Peter Scarpelli

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.