted to make sure there was a thorough search for a new director and a smooth transition. Christopher McDonough was hired to replace the prior director, Timothy Walsh, in March.

Grady also told board members that he would like to spend more time at home and help care for a sick relative.

Governor Christie, attending the Republican Governors Association meeting in Florida, said he asked Grady to stay on when he told him he wanted to step down at the end of the governor’s first term.

“I don’t him he couldn’t,” Christie said in Florida. “I’m going to miss him in that role. He did five years of service traveling every month from Wyoming to come and do it, so it was a lot of time for him to spend in New Jersey away from his family and so he wanted to move on and I was happy for him to do it.”

https://www.northjersey.com/news/n-j-public-employee-pension-council-chief-robert-grady-resigns-1.1136956