Union County, NJ – Union County Freeholder Daniel P. Sullivan, who is the longest tenured member of the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders, announced last night that he will resign his seat on the Freeholder Board effective today, Friday August 23, in order to assume new duties as the interim Executive Director of the Union County Improvement Authority (UCIA).
Freeholder Sullivan is currently the Executive Director of the Union County Utilities Authority. He will continue in that position while taking up leadership of UCIA under a new shared services agreement between the two agencies.
“Dan has been a driving force in Union County’s transition to a diversified, globally competitive economy with a top quality education infrastructure, a thriving cultural scene, and ample resources for healthy outdoor recreation,” said Freeholder Chairman Linda Carter. “His dedication to serving the common good is an inspiration to us all.”
“The shared services agreement between UCUA and UCIA has presented a new opportunity to move forward with civic projects that benefit the Union County community, and I am looking forward to guiding both agencies through this important transitional period,” said Sullivan.
Sullivan began his first term on the Freeholder Board in 1995. He has served continuously since then and was appointed Executive Director of the Utilities Authority in 2011.
Serving as Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Freeholder Board at various times, Sullivan has specialized in development and transportation issues. He made his mark as a policy guru and enjoyed planning, crafting and shaping major governmental initiatives covering a wide spectrum.
During his tenure, the Freeholder Board supported or was instrumental in creating key economic development initiatives including the new Union County College building in Elizabeth, the Park Madison project in Plainfield, the J. Christian Bollwage parking garage and office development in Elizabeth, the Froehlich and Colleen Fraser buildings in Westfield, various transportation improvements including the expansion of Liberty International Airport and shuttle services, and the expansion of one of the county’s largest employers, the supermarket cooperative Wakefern, in Elizabeth.
Sullivan was also a staunch defender of the county’s Open Space, Recreation and Historic Preservation Trust Fund, which since its inception in 2000 has added more than 300 acres of green space for public recreation and nature conservation in the most densely populated county in New Jersey, including major new parks in Scotch Plains, Clark and Berkeley Heights. The Trust Fund also supports scores of local recreation and historic preservation initiatives annually and was instrumental in preserving the historic Rahway Theater, home of the Union County Performing Arts Center.
Among many other improvements supported or initiated by Sullivan are the expansion of the Union County Vo-Tech Schools campus with new nationally recognized programs, free courses for seniors at Union County College, new transportation services for seniors, and the HEART grant program in support of history and arts programming.
The Union County Improvement Authority enables the creation of civic projects while saving taxpayer dollars through low financing rates. Among the Improvement Authority’s recent projects are a new public library, fire stations, juvenile detention center, and public promenade in Linden, the expansion of the Union County College campus in Elizabeth, and the award-winning Renewable Energy Program which brought solar power to local Boards of Education and other public entities in Union County without up-front costs to taxpayers.
The Union County Utilities Authority is responsible for enforcing the New Jersey Solid Waste Management Act and the Union County District Solid Waste Plan. Under a contract with the company Covanta, the Authority’s Union County Resource Recovery Facility in Rahway converts approximately 1,500 tons of solid municipal waste daily into enough electricity to power 30,000 homes and businesses, as well as to provide electricity for running the facility.