The County Watchers was founded in 2005 by Tina Renna, Sergio Bichao and Patricia Quattrocchi as the blog of the Union County Watchdog Association.

The County Watchers strive to shine a light on Union County government by “watching” and investigating county spending and practices.

We publish this blog to share what we find. We also give citizens their own tools to monitor county government by using the Open Public Records Act to obtain and then post government records on the Union County Watchdog Association’s website.

The Watchers is often listed as one of the top 20 of New Jersey’s Most Influential Blogs by BlogNetNews New Jersey.

Thank you for watching Union County government with us.

Tina Renna

While managing her husband Joe’s independent run for Union County Freeholder in 2003, Tina was frequently denied or delayed access to public records from the all-Democrat controlled Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders.

“The more the county tried to keep information from me the more I realized that they had a lot to hide,” Tina says. “The more information I obtained the more I realized how little residents are being told about the spending and unethical actions of this invisible layer of government which claims a quarter of our property tax bills.”

As a community activist, Tina’s goal is to join together with other concerned citizens and demand accountability from Union County government.

Tina is the founder and president of the Union County Watchdog Association.

She and her family live in Cranford.

You can reach her at tinarenna (@) unioncountywatchdog.org, 908-418-5586

Patricia Quattrocchi

Patricia Quattrocchi, is a life long Union County resident. She and her husband, John, have raised their four children and her three sons from a previous marriage while residing in Garwood.

A member of the Union County Republican Committee since 1998 she is serving her second term as Associate Vice County Chair and is the Vice Municipal Chair in Garwood.

Patricia has been a Republican candidate for Union County Freeholder and campaigned on a platform of lower county taxes, by cutting spending thru smaller government.

She is an outspoken critic of the current Board of Chosen Freeholders and says that she simply reports and comments on what the board says and does using the board’s own records and meeting minutes.

She is a founding member of the Union County Watchdog Association.

A graduate of the Arthur L. Johnson Regional High School, Clark, she attended the Taylor Business Institute in Plainfield. She has worked in the Executive Search industry as a research manager/recruiter since 1984.

She completed 40 hours training to be a Domestic Violence Crisis Intervention Volunteer and was the first team leader of a Union County Regional Domestic Violence Response Team which served Garwood, Cranford, Kenilworth, Winfield Park and Roselle Park.

Patricia received a mayoral appointment to the Garwood Public Celebrations Committee in 1995 and held the position of chairman for three years. A former Garwood councilwoman, she chaired the Building and Grounds Committee, was the council liaison to the Board of Education and represented the borough on the Union County Transportation Advisory Board. She also served on the Shade Tree Commission, the Streets and Roads Committee and was assigned to the Recreation and Ecology Committees.

She is a past President of the Garwood Lions Club, served as Recording Secretary for three years and is presently the 2nd Vice President. She also served two terms as a Dist 16E Zone Chairman with responsibility for five Lions Clubs in Union County.