Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff

Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff
Treasurer of New Jersey
In office February 22, 2010 – July 2, 2015
Governor	Chris Christie
Preceded by	David Rousseau
Succeeded by	Robert Romano
Personal details
Born	February 20, 1963 New York City, New York, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Alma mater	Princeton University Georgetown University

Andrew P. Sidamon-Eristoff (born February 20, 1963) is a Georgian American Republican Party lawyer, politician and government official from New York City who served as New Jersey State Treasurer under Governor Chris Christie from January 2010 until his resignation in July 2015. He previously served as Commissioner of Tax and Finance under New York State Governor George E. Pataki from September 2003 until November 2006 and Commissioner of Finance for the City of New York under Mayor Rudolph Giuliani from 1999 to 2001.^[1]

Education and family background

Eristoff graduated from Princeton University with honors in 1985 and received a juris doctor degree with honors from Georgetown University Law Center in 1989. In 2000, Eristoff earned an Advanced Professional Certificate in Information Technology from New York University.

Known socially as Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff, he is the son of the late lawyer, government official, and environmental advocate Constantine Sidamon-Eristoff (1930–2011)^[2] and Anne Phipps Sidamon-Eristoff. His great-grandfather, Henry Phipps, was a partner of Andrew Carnegie. On his father's side, Eristoff is a grandson of Prince Simon Sidamon-Eristoff (1891–1961), a Georgian military officer and a scion of the noble Sidamoni-Eristavi family, who emigrated to the United States after the Bolsheviks invaded Georgia in 1921, and married Anne Tracy, a descendant of John Bigelow, an American lawyer, editor and diplomat in the mid-19th century.^[2]

Political career

Eristoff served as a member of the New York City Council from 1993 until 1999, elected three times to represent an overwhelmingly Democratic district on Manhattan's East Side. In addition to focusing on quality-of-life issues (he wrote the Taxi Rider's Bill of Rights and a law to ban panhandling near automated teller machines, for example), Eristoff became the Council's leading expert on technology and was made Chairman of the Council's Task Force on Technology in Government, the first Republican to hold a chair in modern times. In 1999, Eristoff became New York City Commissioner of Finance under Mayor Rudy Giuliani. He served in that role until 2002, earning recognition for implementing management strategies that leveraged technology and performance measurement to reduce costs, increase collections, and improve customer service.

After serving briefly as Chairman of the New York [Manhattan] Republican County Committee, and an unsuccessful race for New York State Senate in 2002, Governor George Pataki appointed Eristoff Executive Deputy Commissioner of the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. In September 2003, Eristoff was nominated and confirmed as Commissioner of Tax and Finance. In his role as chief executive of the second-largest state revenue administration, Commissioner Eristoff oversaw a budget in excess of $400 million, managed over 4,600 employees, and was responsible for $77 billion in annual state and local revenues. He was a national leader in state- and national-level data sharing initiatives to support compliance programs; stabilized a multi-year $100 million IT project to build an integrated tax system; oversaw a landmark tax shelter amnesty initiative; and implemented project portfolio management and performance-based budgeting programs.

In January 2007, Eristoff applied to the New York State Legislature to be among the candidates screened to replace former New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi. In 2008, Eristoff served as Manhattan Coordinator for McCain-Palin 2008.

On January 14, 2010, he was nominated by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie as State Treasurer. Eristoff assumed the duties of Acting State Treasurer on January 19, 2010. The New Jersey Senate confirmed his nomination on February 22.^[3] He was sworn in on March 2, 2010.^[4] The longest-serving Treasurer in almost 40 years, Mr. Eristoff oversaw a major department with almost 3,100 employees and more than 10 divisions spanning budget, revenue collection, public finance and debt management, benefits administration, pension fund investments, Statewide information technology standards and infrastructure, procurement, State facilities, risk management, unclaimedproperty administration, and the State Lottery. In addition to managing the development and execution of New Jersey’s $30 billion-plus annual budget, Mr. Eristoff played a major role in developing Governor Christie’s landmark 2001 pension and health benefits reforms, designed and implemented Governor Christie’s Performance Budgeting Initiative, drafted Governor’s Christie’s $2.3 billion business tax reduction package of 2011, advanced significant procurement process reforms, managed several major privatization initiatives, restructured the State’s IT governance configuration, and oversaw debt and financial management reforms that achieved $1.9 billion in budget savings and eliminated the State’s exposure to $4.2 billion in risky derivatives.

Electoral history

• 2002 special election for New York State Senate, 26th District
  • Andrew S. Eristoff (R), 40.7%
  • Liz Krueger (D), 59.3%

References

1. "Andrew S. Eristoff Announces His Resignation After Three Years As State Tax Commissioner" (Press release). New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. October 20, 2006.
2. Constantine Sidamon-Eristoff, Environmental Advocate, Dies at 81. The New York Times. December 29, 2011
3. "Senate confirms 5 NJ Cabinet picks". Asbury Park Press. 2010-02-22. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
4. "Office of the State Treasurer". State of New Jersey. Retrieved 2010-04-04.

External links

• March 31, 1996 New York Times wedding announcement for Andrew Eristoff and Catherine Elaine Baxter
• Eristoff's Statements before Comptroller Selection Panel
• ^[1]

1. http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/16/03/08/opinion-unintended-consequences-the-true-cost-of-the-15-minimum-wage/?utm_source=NJ+Spotlight++Master+List&utm_campaign=ecfaf450ef-Weekly_3_11_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1d26f473a7-ecfaf450ef-398643377