OPINION
The Township of North Bergen recently released a “Frequently Asked Questions” document explaining the upcoming mayoral transition. It is worth reading carefully, because it makes one thing clear: the most important decisions have already been made, and they were made without the public.
Mayor Sacco will step down on October 28. The remaining commissioners will appoint Hugo Cabrera as mayor. And Nick Sacco Jr. will be given the open seat on the Board of Commissioners.
State law allows any resident of North Bergen to be considered for that vacancy. The commissioners are not required to appoint the outgoing mayor’s son. They chose to. There was no public notice inviting residents to express interest. There was no open process. There was no opportunity for anyone outside the existing circle to be considered. The decision was presented to the public as a finished product.
That is not how a vacancy should be filled. It is how a seat is kept in the family.
The township is also using its official channels — and the resources that come with them — to explain and promote this transition. Residents are being asked to accept a process in which one family was given the only real opportunity, and everyone else was left out. When government resources are used to advance a predetermined outcome that excludes the broader public, it raises a basic question of fairness.
North Bergen is not a private organization. It is a town of more than 60,000 people. The Board of Commissioners sets priorities, approves budgets, and makes decisions that affect property taxes, services, and the cost of living. Those decisions should not be limited to the people who already have a seat at the table.
An open process would have looked different. Residents could have been invited to submit their interest. The commissioners could have held a public discussion about what qualities they were looking for in a new colleague. Instead, the outcome was decided first and explained later.
This is not an argument against Hugo Cabrera or against Nick Sacco Jr. as individuals. It is an argument for a process that treats every resident as eligible and gives people a genuine chance to be considered. When only one person is given that chance, and that person happens to be the outgoing mayor’s son, the appearance of a closed system is difficult to avoid.
North Bergen residents already face rising costs. Property taxes have gone up. Rents have gone up. Now sewer rates are set to rise as well. In that environment, people have a right to expect that decisions about who will help govern the town are made openly and with the public’s knowledge — not settled in advance and then presented as a done deal.
The next municipal election is in May. Until then, the people who hold these seats will continue to make decisions that affect every household. Residents deserve to know that those seats were filled through a process that was open to more than one family.
North Bergen works best when government is accessible to the people who live here — not just to the people who already hold power.