Thomas J. Duch

Thomas J. Duch (born September 3, 1956) is an American public servant and Democratic Party politician from Bergen County, New Jersey.

Biography Duch was born in 1956 in Passaic to Thomas and Helen O. Duch. His brother John Gregory Duch (1960–2017) would follow Thomas in serving in Garfield city government. In the 1991 elections, following a redistricting which moved Garfield into the 38th district, Duch and his new running mate Frank Biasco were defeated by incumbent Republican Assembly members Patrick J. Roma and Rose Marie Heck.

Duch would later move to Wyckoff. In 2003, he was hired as the city manager for Garfield. A park along the Dundee Dam in Garfield, land which began to be acquired by the city during Duch's mayoralty, was renamed for Duch in 2016. by two DPW employees who alleged severe mistreatment by Garfield officials. Regarding Duch, the suit claims that he failed to carry out the required investigation into their initial complaints then denied their attempts to follow up on the matter by filing a grievance. In denying their grievance, Duch wrote “I do not know your nationality nor do I need to know. Everyone is treated the same. To imply some type of discrimination is simply outrageous. Your grievance is denied.” The two workers accepted a settlement from the city of Garfield, preventing the matter from being heard in court.

Duch took the position as Bergen County Administrator in June 2021, succeeding Julien X. Neals who had been appointed as a federal judge.