Ocean County
ORG
Ocean County
Laurel Hester has been fighting two almost intractable foes like lung cancer and the Ocean County freeholders, who had refused repeatedly to let her leave her domestic partner the pension she has earned in two decades of local police work. State Senator Andrew R. Ciesla, who is a Republican from Ocean County, agreed to sponsor legislation that would fix the state rules that allow those in the public employee retirement system to name anyone as beneficiary for their benefits, while those in the police and fire retirement system must designate a spouse. Until Ocean County's decision, 7 of the state's 21 counties had passed such resolutions like Bergen, Hudson, Mercer, Union, Monmouth, Passaic and Camden.