North Bergen Administrator Chris Pianese Steps Down After Years of Accomplishments

He joined the Township of North Bergen in 1989 as Assistant Comptroller, then became Chief Financial Officer in 1995.  Finally, in 2002, he was appointed Township Administrator, reporting directly to Mayor Nicholas Sacco and the Board of Commissioners.  His name is Christopher Pianese, and if it had anything to do with North Bergen finances, operations or infrastructure, you can bet he was directly involved in the process.

All that came to an end on June 30th, as Chris Pianese stepped down from his position with the Township.  I won’t call it his retirement, because, well, he is still a young man and it seems hard to imagine he won’t continue working on SOMETHING.

Pianese was responsible for the complete day-to-day oversight of the municipal township, consisting of five departments with over 500 full time and part time employees.  He dealt with an annual operating budget of $100 million.

During his time working for North Bergen there were many major accomplishments, including:

• Designating the Tonnelle Avenue corridor a Redevelopment Zone, leading to a $250M revitalization of this commercial district
• Managing the building of a new $6M municipal pool complex and $5M municipal court complex while, at the same time, lowering the overall municipal debt
• Receiving multiple upgrades from Moody’s Financial Services, the last placing the township in the Aa2 category
• Negotiating key Payment in Lieu of Tax (PILOT) agreements leading to the resurgence of major residential development
• Spearheading development and construction of a new downtown library and community center

The role of North Bergen Administrator is now held by former Health Officer Janet Castro.  She has been working along side Pianese during the transition process.