Former Lake Como Mayor Named First NJ Transit General Counsel

LAKE COMO, NJ – Governor Phil Murphy announced last week that former Lake Como Mayor Brian Wilton would become the first General Counsel for NJ TRANSIT, a newly created position recommended as a high priority by the 2018 North Highland Audit.

Wilton has been the Deputy Chief Counsel and Director of the Governor’s Authorities Unit since September 2018.

“Brian has been one of my closest advisers during the past three years, and his leadership and counsel during the COVID-19 pandemic has been vital,” Governor Murphy said in a statement.

“As Deputy Chief Counsel and Director of Authorities, Brian has played a key role in the ongoing rebuilding and revitalization of NJ TRANSIT. While we will miss Brian in the front office, I know that he will bring the same professionalism and expertise to NJ TRANSIT that he has exhibited in his current role. I look forward to working with him closely in his new position.”

As Deputy Chief Counsel and Director of the Governor’s Authorities Unit, Wilton oversaw the governance and operations of more than 50 independent state agencies as the point person for the governor on all transportation-related issues facing the state, and as Director of the Authorities Unit, Wilton sits on NJ TRANSIT’s Board of Directors and exercises oversight of the multi-billion dollar agency.

Before joining the Murphy administration, Wilton was co-managing partner of the Wilton Law Firm and served as Municipal Prosecutor in Freehold and Red Bank and was Mayor of Lake Como from January 2015 to July 2018, and a councilman for the ten years prior.

“For the past three years, I have been intimately involved with New Jersey Transit as Director of the Authorities Unit and Board Member,” Wilton said in a statement.

“I am looking forward to using my legal and governmental experience to work with Director Corbett and the Board to re-establish the agency as one of the best transit systems in the country.”