Portugal Day

Elizabeth, NJ

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Angel Estrada

Honorary Marshal - 2009

Freeholder Angel G. Estrada was first elected to the Freeholder Board in 1999. He served as Freeholder Chairman in 2004 and Vice Chairman the previous year. He was re-elected to a fourth term in 2008. Freeholder Estrada has more than 30 years of business and public service experience.

A long-time education advocate, Freeholder Estrada was elected to the Elizabeth Board of Education in 1994 and re-elected in 1997. He fought overcrowding in the city's classrooms by securing state funds for expansion and renovations, and brought college recruiters to Elizabeth’s schools to encourage students to pursue higher education. Long before his election to the school board, Freeholder Estrada was active in community issues and served for many years as a member of several Parent-Teacher Organizations, often as president.

As Freeholder Chairman in 2008, he presided over the expansion of shared county-local services, Phase III of the Workforce Competitiveness Project, and Go Green, a comprehensive environmental program. As a Freeholder, he has also been instrumental in Union County’s open space preservation and a county-local drive to plant 1,200 trees in the 21 municipalities. He has worked with the private and non-profit sectors to fund youth recreation and help municipalities improve athletic fields, and he worked with the United Way of Greater Union County to bring the “211” information line to the county.

Freeholder Estrada also supported the Freeholder Scholars initiative, which provides scholarships to Union County College for eligible residents. He helped implement the Access 2000 initiative, providing school districts with funds for computers, Internet access, and technology education for teachers.

As chairman of the Open Space Trust Fund Committee in 2005, Freeholder Estrada oversaw the distribution of more than $1.4 million for children’s recreation and historic preservation. He served as Chairman of the Union County Fiscal Committee during 2006. He currently serves as Chairman of the Fiscal Affairs Committee.

Having served as the County’s first Latino Freeholder Chairman, Freeholder Estrada works closely with Latino community organizations to bring their voices and concerns to the Freeholder Board. He served on the Elizabeth Housing Authority for five years in the capacity of member, vice chairman and chairman and is a board member of the Selective Service System. During 2007 Freeholder Estrada was elected Vice President of the National Association of Hispanic County Officials (NAHCO).A Manager of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission’s office in Elizabeth, he previously worked in management, planning, budgeting and human resources for large and small organizations. Freeholder Estrada emigrated from Cuba to the United States 47 years and has made Elizabeth his home ever since. He earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in History and Spanish from Kean College (now Kean University) in Union. Freeholder Estrada and his wife, Teresa, have three children: Liliana, Jorge, Daniel and a grandson.