Hudson County honors retiring county engineer Thomas Malabasi; successor named

The Hudson County Board of Commissioners on June 26 adopted a resolution recognizing Thomas Malabasi for his more than four decades of public service as county engineer and wished him well in retirement.

Malabasi, who the resolution said oversaw capital projects for parks, streets, bridges and public buildings and received awards including recognition from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the New Jersey Society of Professional Engineers, addressed the board and thanked colleagues and staff. "Over the last 9 years, we put together over $80,000,000 construction projects," he said, and described "over $500,000,000 of work" planned through state and federal programs over the next 10 years.

The resolution noted Malabasis long tenure and family; commissioners offered personal remarks praising his professionalism, responsiveness and community outreach. Chairman Romano said Malabasi "stood up for always what was right" and described his work as important to county constituents. Several commissioners invited Malabasi back for future ribbon-cuttings.

During his remarks, Malabasi thanked former and current county executives and agency directors, cited collaboration on the countys Vision Zero initiative and introduced Mark Khatriniak, whom he identified as having served six weeks with the department and as the incoming county engineer effective July 1. "I have confidence that he and the department will get the things done that need to get done," Malabasi said.

The board formally adopted the resolution and recorded votes from commissioners on the record. The meeting materials flagged an expectation that some federal projects initiated under Malabasi's oversight could take up to a decade to complete; Malabasi said he hoped to return for ribbon-cuttings as projects reached completion.