One of the roughest campaigns in Tuesday’s election was for Bergen County executive. The candidates together spent $1 million on a welter of negative ads and one that even led to a defamation suit. But when the votes were counted, county Republicans’ best-known politician Kathleen Donovan had been ousted by former Paramus mayor turned Freeholder James Tedesco. Tedesco told NJTV News Anchor Mary Alice Williams that after being sworn in, he plans to move forward the merger of the county’s police force and the sheriff’s department.
“I had the vision and I had the people on my side. In this election, it was about the people’s disenchantment with the government that was under Donovan’s leadership and that came out loud and clear,” said Tedesco. “The people of Bergen County want government to work for them. They don’t want government being governed in the courthouse, they want it being governed in the people’s house and that’s what I am going to do.”
According to Tedesco, his win is significant to the Democratic Party in New Jersey. He said that Bergen County is the largest county in the state and there are not many elections statewide or even at the federal level that people can win without taking Bergen County. He said having a Democratic county executive and a Democratic Freeholder Board positions Bergen County to be a large player and have a great impact on who becomes the next New Jersey governor. He said that is two years from now, so for now he has to start doing the people’s business in Bergen County starting in January.
Tedesco said that after he is sworn in, he is going to sign the contract for the Bergen County Sheriff’s Officers that they have been waiting four years for. He said that he will also move forward with the realignment of the police into the sheriff’s department.
He said that within the first 100 days in office, he will propose a budget that meets the needs of the people of Bergen County and he will make sure the merger of the police and sheriff’s department is completed or almost completed. He said that legally he does not see any roadblocks to the merger, though he admits some groups may want to challenge the reorganization. He said everyone will still have a job because the positions will be lost through attrition and the county will end up with one good, large police force to work on behalf of the people of Bergen County.