SPOTSWOOD — The Spotswood Borough Council has a vacant seat left by the resignation of Council President Frank LoSacco.
LoSacco, a lieutenant in the East Brunswick Police Department, said he chose to resign because he wants to spend more time with his family.
“When you look at your kids and they’re already in high school, you go, ‘Wait, I was just dropping them off at kindergarten last week,’” LoSacco said. “Honest to God, that’s what this is all about, and now is the appropriate time.
“I’m sure [the council] will find a suitable replacement. There are a lot of great people in town.”
LoSacco said he wanted to wait until the budget was drafted to step away, adding that he felt this is the right time.
“I wanted to make sure we were moving in a good direction with the budget and that the budget was closed out,” LoSacco said. “We’ve started working toward repairing the EMS building … and making a lot of infrastructure improvements. I know it’s going to require a lot of time and, quite frankly, I don’t have the time.
“I’ll always be available to help in any capacity, but it was the time.”
Borough Clerk Patricia DeStefano said the process of filling the vacancy is unusual in Spotswood, because council candidates don’t run as Republicans or Democrats.
“We run under nonpartisan, so there’s no Ds and no Rs,” DeStefano said.
Members of the Borough Council will vote to appoint a replacement to LoSacco’s unexpired term, which is set to end in December 2016. The person chosen will have to run for election in November to fill out the remainder of the unexpired term, DeStefano said.
“After the appointment, they have to run in this November’s general election for the unexpired term,” DeStefano said. “Then, the term is up in 2016, so in 2016 they would have to run again for a four-year term.”
Mayor Nicholas Poliseno said the Borough Council would receive résumés from interested applicants. Once the open call period closes, the council will host an open Q&A session with candidates, most likely at a June 15 meeting, Poliseno said.
While the borough clerk had not received any résumés as of May 1, Poliseno said he would like to see Edward Smith, a longtime resident who fell just short of election to a council seat when he garnered 16.89 percent of the vote in last year’s election, appointed to the position.
“He was the fourth highest vote-getter, so I think it would be prudent for council to possibly end up selecting Mr. Smith,” Poliseno said. “He’s a CPA by trade, so that’s also good to have someone with a background on that.”
Poliseno thanked LoSacco for his work on the council and called his decision to step down “brave.”
“It’s in the best interest of the residents,” Poliseno said.
For LoSacco, his time as a council member was all thanks to his supporters and colleagues, he said, adding that he would remain engaged in municipal government moving forward as a Spotswood resident.