Commissioner Robert “Bobby” Barr is a lifelong Cape May County resident who still lives in the Ocean City neighborhood that first sent him into public life. A graduate of Ocean City High School in 1999 and Stockton University in 2004, where he earned a degree in Communications, Barr brought a constituent-service approach from City Hall to the county dais. Bobby has kept the same open-door habit that defined his years as Fourth Ward councilman and Ocean City Council President.   Born with cerebral palsy, Barr has used a wheelchair throughout his life. In third grade, he became the first student with a disability to attend regular classes in the Ocean City school district. He has said that community gave him a chance and that he works every day not to let it down. In January 2024, he became the first disabled member of the Cape May County Board of County Commissioners. “It always dawns on me the trail that I’m blazing,” he said after that swearing-in. “There aren’t many disabled people who are in the position that I’m in.”   His path into government started long before a ballot. Barr served for years as a legislative aide to Congressman Jeff Van Drew and later as Community Outreach Coordinator for the Legislative District 1 team of Senator Michael Testa and Assemblymen Antwan McClellan and Erik Simonsen. Barr was appointed to the New Jersey Pinelands Commission and remains active on regional development and planning bodies. Those assignments taught him the mechanics of state and federal government while keeping him in living rooms, senior centers, and fire halls across South Jersey.   Ocean City voters first elected him Fourth Ward councilman in 2016. Barr brought improvements to his ward, championing projects that included a new American Legion Post 524 building, the remodeling of 52nd Street Playground, and drainage work in flood-prone blocks that had lived with routine tidal flooding. Barr resigned from Council in August 2023 when county Republicans selected him to fill the commissioner seat vacated when E. Marie Hayes became County Surrogate. He won election that fall to complete the unexpired term and was reelected in November 2025 to a full three-year term running through December 31, 2028.   At the Board’s January 2026 reorganization, Congressman Van Drew administered the oath. “Serving Cape May County is the greatest honor of my life,” Barr said. “I’m humbled by the faith our residents continue to place in me. In 2026, I’ll stay focused on protecting our shore communities, supporting economic growth, and investing in the people who make Cape May County strong.”   COUNTY PORTFOLIO   Barr serves as Director of Health, Planning, Economic Development, Sheriff and Veteran’s Affairs. His departmental responsibilities include Economic Development, the Planning Department, Open Space and Farmland Preservation, Mosquito Control, the Division of Veteran’s Services, the Sheriff’s Office, Correctional Center and Animal Shelter, and the Health Department.   That mix matches the issues he talks about most. He has pushed to diversify the county economy beyond seasonal tourism by growing year-round work at the Cape May County Airport Tech Village and by recruiting aviation and drone-testing activity suited to a peninsula with open airspace. He has also been asked to put a fresh set of eyes on the Open Space program, leading the streamlining of the process for municipalities, partnering with local officials, and considering active recreation alongside traditional preservation. “Open space money is the people’s money,” he has said. “We want to give the money back to them.”   Veterans work is personal. His late father, Jerry Barr, was a U.S. Marine who served in Vietnam. Barr has overseen improvements at the Cape May County Veterans Cemetery and has supported efforts to identify sites for veterans housing. He also chairs the Ocean City Housing Authority and sits on the board of The Arc of Cape May County, which serves residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities.   BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS   Beyond his commissioner assignments, Barr represents the county on the Southern New Jersey Technical Consortium, the Southern New Jersey Development Council, the South Jersey Economic Development District, the Pinelands Commission, the Agriculture Development Board, the Planning Board, and the Ocean City Chamber of Commerce. The through-line is the same as his Fourth Ward years: infrastructure, jobs, land use, and showing up.   HOW HE WORKS   Ask Barr what the job is and he will not start with a master plan. He will start with a phone call. He specializes in constituent services and treats county government as a customer-service operation. “We get the credit, but it’s not about us. It’s the people. That’s who put us here.” Residents still find him at ribbon-cuttings, chamber breakfasts, and neighborhood meetings. He continues to live in Ocean City’s Fourth Ward with his family. “Being a County Commissioner, to me, is about answering the call to serve and doing whatever I can to make people’s lives just a little easier. Public service isn’t about a title; it’s about being there when someone needs you, listening to the people we represent, and working every day to make a positive difference. At the end of my time in office, I simply want to be able to say that I answered the call, helped people along the way, and left Cape May County a little better than I found it.”   The Board of County Commissioners can be reached at the William E. Sturm, Jr. Administration Building, 4 Moore Road, Cape May Court House. Commissioner Barr welcomes comments and questions from residents in every municipality, barrier island and mainland alike.