Former Bayonne Office of Emergency Management (OEM) Coordinator Edoardo Ferrante Jr. was unanimously approved (9-0) to be the new Hudson County OEM Coordinator, succeeding Jim Woods, by the board of commissioners.
By Dan Israel/Hudson County View
The vote came at the January 5th reorganization meeting, as only HCV reported, where Commissioner Kenneth Kopacz (D-1), who represents Bayonne, said he was proud to sponsor Ferrante Jr. in to the position before voting in the affirmative.
In an interview, Ferrante said that he was excited to take on the new role after having a similar job in Bayonne for 11 years under the tenure of Mayor Jimmy Davis, who is now the Hudson County sheriff.
“I believe that even though Bayonne is much smaller than the county obviously, a city of 75,000, I’ve done so much over the last 11 years as OEM for the City of Bayonne. The education that I’ve gotten, I believe, sets me up for success to deal with now a population of 750,000,” he declared.
As Bayonne OEM coordinator, Ferrante Jr. expressed that he’s gotten to know his counterparts in other municipalities he will now assist at the county level.
He said that experience has made him feel comfortable stepping into an analogous position on a larger scale.
“Plus I’ve got to meet all my partners in different communities, and the people at the County- I’ve been working side by side with them for the last decade plus.”
County OEM is now under the purview of the Sheriff’s Office, which means that Davis will once again be Ferrante’s boss.
“I’m really excited. One of the things that they did recently is they moved OEM at the county level under the Sheriff’s Department. Now I’ll still be working for Jimmy Davis as a Sheriff. OEM is now a function of the Sheriff’s Department. So I still get to work for my old boss. Old boss same as the new boss,” Ferrante noted.
Reflecting on his over-a-decade tenure in Bayonne, Ferrante is confident that he is leaving the city’s OEM prime to handle whatever comes its way.
And he looks forward to shepherding the rest of Hudson County through whatever storm or emergency comes our way at the helm of Hudson County’s OEM.
“I think Bayonne is set up for success. I’m really looking forward to seeing what they can do going forward. And I’m really excited to work with everybody here in Hudson County. All the people that I’ve met so far at the county level have been outstanding,” he explained.
“So from [County Executive] Craig Guy on down, really, really good partners and very professional. I’m looking forward to working with everybody to help all 750,000 residents of Hudson County. That’s my main goal.”
Looking ahead to potential goals for the future, he aims to increase communication between the county and municipal governments.
“I think i want to try to see if there could be a little bit more of an outreach to assist municipalities when they have things that go on, such as a major fire or something like that,” he concluded.
“I think the experience I’ve gotten in doing that, I think maybe it would be great if we could partner with them and offer them a little bit more assistance than had been done in the past.”