Monmouth County freeholders Thomas A. Arnone of Neptune City and Patrick Impreveduto of Holmdel became, respectively, freeholder director and freeholder deputy director at the Board of Freeholders’ 2019 organization meeting held on Jan. 3 at Biotechnology High School, Freehold Township.
During the meeting, Gerry P. Scharfenberger of Middletown was sworn in to a one-year term as a freeholder and Susan M. Kiley of Hazlet was sworn in to a three-year term as a freeholder. State Superior Court Judge Joseph Oxley administered the oath of office to Scharfenberger and Kiley.
Arnone, Impreveduto, Scharfenberger and Kiley are joined on the county’s governing body by Lillian G. Burry of Colts Neck. All five freeholders are Republicans.
Arnone, who will serve his fourth one-year term as director of the board, said, “While this position usually rotates between board members each year, I am grateful my fellow freeholders voted to appoint me to continue serving in this role for the second year in a row.
“While I am grateful for the opportunity to continue serving as director, Monmouth County would not see the success it does without the hard work of the entire board working together as a team. My fellow freeholders are a hardworking group of individuals who want the best for our residents.
“In fact, this is the first time in recent memory that the board is comprised solely of former municipal mayors. That being said, each freeholder brings a wealth of knowledge and experience from their time at the municipal level that will help them work better and more efficiently with all 53 mayors and councils” in the county, Arnone said.
“I would like to congratulate freeholders Scharfenberger and Kiley on their election to the board. I look forward to working alongside them, as well as Freeholder Burry and
Deputy Director Impreveduto, to ensure Monmouth County remains a great a place to live and work,” he said.
In recent years, Arnone has focused a significant amount of time and attention on economic development in the county. He said the retention of businesses will be an important goal during 2019.
Impreveduto said one of his goals for 2019 will be to work with the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office to create a county-wide emergency medical services system.
“Monmouth County ranks 19th out of 21 counties in response time. That is unacceptable and needs to be improved,” he said during his remarks at the reorganization meeting.
During her comments, Burry proposed a new initiative, which she described as a veteran-owned business initiative to highlight businesses in the county that are owned by veterans of the armed forces. Such an initiative would help veterans start, run and expand businesses, she said.
This effort “will take several years to complete, but every initiative starts with a first step,” Burry said.
On another front, Burry said, “I will continue to work on the transformation of Fort Monmouth into an economic engine for Monmouth County.”
Scharfenberger, who was appointed to the board in 2018 and then won a one-year term to serve through 2019, said the freeholders are “advocates for the taxpayers in all our municipalities” when they speak out against state programs, laws and proposals they believe to be misguided, such as the legalization of recreational or adult-use marijuana.
“The Monmouth County freeholders will not remain silent … even if (speaking out) runs counter to the leadership in Trenton,” he said.
Kiley thanked voters for their support and said, “I am honored and humbled that you placed your trust in me.”
The former municipal official said she looks forward to the challenges of being a freeholder, adding, “Hazlet has given me a great foundation to build on.” Kiley pledged to work with local officials to help their municipalities succeed.
According to the Monmouth County Directory, the board of freeholders “collectively oversees five mandatory functions of county government delegated to it by the state. Each freeholder is assigned responsibility for one of the functional areas.”
The freeholder areas of responsibility for 2019 are as follows: Arnone, Commerce, Public Works and Engineering; Impreveduto, Health and Education; Burry, Public Service and Regulation; Scharfenberger, Finance and Administration; and Kiley, Human Services.
During the meeting, Arnone was designated as the voting member from Monmouth County on the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA) for 2019.
The NJTPA is the federally authorized transportation planning organization in the 13-county northern region of New Jersey, including Monmouth County, which provides a forum for interagency cooperation and public input into funding decisions, according to a resolution.
The invocation and the benediction at the meeting were offered by Father Fernando Lopez, of Our Lady of Perpetual Help-St. Agnes Church, Highlands.
Arnone thanked students in the singing group Stardust from the Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle School, Freehold Township, who performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the reorganization meeting.
“After hearing them sing at an event last fall, I asked if they would like to perform the national anthem at our reorganization meeting. I can speak for the entire freeholder board when I say what a terrific job they did,” Arnone said of the Eisenhower students.
