Joanne Cocchiola

Former Senate President Carmen Orechio, 81, has served as a Nutley Commissioner since 1968NUTLEY - Commissioner Carmen Orechio, 81, is a former state Senate President, and a commissioner since 1968. For the last 25 years he has served as the Commissioner of Public Safety, overseeing the police, fire and ambulance services.

They call him the dean.

“Commissioner Orechio is a tremendous resource whenever we get into uncharted waters,” said his colleague Commissioner Mauro Tucci. “That’s because his answers are based not in theory but life experience. We are so lucky to have his wealth of knowledge.”

“I’ve lived in town all my life,” said Orechio, who plans to file his
petitions today to meet the deadline. “It’s been a great privilege to
serve, and I want to do my part to the keep the community safe.”

Under his direction, Nutley has maintained a hybrid fire department, which now consists of 38 career officers and 60 volunteers. The police department is 65-officers strong. Nutley furnishes a detox vehicle and the expertise to combat hazardous materials, which is the result of state and federal grants Orechio helped secure.

Al PetraccoNUTLEY - The 43-year old owner of a Nutley deli, first time candidate Al Petracco also has a number of real estate investments in his home town.

His parents were born in Newark and moved to Nutley to give their family what they believed would be a better life. But after the most recent property revaluation, the elder Petraccos are now paying $10,000 annually in property taxes.

Petracco said he is concerned that seniors like his mother and his father - a career cement finisher - are being priced out of their homes, while he doesn’t see Nutley making full use of its downtown, a diamond in the rough, in his words, and revenue generator waiting to happen.

NUTLEY - Mauro Tucci, the 55-year old Commissioner of Parks and Public Safety, is seeking re-election to a third term in office. A retired township manager, Tucci owns Nutley Pool and Spa, and four years ago was the second highest vote-getter.

Born in Newark where he grew up playing football with future County
Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, Tucci said as far as he knows he is only the second commissioner in Nutley’s history who is not a Nutley native.

Running on his record of helping to secure over $1 million in state and county grants for town projects, and maintaining the town’s green character, including its bike and walking paths, Tucci said no one prevails in elections here unless he or she is in touch with the residents. He prides himself on that contact.

NUTLEY - The Commissioner of Revenue and Finance wants a second term on the Board of Commissioners. A certified public accountant and Nutley native, Thomas Evans, 53, is a partner with Price Waterhouse Coopers, and the man on the board who gathers the budgets from the different departments, adds them up and tries to make it all fit.

“I’m the most junior commissioner, but I’m the tallest,” he joked.

Four years ago, Evans was the fourth highest vote-getter on the commission.

NUTLEY - Family businessman Sal Olivo, 56, has served on the Nutley Board of Education for six years and now serves as that body’s board president. In the last election, he was the top vote-getter on the board. His current term comes to an end on April 15.

“I’d like to continue my public service as a member of the commission,” said the candidate, who wants to do a better job of sharing school and municipal services and improving town services overall.

Olivo comes from a line of proud Nutleyites and he’s hoping his family name and record helps translate into votes. His grandfather founded Blue Ribbon Coal, which has stayed in the family and is now called Blue Ribbon Fuel Oil under Olivo’s direction.

NUTLEY - What passes for civic pride in most places would be a form of
indifference in Nutley, where anything less than total commitment to the
town probably means a person is not a Nutley native.

A transplant can endeavor to be a Nutleyite, but it’s a running joke that
one can never put in enough time.

“I’ve been in the community for 35 years,” Planning Board Chairman Phil McGovern told the Nutley Board of Commissioners on Tuesday night in Town Hall, and he paused, seeming to expect the moment of agitation in the room that followed his remark.

Nutley has a Commissioner form of government and all five commissioners are elected in one election held every four years.  By tradition, the top vote-getter becomes Mayor.  In 2004, Joanne Cocchiola became Nutley’s first woman Mayor when she led Mauro Tucci by 55 votes (and incumbent Peter Scarpelli by 686 votes) in the race for Commissioner.   But one historical trend that bodes poorly for Cocchiola: in at least 40 years, Nutley voters have never given a Commissioner two consecutive terms as Mayor.

Among the 400 people who attended Democratic State Senator Paul Sarlo's fundraiser last week were three Republican Mayors from the 36th district: Joanne Cocchiola of Nutley, James Cassella of East Rutherford, and Frank Calandriello of Garfield. That's bad news for Senate Republicans, who need to win three seats to take control of the State Senate in 2007; pundits seem to agree that the only Democratic Senators even remotely vulnerable are Frederick Madden, Ellen Karcher and Sarlo.

Senate Minority Leader Leonard Lance, who runs the Senate GOP campaign operation, never contacted Cocchiola to discuss her possible recruitment as an '07 candidate. Insiders say the short list of potential Sarlo challengers is now headed by Vincent Micco and Jose Sandivol, who each won 28% of the vote in their 2006 congressional bids against Steven Rothman and Bill Pascrell, respectively. (Sandivol lost his 2005 race for State Assembly in the 36th by more than 9,000 votes.)

Sarlo, elected to the Senate in a 2003 Special Election Convention after Garry Furnari resigned to become a Superior Court Judge isn't like to be intimidated by Lance anyway. After his latest fundraiser, which featured Senate President Richard Codey, Sarlo now has over $550,000 in his warchest, according to his campaign staff. That's about $200,000 more than Lance has in his statewide legislative leadership PAC.

Republican strategists view Cocchiola as a potentially strong candidate against Sarlo. The first choice for the GOP, insiders say, is former Assembly Majority Leader Paul DiGaetano. But Republicans close to DiGaetano, who gave up his seat two years ago to run for Governor, are not optimistic about DiGaetano's willingness to run. The same goes for Bergen County Clerk Kathleen Donovan.

Republican strategists view Nutley Mayor Joanne Cocchiola as a potentially strong candidate for State Senate next year against Democrat Paul Sarlo in the 36th district, but sources close to Cocchiola say that the GOP Mayor has not yet heard from Senate Minority Leader Leonard Lance about plans for the 2007.

The first choice for the GOP, insiders say, is former Assembly Majority Leader Paul DiGaetano. But Republicans close to DiGaetano, who gave up his seat two years ago to run for Governor, are not optimistic about DiGaetano's willingness to run.

The 2001 Senate race pitted two former Nutley Mayors, incumbent Democratic Senator Garry Furnari and incumbent GOP Assemblyman John Kelly. Furnari won that race with 51% of the vote, while Kelly carried Nutley with 63%. Two years later, Sarlo won the seat with 55% against Kelly -- with the Republican carrying Nutley again with 63%. In the 2005 Assembly race, Democratic Assembly candidates carried Nutley by a wide margin.

Cocchiola was elected Nutley Town Commissioner in 2000 (following the retirement of her father, who had held the post for 28 years) and became Mayor in 2004 when she was the top-votegetter in the local election -- running far ahead of Carmen Orechio, a former State Senate President who has served as a Commissioner and Mayor since 1968. Kelly ran in that same election and finished a distant sixth.

For Republicans to be at all serious about winning control of the Senate, they will need to play heavily against Sarlo, Frederick Madden in the fourth district and Ellen Karcher in the twelfth.