County Proud of Captain’s Great Work

(And so is his staff!)

 

By Hugh M. Carola

 

Captain Bill Sheehan, founder and executive director of Hackensack Riverkeeper Inc., has been named Bergen County’s 2003 Person of the Year. At a simple ceremony at Bergen County Plaza, County Executive Dennis McNerney presented Captain Bill with a plaque that cites the environmental leader’s “Dedication and Commitment to the Residents of Bergen County.”

 

 “While I am very honored to receive this award, I am also very humbled by the fact that with so many other deserving people laboring for the good of the community, I was the one chosen,” said Captain Bill. “I promise to do all I can to live up to the trust that has been placed in me by the county executive on behalf of the people of Bergen County.”

 

Among the reasons for his being selected, Captain Bill has been instrumental in advocating for the establishment of the Bergen County Open Space, Recreation, Farmland and Historic Trust Fund and last month was re-elected Chairman of the Trust’s Advisory Board.

 

Bergen County has been home to Hackensack Riverkeeper since 1998 when Fairleigh Dickinson University provided the organization with space and resources on its Teaneck campus. In 2002, Captain Bill and the HRI Board of Trustees relocated the office to its current location at 231 Main Street in Hackensack, the heart of the city’s commercial district. A member of the Greater Hackensack and Meadowlands Regional Chambers of Commerce, Hackensack Riverkeeper is engaged in promoting the New Jersey Meadowlands – the marshes, not the sports complex – as the region’s premier eco-tourism destination.

 

 “I’ve known and worked with Bill since my days as a Freeholder candidate,” said McNerney, “and I’m sure I speak for the people of Bergen County when I say that we’re proud to have him on the job and proud of the great work that he and the Hackensack Riverkeeper organization have done.”

 

As soon as the ceremony was complete, Capt. Bill rushed off to give a slide show presentation to an area Women’s Club – the kind of thing he does throughout the year.