Assemblyman
John E. Rooney

District 39 - Bergen County

Born: April 23, 1939
Education: A.A.S. Syracuse University (Language), Air Force Institute (Russian), B.S. Rutgers University (Management)
Legislative Service: General Assembly 1983-present
Committees: Telecommunications & Utilities, Environment & Solid Waste
Website:
Office of Legislative Services

Assemblyman John E. Rooney was born on April 23, 1939 in Brooklyn, New York.  He attended Our Lady of Lourdes School in Brooklyn, Brooklyn Technical High School and Rutgers University, where he graduated magna cum laude with a degree in management in 1974.  He had additional majors in political science, history, language and marketing at City College of New York, the University of Maryland and Syracuse University.  Currently Assemblyman Rooney is a consultant in the electrical motor and control industry.

Assemblyman Rooney took his seat in the house after winning a special election in April, 1983, and has been re-elected eleven times since.

While serving in the Legislature, Assemblyman Rooney sponsored the constitutional amendment eliminating special elections to fill legislative vacancies by allowing the county committee members of the incumbent’s political party to choose his or her successor.  He also sponsored the bill which created the Division of Developmental Disabilities, and wrote the law giving firefighters, emergency personnel and community residents the right to know the location of industrial materials which become toxic when set afire.

From 1976 to 1978, Assemblyman Rooney served as councilman in Northvale, and from 1979 to 1986 he served as mayor.  He was again elected mayor in 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002.  He was a member of the Northern Valley Community Development Program from 1978 to 1986, and chairman from 1981 to 1984.  He also served as president of the Northern Valley Mayors’ Association, and from 1983 to 1988, he served on the Bergen County Utilities Authority from 1983-1988.

Assemblyman Rooney is a member of the honorary board of trustees for New Concepts for Living and is on the advisory boards of Spectrum for Living and Life Opportunities, Unlimited.

Assemblyman Rooney is an Air force Security Service veteran of the Vietnam Era, and served as a Russian linguist from 1961 to 1965.

In 1962, Assemblyman Rooney married the former Martha Bollmann.  Their children are Beth Elise and Patrick John.

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