The County Executive of Essex County, New Jersey, United States is the chief officer of the county's executive branch and oversees the administration of county government. Approved in a 1977 referendum, the office was inaugurated in 1978 at the same time the Board of Chosen Freeholders, which plays a legislative role, was reconfigured to include a mix of at-large and district seats. The executive offices are located in the county seat, Newark. When the first executive was elected in 1978, The New York Times described that the position was "considered by many to be second in power only to that of the Governor." The executive has power to appoint a County Administrator as well as department heads, subject to the approval of the Board of County Commissioners. Responsibilities include preparation/submission of operating and capital budgets, introduction of legislation, the hiring and dismissal of personnel, and approval or veto of Freeholder ordinances. The Board of County Commissioners have the power to investigate administrative actions of the executive, approve ordinances and resolutions, initiate service contracts with municipalities, and adopt an administrative code. The executive is directly elected to a four-year term on a partisan basis. Since the first county executive took office, five individuals have served in the position, alternating between Democrats and Republicans. Incumbent Democrat Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr. was first elected county executive in 2002. As of Election Day 2017 there were 491,941 registered voters in the county, the third-most of any county in the state which in 2016 had estimated an estimated population of 786,914, the third-largest county in New Jersey by population. Essex is one of five counties in New Jersey with a county executive, the others being Atlantic, Bergen, Hudson and Mercer. History In 1972, the State of New Jersey passed the Optional County Charter Law, which provides for four different methods under which a county could be governed: by an executive, an administrator, a board president or a county supervisor. A Charter Study Commission was formed in 1974 and was the only one of nine counties to consider changes that rejected the path of modifying the structure of county government. The six Democrats on the Charter Study Commission supported the status quo while the three Republicans were in favor of the proposed changes; The commission' s report concluded that "It is the recommendation of the Commission that none of the options is suitable for adoption by