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William O’Dea
District 2
Known for a questioning mind and an ability to get things done,
William O’Dea was elected freeholder by one vote in a hotly
contested election amongst county committee people to fill the
unexpired term of Freeholder Henry “Hank” Gallo, who died
unexpectedly in September 1997. In November 1998, Freeholder O’Dea
roundly defended his seat, obtaining the electorate’s full support,
for the remaining one year of the term.
Now serving his third full term, Freeholder O’Dea is Chairman of the
Public Resources Committee and the Task Force on the Homeless
Committee. He is the Representative to the Comprehensive Economic
Development Strategy Board and a member on the following committees:
Education; Environment, Health and Human Services; and Women and
Minority Affairs.
On the 2007 Freeholder Board, Bill O’Dea is a member of the Hudson
County Community College Board of School Estimate, the
Representative to the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy
Board, Chairman of the Public Resources Committee, and a member of
the following committees: Contract Review; Economic Development and
Housing; Education; Environment, Health and Human Services; and
Women and Minority Affairs.
This native of Jersey City has previous experience as an elected
official, having served two consecutive terms, in 1985 and 1989, as
a Jersey City Councilman. Currently, Bill O’Dea is Deputy Executive
Director of the Elizabeth Development Company, considered the best-
administered Enterprise Zone development company in the country. He
regularly lectures and teaches seminars on community and economic
development at state and national conferences.
Freeholder O’Dea is a graduate of St. Peter’s Preparatory in Jersey
City, where he won the Silver Medal in Oratory Competition and the
Silver Medal in Business Law. For his many academic successes, he
was included in Who’s Who Among American High School Students. Bill
graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelors of Science degree from
St. John’s University. He won Gold Key Awards as a top student in
criminal justice and in political science.
Bill O’Dea knows that politics is, at times, theater. He has
actually taken his talents in that direction, and is the author of
two plays and six screenplays. He co-authored and co-produced a
sit-com pilot, “Meet the Pitts” which won the Best Sit-Com Award at
the 2004 New York International Film Festival.
Freeholder O’Dea, however, takes his politics very seriously, and
served as Executive Director of the Jersey City Democratic Party. He
also serves as Chairman of the Board of PROCEED, New Jersey’s second
largest Hispanic social service agency. He was named to “Who’s Who
in International Business” in 2005 and to “Who’s Who in America” in
2006.
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