Thomas Russo Jr
Mr. Thomas Russo Jr currently serves as Town Manager in Newton, NJ, with over eleven years of dedicated service to the County Seat of Sussex County, NJ. Mr. Russo has over 20 years of experience in municipal and county government, as well as the nonprofit sector. His experience includes budgeting, purchasing, human resources, public relations, project oversight, contract negotiations, government relations, economic revitalization & redevelopment, and community relations. Mr. Russo is a competent and confident servant leader; a proven visionary and strategic thinker with highly effective communications and organizational skills.
Mr. Russo previously served as an elected official in two NJ municipalities. He was a Committeeman in Bernards Township from 2014 – 2017. He served as a Councilman, Council Vice President and Council President in Parsippany-Troy Hills Township from 1998 – 2005, earning the distinction as the youngest-ever elected governing body member in the history of the Township. Mr. Russo also dedicated time to countless political campaigns from 1992 – 2014 attending several inaugurations and conventions. He was selected as part of the inaugural class of young elected leaders at the 1st National Young Elected Leaders Conference, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University. He was also chosen by the NJ Herald in 2009 as one of 40 influential people in Sussex County under the age of 40. Other relevant career experience includes his service as a Fundraising Associate at Far Brook School in Short Hills, NJ; Director of Public Affairs and Information at the Morris County Sheriff’s Office in Morristown, NJ; Manager of Development at Chilton Medical Center, Pompton Plains, NJ; Senior Editor, Communications at Organon Pharma USA; and Assistant Township Manager in Randolph, NJ.
Mr. Russo is a member of the New Jersey Municipal Management Association (NJMMA) and is Chairman of The Statewide Insurance Fund, a committed group of almost 80 NJ municipalities which pool resources to manage insurance claims and coverage. He is a Community Advisory Board member of both Newton Medical Center – Atlantic Health Group and Bristol Glen Independent and Assisted Living Methodist Community. He is also an Executive Committee member of the North Jersey Municipal Employee Benefits Fund (NJMEBF), a consortium of forward-thinking communities which pool resources to effectively manage health insurance costs.
Mr. Russo has a Certified Public Manager (CPM) degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University/State of NJ, a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree from Seton Hall University, and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Communication and Political Science from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. In addition to undergraduate adjunct teaching at Pillar College in Newark, NJ, Mr. Russo is an adjunct professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Affairs at his alma mater, Seton Hall University, in South Orange, NJ, where he teaches graduate courses on nonprofit management and leadership. He has recently finished a memoir of his life experiences and how he gave up politics and became a born-again Christian in September 2015. The purpose of his book, There Are No Politics In Heaven, published in 2019, is to help men improve their lives with Jesus as their cornerstone.
He currently attends Grace Fellowship Chapel with his family in Bedminster, NJ and serves as a volunteer with Pause Mens Ministries in Basking Ridge, NJ, an organization committed to the recovery and restoration of men through biblical teachings and principles. He currently resides in the Basking Ridge section of Bernards Township, NJ with his wife Patricia, the Director of The Children’s Corner Preschool at Liberty Corner Presbyterian Church. They have two college-age daughters, Ashley (The Pennsylvania State University) and Krista (Florida State University).