Hudson County Commissioner Jerry Walker (D-3) bid his colleagues a teary-eyed farewell at last night’s reorganization meeting, his last before being sworn into the state Assembly next week.
As a way of saying goodbye, the commissioners temporarily appointed Walker to act as chairman for the duration of the meeting. Walker was the vice chair of the board last year and will be sworn in as assemblyman in the 31st Legislative District on January 13th.
He and Assemblyman William Sampson, who had the backing of the Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO), handily defeated their Republican opponents Anthony Acosta and Neil Schulman on November 4th.
“Nobody don’t really give you a script on what’s going on here, and you don’t get no tutoring or anything like that,” Walker said during his speech.
“I just hit the ground running. And [Commissioner] Al [Cifelli] was very, very gracious. I would lean on him often and say, what’s going on here? He’s very gracious on sharing information. So Al, I wanted to say I appreciated that.”
Walker also gave a big shoutout to Commissioner Bill O’Dea (D-2), who he also leaned on for advice when he first became vice chair.
He fondly referred to O’Dea, who was appointed as the new chairman pro tempore at the same meeting, as “his grandfather” and a “book of knowledge.”
“Bill has obviously got a tremendous amount of experience. Bill loves Jersey City. Bill is somebody that I admire in his tenacity. He’s somebody that don’t back down. He often keeps us here a little bit later than we want to be her,” Walker declared.
Walker made a special shoutout to his aide and senior group, both present in the audience to see him off. He also praised the department directors he worked with, pledging to keep the same work ethic in the Statehouse.
“Working with you all, I never was the type of guy that tried to do it in front of a crowd,” Walker said.
“If I had any issues with you all, I would call you directly and try to work things out. I’m moving down to the state, but I’m going to be here. And I’m going to be representing you guys on a higher level.”
According to Walker, he is already working with Kearny Mayor Carol Jean Doyle, who is also the clerk for the commissioners, to set up constituent services out of her office. He also thanked her for her support during his campaign.
“I was trying to figure out how to get more money out of Trenton to have a satellite office over in Kearny, and I called the mayor up and I said I want to be there with the constituent services,” Walker recalled.
“I’m going to be boots on the ground. I want to be able to talk to residents in Kearny. And she said … ‘you can use my office’ … And when we work with my colleague Kenny Kopacz, me and Kenny got a great relationship with great chemistry. And I’m looking forward to bringing more resources back to Bayonne … because Bayonne is part of my home now too.”
He further stated that the board will continue to be successful, acknowledging Commissioner Fanny Cedeno, the new vice chair, and her recent appointment to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey board.
“Fanny overnight became one of the most powerful ladies in the State of New Jersey. She’s also a Seton Hall girl, so I’m proud of myself on that. And she’s also going to be representing us at the Port Authority, which is a huge situation,” he stated.
“So Fanny, I’m going to be working with you in terms of trying to figure out what’s going to go on with the Gateway, bring back resources or retraining dollars, et cetera.”
Tearing up, Walker doubled down on his appreciation for Hudson County as this new chapter of his life begins.
“I appreciate you guys, and I’m going to make y’all proud down the trail. The big thing that’s going on down in Trenton is. .. juvenile justice. Bob Basilice I’m going to lean on you for that because I know it’s a big problem. So we’ve got to figure out things with our youth.”
While there are a lot of things he will miss, Walker joked he won’t miss arguing with his wife after the Board meetings. He reiterated that he will still be very present in Jersey City, Bayonne, and Kearny – the three cities he will represent at the State level.
“Im not going anywhere – I’m just here to try to bring back resources and particularly in the three cities that I’m going to be working for.”
Walker’s seat will be filled via an appointment by the Democratic committee members of the 3rd District in Jersey City, which is mostly Wards A and B, with a few blocks in Ward B as well.