News
Nick Sacco Jr. in Line for North Bergen Commissioner Seat
Nick Sacco Jr., the son of retiring North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco, is in line to be appointed to a seat on the township’s Board of Commissioners.
Sacco Jr. is a principal in the North Bergen school district, where he has worked since 2017 and previously served as vice principal of Lincoln School. He studied health and exercise science at The College of New Jersey and graduated from North Bergen High School, where he was part of the 1997 state championship team. His father spent his own career in the district’s schools before entering politics.
Commissioner Hugo Cabrera, whom the mayor backed to succeed him, announced his support for Sacco Jr. at the township’s annual Mayor’s Ball. He said the younger Sacco would take over the parks and recreation department, the portfolio Cabrera has run.
Cabrera said he had discussed the choice with the other commissioners and that they were in agreement. “No one better than Nick Sacco Jr. to be our next commissioner,” he said.
He pointed to Sacco Jr.’s volunteer work across the parks and recreation departments and compared his energy and rapport with residents to the mayor’s.
“I’ve actually met someone that has as much energy as the mayor has, and it’s obvious, because it’s his son,” Cabrera said. He said children greet Sacco Jr. the same way they greet the mayor.
In North Bergen’s commission form of government, five commissioners are elected at large and choose one of their own as mayor. When a seat opens between elections, the remaining commissioners appoint a replacement to serve until the next vote.
The appointment would keep a Sacco on the board as the mayor steps down later this month after 35 years. Cabrera is in line to become North Bergen’s first Hispanic mayor and would take over the mayor’s former post leading the Department of Public Affairs.
The next municipal election is in May 2027.
