STATE OF NEW JERSEY
Division of The Ratepayer Advocate
31 Clinton Street, 11th Fl
Newark, New Jersey 07101
Press Release
For Immediate Release
Friday, October 10, 2003
|
For
Further Information
Contact: Tom Rosenthal
Tel: 973-648-2690 |
Ratepayer Advocate Seema
M. Singh Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month
Dr. Luis Martinez-Fernandez of Rutgers Addresses Division Staff
Newark, NJ – Ratepayer Advocate Seema M. Singh celebrated Hispanic Heritage
Month at the Division of the Ratepayer Advocate today with a talk by a noted
Hispanic/Latino scholar to the division’s staff of approximately 50 people.
At the request of Governor James E. McGreevey, who asked his cabinet officers
to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month at their departments throughout state
government, Ms. Singh invited Dr. Luis Martinez-Fernandez, the department chair
of the Puerto Rican and Hispanic Caribbean Studies at Rutgers University, New
Brunswick.
Dr. Martinez-Fernandez also serves on the Governor’s Hispanic Advisory
Council. A distinguished author,
lecturer, historian and educator, Dr. Martinez-Fernandez shared his insights on
“Hispanics/Latinos in the 21st Century: Challenges We Face
and Obstacles We Confront.”
“We at the Division of the Ratepayer Advocate have been committed to reaching
out to the Hispanic Community and all the other communities of New Jersey to
ensure that New Jersey is a hospitable and effective environment for all the
families of the state,” said Ms. Singh.
“Our mission is to ensure that ratepayers are afforded the safest, most
reliable service, and reasonable rates possible for all essential services,
including electric, natural gas, water/wastewater, and telecommunications.”
Ms. Singh said, “We must also ensure that Spanish speaking ratepayers, the
largest and fastest growing ethnic group in the state, are afforded
understandable information about their essential services and advice on how to
seek assistance when their essential services are affected by utility failures
or economic problems.”
The Division of the Ratepayer Advocate is an independent, autonomous state
agency that represents the interests of utility consumers and serves as an
active participant in every case where New Jersey utilities seek changes in
their rates or services. The
Ratepayer Advocate also gives consumers a voice in setting long-range energy,
water, and telecommunications policy that will affect the delivery of utility
services well into the future.
Additional information on this and
other matters can be found at the Division of Ratepayer Advocate’s website at
http://www.rpa.state.nj.us