Former Whitman administration official Stephen Sasala passed away on Friday after a battle with cancer. He was 59. Sasala served as Deputy Commissioner of Corrections from 1994 to 1996, as Deputy Commissioner of Banking and Insurance from 1996 to 1999, and as Acting Director of Local Government Services for the Department of Community Affairs in 1999. He served as CEO of Prosperity New Jersey, a private/public partnership Gov. Christine Todd Whitman created by Executive Order. Sasala held that post from 1999 to 2003, when he moved to Connecticut to run a regional chamber of commerce.
Prior to joining the Whitman administration, Sasala served as Bridgeport City Planning Director, and as Chief of Staff to Mayor Tom Bucci before he was defeated for re-election.
After Gov. John Rowland was released from prison, Sasala helped him obtain an economic development job in Waterbury.
