Peter Palmer of Bernardsville Named Freeholder of the Year by NJAC

Somerset County Freeholder Peter S. Palmer of Bernardsville was named “Freeholder of the Year” at the recent New Jersey Association of Counties (NJAC) conference held earlier this month in Atlantic City.

"We are honored to present Freeholder Palmer with this award,” NJAC Executive Director John Donnadio said of Palmer, who also previously served as freeholder director. “He is a man of integrity, and his leadership and commitment to county government is recognized throughout the state."

A longtime member of NJAC, Freeholder Palmer served as the organization’s president in 2010 and vice president in 2009.

A former Bernardsville mayor, Palmer was election to begin serving on the Somerset County Board of Freeholders in January 1997. He was appointed as freeholder director in 1998, 2003 and 2008, and deputy director in 2002.

He is a lifelong resident of Bernardsville and graduate of Bernards High School, according to his freeholder biography.

He currently is liaison to the newly created Department of Public Health & Safety, which includes the county Health Department, Office of Emergency Management, 911 Communications Unit and Police Academy.

Freeholder Palmer has been a member of the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority since 1999 and has chaired its Freight Initiatives Committee since 2003. He served as NJTPA chairman in 2004 and 2005.  He also chairs the Raritan Valley Rail Coalition Board of Trustees and is a founding member of the Six County Coalition.