Retiring New Jersey League of Municipalities director Bill Dressel, a Robbinsville resident, stands with then-Gov. James McGreevey.
Robbinsville resident Bill Dressel has worked with a Who’s Who of New Jersey politics in his four decades at the New Jersey League of Municipalities, including former Gov. Christine Whitman and Gov. Chris Christie.
By Amy Macintyre
There was never any doubt Bill Dressel would devote his life to serving others. How he did it, however, was a surprise—at least to his mother.
The Robbinsville resident planned to become a minister, but his passion for local government led him to a 41-year career improving the lives of New Jersey taxpayers, one legislative bill at a time. Dressel, 66, hadn’t planned on spending his entire career at the New Jersey League of Municipalities, but on June 30 he will be retiring as executive director after decades of influencing policy and forging alliances and friendships with the state’s most notable politicians.
“I just got caught up in the never-ending issues and challenges on how to make improvements not just for the mayors, but the taxpayers and citizens of New Jersey,” he said.
On May 7, New Jersey’s most prominent lawmakers, public officials and residents gathered at the Hilton East Brunswick to celebrate Dressel’s retirement, as well as the 100th anniversary of the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, a voluntary, non-partisan association that advocates on the behalf of each of the state’s mayors and governing officials. Among the attendees were former governors Christine Todd Whitman and Jim McGreevey, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno and state Senate president Stephen Sweeney.
“A lot of people came up to me before and after the event and asked me ‘Why? Why now?’” Dressel recalls as he sits in the conference room of the League’s headquarters in the heart of the State’s capital.
Under his leadership, NJLM has a brand new office, a dedicated staff of 20 and has achieved a noteworthy presence in Trenton. Upon its centennial, he feels the League is in a good place and is confident in its future.
“That is the reason I left,” he said, as he reflects on his career. He leaves knowing the organization he led will be in the hands of Michael Darcy, someone who has a close-up view of how Dressel works.
“There’s no way that I or anyone else can come in and be the next Bill Dressel,” said Darcy, assistant executive director and Dressel’s successor come July 1. Darcy says it was his passion and personality that made for a successful career spanning four decades. “It’s his personal stamp. That can’t be duplicated.”
Even at home, Dressel’s reputation follows him. Robbinsville Mayor Dave Fried credited Dressel with establishing a municipal-government presence at the Statehouse, and said Dressel has been a valuable resource for his hometown. Fried joked that he’d get nervous whenever he saw Dressel was calling, wondering “What did I do wrong?” Here was a man, after all, who knew everything about how every town in New Jersey ran.
“Bill was our eyes, ears and our voice in Trenton,” Fried said in a statement. “We have been very blessed in Robbinsville, and some of those things we have can be tied directly to Bill Dressel.”
Dressel has lobbied for some of the most important legislation affecting each municipality across the state. In 1976, he successfully lobbied a package of bills providing for state revenue sharing of the Homestead and Veterans Tax deductions. He also successfully lobbied the “State Mandate, State Pay” constitutional amendments in 1996 and the Energy Tax Receipts and Property Tax Relief Fund signed into law in 1999.
With Dressel at the helm, the League successfully lobbied for the 2014 extension of the controversial 2-percent arbitration cap that prevents fire and police unions that settle contract disputes in interest arbitration from winning raises of more than 2 percent.
The League united the mayors on their position and the bill won bipartisan support and passed unanimously in the Assembly and Senate and was signed into law by Governor Chris Christie.
“What we were arguing for was going to help the taxpayers—it was a principal decision based on the facts,” he said as he explained that police and fire fighters are the largest budget item in municipalities and these caps are necessary to keeping property taxes at bay.
These weren’t quite the issues Dressel thought he’d tackle in his career. Growing up in a Presbyterian family in Falls Church, Virginia, he followed his mother’s wishes that he become a minister and attended Elon College in North Carolina. He spent his first year enrolled in theological studies, but it was a high school friend’s father, a local city manager, inspired him to eventually pursue a career in local government.
He believed he could accomplish more by going into politics. After freshman year, he focused his studies on political science.
“I wanted to be a change agent,” he said as he described his experience as a college student in the 1960s.
It was the height of the civil rights movement and he was moved by the demonstrations to end racial segregation and discrimination as well as the Poor Peoples Campaign for economic justice.
On winter and summer breaks he worked for the Fairfax County, Virginia, public works department’s road crew, where he saw families lose everything they owned to major storms that ravaged Northern Virginia.
More than four decades later, it was those experiences that lead him to become executive director of the league. He received his bachelor’s degree in political and social science from Elon College, and a master’s degree in public administration from West Virginia University. NJLM was his first job out of college in 1974, and he dedicated himself to his work.
“I was married to the league,” he said. “When I fell in love with the league, I was in—heart, body and soul.”
Dressel recalls the early days of his career, sitting in on League’s committee meetings, which were held in cramped offices of the NJLM’s Bellevue Avenue headquarters. For years, he says he sat on radiators or on benches soaked by raincoats and umbrellas, and learned all he could.
“I really didn’t think of it as work,” Dressel said. “It was a labor of love.”
“He was a dynamic leader,” said John Trafford, former NJLM executive director and Dressel’s predecessor. “I never had a doubt that he would move up.”
Trafford, who worked at NJLM from 1958 to his retirement in 1995, remembers Dressel from the start of his career as nothing but enthusiastic about his work. That enthusiasm led him from administrative assistant, assistant executive director, chief lobbyist and finally executive director in 1995.
In lobbying, Dressel says his secret to success is persistence. Rallying the support of mayors and governing officials in the 565 municipalities across the state requires more than just phone calls and office visits.
“It’s just a lot of hard work,” he said. “You have to be persistent and you have to believe in what your doing and encourage others to devote their time and effort.”
Dressel admits, on occasion, legislators have vowed support to him as a means to get him to stop calling.
“I don’t take no for an answer, and no is not an answer,” he said.
Dressel’s legacy at the NJLM was cemented in 2005 when the League acquired the Ferdinand W. Roebling Mansion at 222 West State St., just minutes from the golden dome of the State Capitol building in Trenton. After decades of neglect, the building required an $8-million renovation that took two years.
“When I say disrepair, that’s an understatement,” Dressel said, pointing to the ceiling. “You could look straight up and see blue sky.”
The building now serves as the League’s headquarters and, in 2008, Dressel received the Sarah P. Fiske Award by Preservation New Jersey, Inc. for preserving the historic site.
Outside of work, Dressel says his biggest accomplishment was marrying Iris, his wife of 33 years.
Recently, Dressel took 10 days off from work, admittedly the longest time he’s spent away from his office since their honeymoon.
“I didn’t know what to do, and she didn’t know what to do with me,” he said, laughing.
Dressel said that he and Iris, a retired schoolteacher, agreed that it’s best for him to keep working. He is currently considering consulting or teaching, but has no immediate plans. After 41 years, it will be a major transition.
“It’s very difficult for me to think life after League because my life was the League,” he said. “It’s going to take some time to sink in. I don’t see myself making day trips to Atlantic City.”
As Dressel prepares to move on, Darcy is preparing to take over and acknowledges the big shoes he’s left to fill.
“He knows back doors into legislators offices,” Darcy said, speaking figuratively. “That’s something that takes decades and a lifetime.”
Dressel’s predecessor, Trafford, had even higher praise.
“With all due respect to us, he was the best director the league ever had,” he said.
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