Fairview honors late mayor

Fairview is honoring a beloved local icon who died eight years ago by naming the council chambers at borough hall in his honor.

Mario “Billy” Schettino spent 20 years as a councilman and served as mayor from 1979 to 1991.  During that time, he mentored a considerable number of young local officials, including Bergen County Democratic Chairman Paul Juliano.

Schettino was a longtime player in Bergen politics.  He ran the Motor Vehicle agency in Lodi and was the Bergen County jury manager — a post that in the old days, under rules of a bygone era, something which allowed him to forge strong relationships with political insiders across the county.

He won his last term as mayor in 1987 in a landslide, a 61%-39% victory against Republican Bart Talamini at a time when Fairview was a politically competitive municipality.