BERGEN COUNTY LAW & PUBLIC SAFETY INSTITUTE - Key Persons
Dr. Aryeh Baer, MD is a Pediatric Infectious Disease Specialist in Hackensack, NJ and has over 24 years of experience in the medical field. He graduated from Umdnj - New Jersey Medical School medical school in 1997 and is affiliated with Hackensack University Medical Center.
Dr. Joan M. Voss was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly from District 38 in 2003. She served as Deputy Majority Leader, Vice Chair of the Education Committee, and a member of the Regulated Professions, and Higher Education committees. She is Co-Chair of the Joint Committee on the Public Schools. Dr. Voss was appointed to the Commission on Business Efficiency in the Public Schools, the National Conference of State Legislatures' Standing Committee on Education and NCSL's Executive Committee.
Dr. Voss served four terms on the Fort Lee Borough Council. She has served as liaison for almost every department in the borough, must notably the police, fire and senior citizens. She was elected Commissioner in 2011. Commissioner Voss retired after forty-one years of teaching and supervising teachers on a high school level in Fort Lee, N.J. She received a B.A. degree in Social Studies and English from Montclair State University in 1962 and a M.A. degree in 1971. She also earned a Doctorate in Education from Fordham University in 1998. Dr. Voss has served as an adjunct professor at several New Jersey Colleges and Universities.
Commissioner Joan Voss received a grant to study the Holocaust on a trip with the New Jersey Commission on the Holocaust Studies to Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Holland and Israel. She also received a grant from the Korean Cultural Outreach Program to study Korean history and culture in Korea. Commissioner Voss has worked on a variety of programs concerning prejudice reduction and the Holocaust in conjunction with Kean College. Through the years, she has received awards from WWOR A+ for teachers, Fort Lee District Teacher of the Year, Fort Lee Academic Hall of Fame, and Congressional District 38 Award as a Woman of Achievement among others.
Commissioner Joan Voss is a life long resident of Fort Lee and has one son, Theodore Paul.
Dr. Paul Han, MD, FCCP, has been practicing pulmonary and sleep medicine for more than fifteen years. He is board-certified in internal medicine, pulmonary medicine, sleep medicine, and critical care. Dr. Han went to Yale University before earning his medical degree from Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He completed his residency at Montefiore Medical Center and his fellowship at Columbia University Medical Center. His interests include management of asthma, COPD, interstitial lung diseases, bronchiectasis, and sleep-related breathing disorders. He specializes in the treatment of tuberculosis, evaluation of lung abnormalities using advanced bronchoscopic techniques, and cardio-pulmonary exercise testing. Dr. Han is fluent in both English and Korean.
Dr. Suraj Saggar, DO has being practicing Medicine for over 25 years. He is the Chief of Infectious Disease Department at Holy Name Medical Center. Dr Saggar graduated from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic in 2002. He is affiliated with a number of Bergen County Hospitals and has a private office in Englewood NJ. Dr Sagger specializes in Infectious Disease, Internal Medicine and Family Medicine. He is fluent in both English and Hindu.
Job Titles:
- Vice Chairwoman
- Commissioner Vice Chairwoman
Vice Chairwoman Germaine M. Ortiz was first elected to the Bergen County Board of County Commissioners in 2016. Since then, she has proudly served beside her fellow Commissioners and in 2019 became the first Latina to lead the Board of Commissioners as Chairwoman. This was a huge milestone for Bergen County as the Board was led entirely by women for the first time in its 304-year history.
Job Titles:
- Bergen County Executive
- County Executive
Steven A. Tanelli was first elected to the Bergen County Board of Commissioners on November 6, 2012 and is currently serving his tenth-consecutive year as a Commissioner. He has served as Chairman of the Board both in 2016 and 2021, as well as Vice Chairman in 2015 and Chair Pro Tempore in 2020.
Steve takes a different approach to governing, one that is built on personal contact, win-win resolutions, and positive results that leave residents with a renewed confidence in their elected officials.
As a Commissioner, Mr. Tanelli has many legislative accomplishments:
Steve continues to be a strong advocate for improving public open space and increasing recreation opportunities for County residents.
In 2016, Mr. Tanelli, along with County Executive James J. Tedesco III, hosted the county's first Winter Wonderland festival at Van Saun County Park. The festival expanded four season access to the Bergen County Parks system and has become a holiday season mainstay for County residents.
Steve championed the first-ever Bergen County Parks Master Plan in the 72-year history of the parks system along with County Executive James J. Tedesco III and Director of Parks and Recreation James Koth. The Parks Master Plan adopted in December 2019 will ensure the open space needs of future Bergen County residents are met for generations to come.
In 2018, Steve worked with his colleagues to preserve 1 acres of open space and to repurpose and create courts exclusively designed for Pickleball, one of the fastest-growing sports in the country.
In 2019, over $18 million in Open Space grants were allocated to fund 74 projects across Bergen County. The projects included open space land acquisition, recreation development, historical preservation, and floodplain protection.
In 2020, Steve oversaw the start of a $5.6 million habitat restoration project at the Teaneck Creek Park. The project will enhance the site's natural resources, increase biodiversity, and improve flood management.
Steve is a staunch supporter of employment, housing, and social programs to assist our Bergen County veterans.
In 2016, as chairman of the Board of County Commissioners, Steve worked with County Executive James J. Tedesco III, to end veteran homelessness in Bergen County. As a result of their combined efforts, Bergen County was recognized by the White House and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for effectively ending homelessness among veterans.
Steve was instrumental in bringing the "Moving Wall," a replica of the Vietnam Memorial, for one week in May 2016 to Overpeck County Park in honor of the Military Appreciation Month and Memorial Day.
During his tenure as chairman, Bergen County completed renovations at the Alfred J. Thomas Veterans Home in Garfield increasing transitional housing and support services for our brave veterans.
In 2020, Steve created a novel program called Bergen County Veteran of the Week. The program is Bergen County's way of honoring our residents, who have bravely and heroically protected our freedom and way of life by serving in the United States Armed Forces. Each week a different veteran is highlighted via social media for their service to our nation.
Commissioner Tanelli's work on the Law & Public Safety committee was responsible for the merger of the Bureau of Police Services (formerly the County Police) into the Bergen County Sheriff's Department. The merger finalized in 2020 brought closure to the outstanding issues from the 2015 realignment. The merger has saved the residents of Bergen County $19 million since 2015 while removing duplication of services and enhancing public safety for Bergen County residents. It is estimated to save taxpayers nearly $200 million over the course of the next 25 years.
A proponent of open government and transparency, Steve modernized the Bergen County Board of County Commissioners' caucus and public meeting room to allow for the livestreaming of all Commissioner public meetings.
An advocate for health and addiction services, Steve brokered the replacement of Bergen County's for-profit hospital CarePlus Bergen with New Bridge Medical Center, Bergen County's public hospital, a non-profit partnership including CarePlus New Jersey, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, and Integrity House on October 1, 2017.
A lifelong resident of New Jersey, Steve has always been an active member of his community. A former little league and recreation basketball coach, he was first elected to the North Arlington Mayor & Council in November 2004. During his nine-year tenure on the North Arlington Council, he was a councilman, council president, and acting mayor. He resigned his position in 2013 to assume the office of Bergen County Commissioner.
Currently, Commissioner Tanelli is employed as a senior art director for Movado Group Inc. He and his wife, Sharon, are homeowners in North Arlington. They have three sons and two grandsons. He is a Eucharistic Minister, usher, and Holy Name Society member with Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish located in Lyndhurst.
Job Titles:
- Director of Economic Development
Ms. Wallace has been practicing TB case management for more than 15 years. She assigns responsibility and accountability for individual patient outcomes including adherence to therapy, patient safety, and completion of treatment.
Ms. Garcia oversees the Direct Observed Therapy (DOT) of the TB Program. She comes with more than 10 years of experience working in the social work field. Her expertise is in working with the vulnerable population, disease investigation, and medical insurance. Uses that skill to link TB program participants to obtain access to general medical care. Bilingual in Spanish.
Commissioner Mary J. Amoroso first began her career in public service when she was elected to the Mahwah Town Council in 2015. Before her election to the Mahwah Council, Mary had a long career as a reporter and editor for the Bergen Record, where she covered local, county, state and federal government and politics.
Mary Amoroso grew up in Bergenfield, was married at St. John the Evangelist R.C. Church there, and has lived in the Cragmere section of Mahwah since 1993. Mary's husband Jim McQueeny is a former Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and political talk show host who was press secretary for the late U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg.
In her 5 years as County Commissioner, Mary has taken part in the county Prosecutor's School Safety Task Force, which has developed protocols to prevent incidents of violence in our schools and religious institutions. She has worked to connect the Lenni Lenape tribe with county, state and federal resources and to preserve and promote the tribe's history and legacy in the Mahwah, Ringwood and Hillburn, NY area.
As liaison to the County's African-American Advisory Committee, Mary is helping to develop a multi-media presentation of Bergen County's Black history, starting with the time in the late 1700s when enslaved African-American people comprised 20 percent of Bergen's population and 40 percent of its labor force.
And, along with the Commissioners' Office of Communications, Mary has created a "County Commissioners' podcast," to explore and celebrate the services, trends and people of Bergen County.
Job Titles:
- Director of Publi C Health Nursing
Commissioner Rafael Marte has been a public servant for most of his life. As a social worker for nearly 30 years at the Westchester Department of Social Services and as a Councilman in Bergenfield for two terms, Commissioner Marte has always been a passionate advocate for all. He also holds a deep connection to his Dominican heritage, and in 2019 founded the Dominican Cultural Association of New Jersey to promote and preserve Dominican culture.
Commissioner Marte looks forward to continuing his pursuit of serving his community as a County Commissioner, and brings decades of experience in public administration and social services.
Job Titles:
- Commissioner
- Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners