TRENTON – As of June 8, Sen. Jeff Van Drew’s (D-1st) name was removed as a sponsor of a Senate bill (S412) that would require renaming freeholders as county commissioners.
Replacing Van Drew, who won his party’s nod June 5 to run for the U.S. House of Representatives seat for the 2nd District, was Sen. Stephen Sweeney, (D-3rd). The other primary sponsor remains Sen. Joseph Pennacchio (R-26th).
In the June 7 Herald’s “Compass Points” column, Managing Editor Al Campbell urged senators to focus attention on pressing state issues, not on the renaming of county officials.
Freeholder Director Gerald Thornton, president of the South Jersey Freeholders Association, said that organization of freeholders opposed the bill as does the state association of counties.
At its May 22 meeting, the Cape May County freeholders passed a resolution in opposition to the bill. Among reasons was that the name change “is part of a larger, ongoing effort to purge from American history anything from our past considered offensive to the values of modern society.”
That was because the term, as it originated in England, was that a free holder was a male whose property was unencumbered by a mortgage.
Additionally, the freeholders’ resolution added, “Use of taxpayer dollars in an effort to erase history for no other reason than political correctness is, in the opinion of this board, misuse of funds.”
The bill would mandate freeholders become county commissioners effective Jan. 1, 2019.
