This is an accepted version of this page Alan Louis Sagner (September 13, 1920 – January 3, 2018) was an American Democratic Party politician, businessman and philanthropist who served as New Jersey Commissioner of Transportation, as Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and as Chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
[2] Sagner and his brother-in-law, Martin Levin, formed Levin/Sagner, a New Jersey home building and real estate development business.
Sagner became active in politics in 1960 on behalf of former Illinois governor Adlai Stevenson, who was mounting a third bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.
[9] On January 3, 1975, Governor-elect Brendan Byrne appointed Sagner to serve in his cabinet as the New Jersey Commissioner of Transportation.
[11] A month later, Sagner acknowledged that John Nero, a Camden County Democratic leader, had offered $25,000 to the 1973 Byrne campaign in exchange for appointment as the head of the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission.
His appointment marked the resolution of a conflict between Byrne and New York Governor Hugh Carey over control of the bi-state transportation agency.
Sagner's predecessor, Dr. William J. Ronan, had been widely criticized for frequent international travel at Port Authority expense.
[15] When Kean ran for re-election in 1985, Sagner backed Democrat Peter Shapiro, who had begun his political career as an aide at the state Department of Transportation in 1974.
[16] President Bill Clinton nominated Sagner to serve on the Board of Director of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting on March 8, 1994.