James Oddo

Borough President Oddo championed the Staten Island Bus Study which has recommended major service changes to Staten Island express buses. As a result of the study, express bus service to Staten Island was to be completely reorganized in August 2018. As part of the redesign, all of the existing bus routes would be discontinued and replaced with 21 new routes with a "SIM" prefix.

Oddo was widely believed to be running for surrogate court judge in 2018 despite running for election as Borough President in 2017. When asked about a potential surrogate court judge candidacy, Oddo stated that he honestly did not know if he would serve a full second term; this statement led critics and his main opponent in the 2017 Borough President election, Tom Shcherbenko, to argue that he should not run for Borough President if he already had one foot out the door. Oddo was re-elected Borough President in 2017. Oddo ultimately chose not to run for Surrogate Court Judge.

On October 20, 2010, he announced he would run for the office of Staten Island Borough President in 2013. On November 5, 2013, he was elected to office with 48,168 votes (69%). He outran Democratic candidate Lou Liedy, Green Party candidate Henry Bardel, and Libertarian Party candidate Silas Johnson. His percentage of 69% was the highest ever for a non-incumbent winner of the office, beating the record set by Republican Robert Connor in 1965. James Oddo was re elected Borough President on November 7, 2017 with 75.56% of the vote.

In 2010, when developers planned to build a Muslim community center and mosque in Lower Manhattan, Oddo said he understood the outrage of families opposed to building a Muslim place of worship within a mile of the World Trade Center.

In 2008, Oddo supported Congressman Vito Fossella, stating that he "knows what [Fossella's] core is about" and "He is my friend ... and I stand with him during the good times and I stand with him during the difficult times. What he needs to do is what he did today: Say, 'I'm ready to be held accountable and apologize and I have to heal myself, heal my relationship with my friends and family, and heal my relationship with my community.'" Fossella had been arrested for driving under the influence, was living with one woman while being married to another woman, and had fathered a child with the other woman.

Councilman Oddo received attention when a video of the councilman appeared on YouTube around October 5, 2007. In the video clip, Oddo is shown being interviewed by a film crew from the Norwegian comedy show Rikets røst (meaning "Voice of the Nation"), a show similar to The Colbert Report. The comedians had gained entry to councilman Oddo's office by posing as TV journalists who wanted to get the view of a Republican on the upcoming U.S. presidential election.

In 2005, Oddo said that police officers conducting random security searches on the New York subway system was not enough. Instead, he wanted police officers to prioritize the searching of young Muslim men.

Oddo's career as a politician began in February 1999 when he won a special election to fill the seat vacated by John Fusco. Oddo has won reelection each election since then. After the resignation of Ognibene, he was elected Minority Leader of the City Council with the consent of the three other Republicans on the Council in 2002.

James Steven Oddo (born January 12, 1966) is a Republican politician from Staten Island, currently serving as the Borough President of Staten Island.

His district, the 50th, is located mainly on Staten Island and encompasses the neighborhoods of Arrochar, Bulls Head, Castleton Corners, Concord, Dongan Hills, Emerson Hill, Fort Wadsworth, Grant City, Graniteville, Grasmere, Heartland Village, Isle of Meadows, Meiers Corners, Midland Beach, New Dorp, New Springville, Oakwood, Ocean Breeze, Old Town, Prall's Island, Richmondtown, South Beach, Todt Hill, Travis, Westerleigh, and Willowbrook; but also parts of Bensonhurst, Dyker Heights and Bath Beach in Brooklyn.