By Sunayana Prabhu
FREEHOLD – Amid a slew of municipal, state and federal leaders, the Monmouth County Board of County Commissioners held its 2024 reorganization meeting Jan. 4 at Biotechnology High School.
The board selected Thomas Arnone and Ross Licitra to lead as director and deputy director, respectively; former Shrewsbury Borough Mayor Erik Anderson was sworn in to begin serving his first three-year term as a commissioner.
Anderson won election in November with 84,767 votes. He succeeds six-term county commissioner Lillian G. Burry who chose not to run for reelection and instead retired in December.
Surrounded by his family Thursday, Anderson was sworn into office by Judge Mara Zazzali-Hogan of the Monmouth County Superior Court.
As a former mayor, Anderson highlighted and stressed the need for working relationships between the county and local government that “can be mutually beneficial for each party.” Anderson outlined his goals for his term, focusing on opportunities to grow the county’s partnerships with its 53 municipalities by “ensuring fiscal responsibility for the taxpayers, supporting our law enforcement and first responders, preserving open space and expanding and enhancing our great parks system.”
At each annual meeting, the commissioners elect two members to preside over all meetings as the director and deputy director of the board.
The board reappointed Arnone, who has been its director since 2018. He is currently serving his fifth three-year term which expires in 2025.
“Between all of ratings, financially,” Arnone said, “the highest growth county in the state of New Jersey is Monmouth County.” He mentioned the proactive measures taken by the county to curb inflation-related distress, like collaborating with municipalities to provide shared services so towns can maintain and enhance their residents’ quality of life. However, Arnone said it is sometimes difficult to govern municipalities that range from upper Freehold to Asbury Park to Aberdeen to Brielle. “Every one of those towns are different in demographic size (and) financially,” Arnone noted. “The five of us will work to make the best type of quality of life in those municipalities along with their governing body.”
Licitra was reelected in November. As he embarks on his second three-year term – this time as deputy director – he said many elected officials have “lost the meaning of what being an elected official is. Being elected is about understanding your constituency and the needs and the wants of the majority, but never losing sight of the minority who needs to be heard and included.”
The “recipe for success,” he noted, is a balancing act between providing the best for the constituents while maintaining financial responsibility. Additionally, he said, “It’s not about being Republican or Democrat or Independent. It’s about honesty, integrity and, most of all, common sense.”
Arnone, Licitra and Anderson are joined on the board by Susan M. Kiley and Nick DiRocco.
DiRocco assured a productive and prosperous 2024 for Monmouth County. “Once again, for nine years in a row, we’ve actually cut the tax rate, which I think is remarkable. And I’m very proud of that,” he said. “And we did that even in the face of record high inflation (and) macroeconomic factors that have impacted budgets all over the country but certainly in New Jersey and at the municipal and county level.”
Speaking at the meeting, Kiley said the county will continue to “reach out to our residents who are in need of help.” She said the core mission of their team is “to anticipate and prepare for a changing future, and we will plan accordingly. We are committed to our residents.”
Various citizen appointments to county boards and commissions were also made during the reorganization meeting.
The commissioners convened Jan. 11 for their first regular meeting of 2024.
The article originally appeared in the January 11 – January 17, 2024 print edition of The Two River Times.
