Feeholders give themselves power to reorganize, investigate county government
Tuesday, September 17, 2013 Last updated: Wednesday September 18, 2013, 10:10 AM
BY JOHN C. ENSSLIN
STAFF WRITER
The Record
The Bergen County Freeholders on Tuesday night approved changes to the county code that explicitly give them the power to reorganize and investigate the way county government is administered.
The board voted 6-1 to approve the changes, with Republicans John Felice and John Mitchell joining Democrats David Ganz, Joan Voss, Steve Tanelli and Tracy Zur. Freeholder Maura DeNicola, a Republican, cast the lone dissenting vote.
The vote comes at a time when the Democratic freeholders, who have a 4-3 majority, are on the verge of introducing a proposal to merge the Bergen County Police Department into the Sheriff’s Office, a move that County Executive Kathleen Donovan, a Republican, opposes. The Democratic freeholders are expected to unveil their plan on Wednesday at party headquarters in Hackensack.
Throughout nearly two years of contentious debate on the merger, Donovan has insisted that the freeholders lack the authority to eliminate an entire county department unless her office first proposes it.