TRENTON—Fair Share Housing Center Executive Director Adam Gordon, long a prominent figure in New Jersey’s affordable housing battles, has been appointed to Gov.-Elect Mikie Sherrill’s transition team. The move places one of the state’s most influential housing advocates directly inside the incoming administration as it prepares to confront longstanding affordability challenges—and as several Pascack Valley towns continue to spar with Fair Share over their Fourth Round housing plans.
Gordon: ‘Urgent, ambitious leadership’ needed
In a statement, Nov. 21, announcing his appointment, Gordon said he is “honored” to join the transition team and praised Sherrill’s campaign commitments to tackling outdated zoning laws, ending diversions from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, expanding support for new homebuyers, and cracking down on unsafe or discriminatory landlord practices.
“These are exactly the kinds of strategies New Jersey needs to close our state’s racial wealth gap and reduce costs for all New Jerseyans,” Gordon said, adding that New Jersey voters have made clear that bold action on housing is a top priority.
In addition to the statement, Cherry Hill-based Fair Share Housing Center highlights Gordon’s long-standing philosophy: “I am inspired by how we ensure that our work does not stop at legal or policy victories, but instead follows through to make sure homes get built, laws get enforced, and people’s lives actually change.”
Gordon leads Fair Share’s coordinated strategy of organizing, litigation, and policy development to advance racial, economic, and social integration across New Jersey. Since joining the organization in 2006, he has:
- Helped implement the Mount Laurel Doctrine, contributing to the creation of over 70,000 affordable homes in historically exclusionary communities.
- Litigated the largest federal fair housing case in U.S. history.
- Worked to make federal disaster recovery programs more equitable.
- Secured passage of the Fair Chance in Housing Act, limiting discriminatory tenant screening practices.
- Helped win a $305 million state fund to accelerate affordable housing development.
- Helped advance major legislation strengthening enforcement of Mount Laurel obligations.
Gordon is a co-founder and former board chair of Next City and holds both a B.A. and J.D. from Yale University.
A contentious backdrop: Montvale and Park Ridge in Fair Share’s sights
Gordon’s new role comes less than two months after Fair Share Housing Center formally challenged the Housing Element and Fair Share Plans (HEFSPs) of Montvale and Park Ridge, accusing both municipalities of “procedural games” and “bad-faith arguments” intended to avoid meeting their Fourth Round obligations.
In challenge letters obtained by Pascack Press, Fair Share alleged that:
- Park Ridge pursued a “woefully inadequate” vacant land adjustment and “continued the same pattern of obstruction” seen in prior rounds—an approach Fair Share called “absurd” and a “perversion” of the Mount Laurel doctrine.
- Montvale, tip of the spear in a coalition of dozens of municipalities challenging the 2024 state housing law, “radically reinterpreted” the Fair Housing Act in a way that would allow it to “do practically nothing.” Fair Share said Montvale rejected six builder-proposed redevelopment sites that together could meet its remaining need.
Gordon said at the time, “These towns cannot have it both ways—telling courts that this new law requires them to do too much, and then pretending the law requires them to do nothing.”
Montvale and Park Ridge officials pushed back forcefully.
Park Ridge Mayor Keith Misciagna called Fair Share’s accusations “very disappointing,” arguing that Park Ridge supports “reasonable development” but “will not be bullied into allowing overdevelopment.”
Montvale Borough Administrator Joseph Voytus cited the borough’s existing surplus of affordable units and its partnership with a developer building homes for disabled veterans. He said Fair Share “would rather issue threats and press releases instead of working collaboratively.”
Both towns’ challenges, along with hundreds statewide, are moving through the Affordable Housing Dispute Resolution Program, staffed by retired judges. Unresolved disputes are likely to land in Superior Court next year.
The statewide context
Under the amended Fair Housing Act signed into law in March 2024:
- Municipal HEFSPs were due June 30, 2025.
- Objections from Fair Share, developers, and individuals were due Aug. 31.
- Mediation is expected to continue into late 2025.
- Revised plans and implementing ordinances must be adopted by March 15, 2026.
More than 400 objections were filed statewide, including against Hillsdale’s plan, where officials anticipate Superior Court involvement over the borough’s calculated Realistic Development Potential.
Sherrill elected governor; resigns House seat
Gordon’s appointment is one of the first major policy signals of the incoming administration led by Gov.-Elect Mikie Sherrill, who won the Nov. 4 election after defeating MAGA stalwart Jack Ciattarelli—breaking a 60-year trend of the governor’s office switching parties every two terms.
A former Navy helicopter pilot, federal prosecutor, and four-term congresswoman, Sherrill campaigned heavily on affordability and opposition to the policies of President Donald Trump.
She resigned her U.S. House seat Thursday, Nov. 20, to prepare for her inauguration in mid-January. Special elections will be held in early 2026 to fill the remainder of her term representing the 11th District.
In an unrelated post Oct. 29, Ghassali said, “We fully support affordable housing and are both willing and equipped to build exclusively for that purpose. We will oppose any and all high-density proposals that prioritize profit over community need!”
See also: “Repub. Jack Ciattarelli tops 6 of 8 Pascack Valley towns for governor; Dem. Mikie Sherrill wins statewide” by Michael Olohan.