Stephen D. Reid wears many hats. He is the Mayor of Point Pleasant Beach and the founder and principal of Stephen Reid Associates, a public affairs and lobbying firm. Reid also happens to be the Executive Director of NJ RAMP, an anti-marijuana lobbying group that is the client of Reid’s lobbying firm.
In December 2017, Point Pleasant Beach became the first municipality in New Jersey to ban both medical and recreational marijuana. Since then, more than 50 other municipalities have followed its lead. Reid has been instrumental in pushing for these bans, as he has travelled around the state speaking at public meetings and advocating for the bans. In these public meetings, he holds himself out as the Mayor of Point Pleasant Beach, the first town to fight back against the cannabis industry and to successfully ban marijuana. What he has downplayed is that he is actually a lobbyist for NJ RAMP and is furthering its agenda. In fact, Reid’s 2018 financial disclosure form does not disclose income from NJ RAMP; Reid has written letters to the editor about marijuana issues, identifying himself as the Mayor of Point Pleasant Beach and never mentioning NJ RAMP; and he has even publicly stated that he is doing his advocacy work across the state as someone “who doesn’t get paid,” leading the public to believe he was just a very concerned mayor who wants to help other public agencies implement marijuana bans.