Sussex County Board of County Commissioners

The Sussex County Board of County Commissioners is a body of five people, called commissioners that govern Sussex County, New Jersey. They are elected at large by popular vote. The last democrat to serve on the board was Howard Burrell who served on the board from 2000 to 2002.[1]

Sussex County Board of County Commissioners
Leadership
Director
Chris Carney (R)
since January 3, 2019
Deputy Director
Herbert Yardley (R)
since January 1, 2018
Structure
Seats5
Political groups
Republican Party (5)
Length of term
3 years
Website
Sussex County Freeholders

Structure

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Sussex County Administration Building where the Freeholders meet

The board is the legislative body of Sussex County, New Jersey. They are responsible for the adoption of a budget for the county. The board oversees, and creates policies for the county's Departments of Central and Shared Services, Engineering and Planning, Finance and Library Services, and the Department Health and Human Services. Among those departments they also operate multiple boards, and committees.[2] They also oversee the boards of estimates for Sussex County Technical School, and Sussex County Community College. The board also has the authority over the county's infrastructure. Meetings are held in Newton, New Jersey in the Sussex County Administrative Center.[3] Each year during the reorganization meetings commissioners choose two members from the board to serve as director and deputy director. The current director is Commissioner Herb Yardley, and the current deputy director is Commissioner Sylvia Petillo.

Party affiliation

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Affiliation Members
  Republican Party 5
  Democratic Party 0
Total 5

Sessions

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2019

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In April, the board approved a resolution that would put a question on the ballot asking the Sheriff to ignore the sanctuary state directive sent out by State Attorney General Gurbir Grewal in November 2018. Grewal sent a letter to Sussex County Clerk Jeff Parrott telling him not to put the question on the ballot. Sheriff Mike Strada in turn asked Attorney General William Barr for legal assistance.[4] In July the board hired state Republican Chairman Doug Steinhardt as legal counsel in fighting the state Attorney General.[5]

Previous Sessions

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Year Seat 1 Seat 2 Seat 3 Seat 4 Seat 5
2002

Howard Burrell (D)

JoAnn D'Angeli (R)

Glen Vetrano (R)

Hal Wirths (R)

Susan M. Zellman (R)

2003

Gary R. Chiusano (R)

2004
2005

Steve Oroho (R)

2006
2007
2008

Jeff Parrott (R)

2008

Philip R. Crabb (R)[n 1]

2009
2010

Rich Zeoli (R)

2010

Parker Space (R) [n 2] [n 3]

2011

Richard Vohden (R)

2012
2013

Dennis Mudrick (R)

Gail Phoebus (R)

2013

George F. Graham [n 4]

2014
2015
2016

Carl Lazzaro (R)

Jonathan Rose (R)

2017

Sylvia Petillo (R)

2018

Herb Yardley (R)

2019

Josh Hertzberg (R)

2020
2021
2022

Jill Space [n 5]

Chris Carney

Dawn Fantasia (R)

2023

William Hayden

  1. ^ Appointed to the Board on February 15, 2008
  2. ^ Appointed to the Board on June 16, 2010
  3. ^ Appointed to the New Jersey General Assembly on March 21, 2013
  4. ^ Appointed to the Board on April 12, 2013
  5. ^ Appointed to the Board in May 2022

Former Members

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  • Howard Burrell , elected in 1999 and most recent democrat to serve on the board.
  • Vic Marotta , on the board from 1988 to 1991 and served as Mayor of Vernon, New Jersey from 2011 to 2015.[6]
  • Jeff Parrott , on the board from 2008 to 2010 lost the 2010 primary to current Assemblyman Parker Space, has served as County Clerk since 2011.[7]
  • Phil Crabb , served on the board from 2008 to 2017, and later served on the Franklin Borough Council in 2018.[8]
  • Jonathan Rose on the board from 2016 to 2018 and lost re-election to Dawn Fantasia in the 2018 republican primary.[9]
  • Carl Lazzaro , in office from 2016 to 2018 and lost the 2018 GOP primary to Josh Hertzberg.

References

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  1. ^ "Freeholder Candidate Perez Names Howard Burrell Campaign Manager". tapinto.net. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
  2. ^ "Board of Freeholders". sussex.nj.us. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
  3. ^ "Meeting Schedules - Sussex County". sussex.nj.us. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
  4. ^ "N.J. sheriff asks for Trump's help in getting anti-sanctuary state question on the ballot". NJ.com. May 25, 2019. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
  5. ^ "Immigration battle escalates as county hires GOP chair to combat Murphy's AG". NJ.com. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
  6. ^ "Former Vernon mayor attempting a political comeback". NJ.com. June 27, 2017. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
  7. ^ "Defeat opened door to new beginning for Parrott". NJ Herald. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
  8. ^ "Crabb chosen for Franklin Borough Council seat". NJ Herald. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
  9. ^ "GOP challengers oust 2 Freeholdera". NJ Herald. Retrieved July 14, 2019.