Freeholders Reorganize; Desiderio Returns, Retains Vice Director Title

CREST HAVEN – Leonard C. Desiderio took his oath to return for his sixth term as a Cape May County freeholder Jan. 3 joined by his parents, wife and daughter.  
Desiderio, who likes to say he’s the mayor of “The Capital of Cape May County,” told the standing-room-only crowd in the freeholder meeting room of the county Administration Building, that it was his late brother Gerard who first got him involved in politics at the age of 11 during a campaign. He was first elected to the board in 2002.
He’s been in the Grand Old Party for the ensuing 50 years.
Holding the Bible as Desiderio took his oath from Superior Court Judge Michael Donohue was daughter Carmela, his campaign manager.
Standing with their son was his father, Leonard, mother, Carmel, and wife Carmela.
He said that she was relentless during the campaign that won his reelection against Democratic challenger Jeremiah Schenerman. Her guidance put him in the voters’ eye and helped him garner 24,689 votes to his opponent’s 14,501 votes.
Since Desiderio is liaison for public safety, he recognized many top law enforcement officers from around the county and state who made the trip to see him take his oath. 
He oversees the Public Safety, the Animal Shelter, Consumer Affairs/Weights and Measures, Fire Marshal, Department of Law, Medical Examiner, Prosecutor’s Office, Public Safety Training Center, Risk Management and Safety and the Sheriff’s Office/Correctional Center.
As with reorganization meetings, this one was steeped in tradition and color.
The Cape May County Sheriff’s Office Color Guard presented the colors at the outset of the meeting.
Marine Vietnam veteran and Disabled American Veterans Chapter 44’s Joe Harris and his grandson, Joseph Donnelly, a Boy Scout from Troop 87, led the Pledge of Allegiance.
As the entire room stood, Julia Wilson, a sophomore from Ocean City High School sang the national anthem.
Deacon Joseph Murphy of St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, Sea Isle City delivered the invocation.
After comments from freeholders. Bella McKeown, a sixth grader at Sandman Consolidated School, Cold Spring, sang “Tomorrow,” from the Broadway show “Annie.” Her singing brought broad smiles to the faces of Freeholder Director Gerald Thornton and Desiderio.
After the passage of resolutions enabling the county to operate for another year, Pastor Scott Durbin, lead pastor of Cape Fellowship Church and chaplain for the Sheriff’s Office and Middle Township Police Department, delivered the Benediction.
Wilson closed the ceremony by singing “God Bless America.”