Bette Jane Kowalski
Bette Jane Kowalski
Third Vice Chair
County Commissioner
Union County
Commissioner Bette Jane Kowalski joined the NJTPA Board in 2020, after previously serving as an alternate. She has been a Union County Commissioner since 2004, and she also served as Commissioner Chair in 2007 and 2019.
During her two terms as Chair, Commissioner Kowalski promoted initiatives for shared county-local services to reduce costs and increase efficiency. As a result of work by Commissioner Kowalski and her colleagues on the Raritan Valley Rail Coalition, NJ Transit began direct service to New York on the Raritan Valley Railroad line for weekday trains during off-peak hours.
Commissioner Kowalski has served as the Commissioner liaison to the Human Services Advisory Council and member of the Open Space, Recreation, and Historic Preservation Trust Fund.
The Commissioner has a master’s degree in Journalism from New York University, and a Bachelor of Arts from Hunter College, where she graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. She is a resident of Cranford.