As the franchise-reform bill finishes its final throes in the New Jersey state house, operators there will have to deal with finding a new association leader.
Karen Alexander, who has headed the New Jersey Cable Telecommunications Association for eight years, accepted a job with the New Jersey Utilities Association. That trade group represents investor-owned utilities providing gas, electric, waste-water and, ironically, telephone services.
Alexander said the timing of her new job, and her departure date, are coincidental. "Someone reached out to me" from the other association, she added.
"A lot of what I have been doing I will continue doing, just on different issues," she said.
She leaves May 31. The state's operators are discussing among themselves a possible replacement. Alexander said she will not be a part of that process.
Meanwhile, the franchise-reform bill on which she has been so intensely lobbying will go back to the state Senate June 19 for reconciliation. If the chamber makes no changes, it will go to the governor's office, where Jon Corzine will have 45 days to act, including the possibility of a "conditional veto," which would send the bill back to the legislature.
