Prior to January 1, 2021, this position was known as the Board of Chosen Freeholders.
On August 21, 2020, "amid a national reckoning to reexamine vestiges of structural racism," Governor Phil Murphy signed a bill to change the name of county governing bodies.
Governor Sheila Oliver, an African-American woman who was once a Freeholder herself, said that the term "refers to a time when only white male landowners could hold public office."
[2][3] Gumbs entered public service by joining of the Matawan Board of Education.
[20][21] He was the first African American to serve the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders.