As 2019 moves full speed ahead, the Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders opted to keep their leadership positions the same, with Anthony Vainieri (D-8) named to his third term as chair.Â
The board voted unanimously (8-0) to reappoint Vainieri as chair, Jersey City Freeholder Bill O’Dea (D-2) as vice chair and Hoboken Freeholder Anthony Romano (D-5) as chair pro-tempore.
Freeholder Caridad Rodriguez (D-7) was absent after having knee surgery earlier in the day.
Vainieri, who was sworn in by County Executive Tom DeGise thanked his family and colleagues for their continued support during the public session and elaborated why he wanted to continue to lead the board during an interview with HCV.
“The last freeholder to do this was Sal Vega, back in 1998 he started, I think he was eight years chairman. So he’ll hold the record because I don’t think I’m gonna do this another five years,” he joked.
“Anyway, it’s an honor to be the freeholder chairman, without a doubt, I love it: I like getting along with the freeholders, I like controlling the meetings the way you can. You set agendas, you set committees, you set chairmen up for the committees … it’s a great honor.”
When asked if he an issue convincing his colleagues to appoint him as chair a third time, Vainieri said that he was ready to let the typical rotation resume this year, but his colleagues were clear that they wanted him to maintain his post.
Looking ahead, Vainieri said that the county’s biggest endeavor, which will inevitably draw a lot of attention from the freeholders, is building a new courthouse.
At last year’s state of the county address, DeGise said that his goal was to break ground on the new courthouse by 2020.
The entire meeting streamed live on our Facebook page and can be viewed below:
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