Bernadette P. McPherson

Bernadette P. McPherson is an American Democratic Party politician from New Jersey, who has served on the Bergen County Board of Chosen Freeholders since 2002, and served as the Board's Freeholder Chairwoman through the 2006 term. She was Mayor of Rutherford from 2000 to 2007.

As Freeholder, McPherson chairs the following Freeholder Committees: Cultural and Historical Affairs, Law and Public Safety and Personnel. McPherson is a member of the Budget and Finance, Parks and Public Works and Planning and Economic Development Committees while also serving as Board member on the Board of Social Services, the New Jersey Association of Counties and as an alternate to County Executive Dennis McNerney on the North Jersey Transportation Authority. [http://www.co.bergen.nj.us/freeholders/McPherson%20updated%20Bio-2-14-03.htm Freeholder Bernadette P. McPherson] , Bergen County, New Jersey. Accessed January 2, 2008.]

In 1999, McPherson was elected Councilwoman in the Borough of Rutherford. She served as the first woman Fire Department Liaison. She served as Mayor since January 2000, and continued to serve until January 2008 when John F. Hipp took her position as mayor. In 2001, Governor James McGreevey appointed her to his transition team. In Rutherford's 2007 mayoral election, McPherson was defeated in a landslide by environmental attorney John F. Hipp, a Republican, with votes tallying 3,605 to 1,570. [Clunn, Rick. [http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkzJmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3MjE4NjAx "EnCap backers ousted in Rutherford"] , "The Record (Bergen County)", November 7, 2007.]

McPherson was one of New Jersey's presidential electors casting the state's Electoral College votes after the 2004 presidential election. New Jersey's electors cast their ballots on December 13, 2004 in the State House Annex, in Trenton, where all 15 votes were cast for the Democratic Party candidate John Kerry. [ [http://www.state.nj.us/lps/elections/2004results/2004_electoral_college.html 2004 Electoral College Nominees] , New Jersey Attorney General Division of Elections. Accessed January 2, 2008.]

McPherson served as Vice-Chairperson to the Coalition for Public Health and Safety, a bipartisan group of thirteen South Bergen towns focusing on health and quality of life issues in the area surrounding Teterboro Airport. [Harrington, Shannon D. [http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-8887612_ITM "Air Pollution War with Teterboro Airport in Bergen County, N.J., Gets Pricey"] , "The Record (Bergen County)", August 14, 2003. Accessed January 2, 2008. "'This smacks to me of political grandstanding on Freeholder Tedesco's part,' said Bernadette McPherson, a freeholder and the mayor of Rutherford, who serves as the coalition's vice chairwoman." The Coalition for Public Health and Safety has not formally asked for more than the $5,000 that the county gave last year.]

McPherson graduated Magna Cum Laude from La Salle University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and English in 1983. She attended both Seton Hall University School of Law and Temple University Beasley School of Law where she earned her J.D. in 1986. She has lived in Rutherford since 1987 with her husband David, an attorney, and their four children.

References

External links

* [http://www.co.bergen.nj.us/freeholders/McPherson%20updated%20Bio-2-14-03.htm Freeholder Bernadette P. McPherson]