The Bergen County Executive is county executive of Bergen County, New Jersey, United States who, as the chief officer of the county's executive branch, oversees the administration of county government. The office was inaugurated in 1986 at the same time the Board of Chosen Freeholders, which plays a legislative role, was reconfigured. The New Jersey Superior Court had subsumed and replaced county courts in 1983. The executive offices are located in the county seat, Hackensack.
The executive is directly elected at-large to a four-year term on a partisan basis. Since the first county executive took office, five individuals have served in the position. In 2014, incumbent James J. "Jim" Tedesco III was elected to his first term and was re-elected in 2018. As of Election Day 2017 there were 593,454 registered voters in the county, which in 2016 had estimated an estimated population of 939,151.
History
In 1972, the State of New Jersey passed the Optional County Charter Law, which provides for four different manners in which a county could be governed: by an executive, an administrator, a board president or a county supervisor.
A referendum to change the Bergen County form of government was held in 1974 and was rejected by a margin of 132,168 to 123,106, making Bergen one of four counties to reject proposals modifying the structure of county government, while four other counties passed changes. The measure was supported by the League of Women Voters and other groups as a method of improving the management of the county, while the loss of "home rule" in the county's 70 municipalities was one of the issues driving opposition to the referendum.
In 1985, a second referendum was held. The proposal to create an executive branch was approved by a high margin: of the 490,437 registered voters, 116,031 voted for and 70,331 against. The change also reduced the number of members of the legislative branch, Board of Chosen Freeholders, from nine to seven. The judicial branch, namely the county court, had been subsumed and replaced by the New Jersey Superior Court Law Division in 1983.
The executive has power to appoint a County Administrator as well as department heads (with approval of the Board). Responsibilities include preparation/submission of operating and capital budgets, introduction of legislation, the hiring and dismissal of personnel, and approval or veto Freeholder ordinances. The Board of Freeholders board have the power to investigate administrative actions of the executive, approve ordinances and resolutions, initiate service contracts with municipalities, and adopt an administrative code.
Bergen is one of five counties New Jersey with a county executive, the others being Atlantic, Essex, Hudson and Mercer.
County executives
William D. McDowell: 1987–1991
William D. McDowell served one term. McDowell had earlier served on board of the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission.
McDowell, who at the time was County Sheriff, faced Democrat Matthew Feldman, a five-term member of the New Jersey Senate and former Senate President in the race. McDowell was endorsed by Doris Mahalick, Feldman's rival for the Democratic nomination. McDowell beat Feldman by a margin of nearly 20,000, capturing 112,619 votes (55% of ballots cast) to 92,649 (45%) for Feldman.
Pat Schuber: 1991–2003
William "Pat" Schuber, a Republican, served 12 years as the County Executive. Schuber had previously served both as a councilman and mayor of Bogota, New Jersey and was elected to five successive terms in the New Jersey General Assembly In 2011, he was appointed to a six-year term on the board of commissioners of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ).
Dennis McNerney: 2003–2011
Dennis McNerney, who served from 2003 to 2011, was the first Democrat to serve as County Executive.
He took office in January 2003 after being elected to the Bergen County Board of Chosen Freeholders in 1998 and 2001 McNerney was reelected to his second term of office as county executive in 2006, defeating former Freeholder Todd Caliguire, after outspending the Republican by a 6-1 margin. He lost reelection in 2010 to County Clerk Kathleen Donovan, in a race in which the Republicans captured all three open seats on the Board of Chosen Freeholders to regain control on the board.
In his February 2008 State of the County address, McNerney called for Bergen County municipalities with populations less than 10,000 to merge, saying "The surest way to significantly lower homeowners' property taxes is to merge small towns and reduce administrative overhead." Half of Bergen County's municipalities (35/70) had fewer than 10,000 residents each then.