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Thomas A. DeGise: Hudson County Executive County
Executive Thomas A. DeGise took office after winning a special election in
November, 2002, one in which he garnered 77 percent of the vote. On his
first day in office, he submitted legislation to the Board of Freeholders to
create the first ever Ethics Oversight Board for Hudson County government.
In January, 2003, Mr. DeGise made the opening of a "second front" in the war
on sprawl the centerpiece of his first State of the County Address, calling
for Hudson County to finally join New Jersey's other twenty counties in
adopting an Open Space Trust fund dedicated for the aquistion of new open
space, improvement of parks and increased presevation of historic sites.
He has made job creation a priority, begining with a revival of the County's
Summer Youth Employment Initiative, which ceased operation under the
previous administration. The new initiative combines public and private
efforts to help young people into work and off the streets. Within the
region, County Executive DeGise serves as the Chairman of the Frieght
Committee and a member of the Project Priorities Committee of the New Jersey
Transportation Planning Authority.
Prior to serving as County Executive, Mr. DeGise was Jersey City's longest
serving Municipal Council President, holding that office from 1993 to 2001.
In those years, he never missed a meeting, caucus or budget hearing and
never abstained on a vote. Mr. DeGise entered public life as a community
leader during the 1980's, founding the New #28 School Neighborhood
Association and eventually chairing the Heights Coalition of Neighborhood
Associations (HCNA), a group dedicated to improving quality of life in
city's Heights Section.
A teacher and administrator in the Jersey City Schools since 1975, Mr.
DeGise most recently served as a job placement counselor at Henry Snyder
High School. He earned his bachelors degree in Political Science from St.
Peters College in 1973.
Mr. DeGise was born and raised in Jersey City. He still lives in the same
Heights neighborhood where he was born with his wife Helene, and their two
daughters, Linda and Amy. |
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