Mayor Sacco’s retirement date will be October 28, 2026. Until that day he will remain in office as Mayor of North Bergen while working on the transition to ensure that the functions of local government are not impacted in any way.

 

No, township officials are committed to ensuring continuity of service and maintaining the same high standards that have been in place for many years.

 

Mayor Sacco has been dealing with significant health challenges that are impacting his ability to fully commit to the role of Mayor with the same schedule and workload that he has maintained during his career. After discussions with family members, friends, his physicians and his colleagues on the Board of Commissioners, Mayor Sacco decided that North Bergen would be best served by him stepping aside at this time and allowing a new generation of leadership to move the community forward.

 

When Mayor Sacco officially retires a vacancy will be created on the Board of Commissioners. By state law, that vacancy can only be filled by a majority vote of the four remaining Commissioners, and they must appoint a replacement within 30 days of the vacancy occurring.

 

Once the vacancy has been filled, the five Commissioners will vote to appoint a new Mayor and then will vote to assign municipal departments to the Commissioners. Mayor Sacco has endorsed Commissioner Hugo Cabrera to be the new Mayor of North Bergen.

 

A longtime North Bergen resident whose parents immigrated to the United States from Colombia, Hugo Cabrera will serve as North Bergen’s first ever Hispanic Mayor, fulfilling a historic milestone for a community that has grown significantly and is now the majority of the local population. Commissioner Cabrera was elected to the Board of Commissioners in 1999 and has led the Department of Parks and Recreation for the past ten years.

 

He has overseen the township’s highly successful Recreation program, which serves thousands of children and adults and provides numerous programs and activities, and he was instrumental in the development and improvement of numerous public facilities, including the Downtown Recreation Center and Library, North Bergen Pool and much more. Cabrera has been an outspoken advocate for local immigrant communities and has frequently spoken out against abuses by ICE, and he is married father and grandfather who works as the Board Secretary to the North Bergen Board of Education.

 

There will be a Commission Meeting on Wednesday, October 28th, 2026 at 6:30pm. In order to accommodate residents who wish to attend, the meeting will be held at the Nicholas J. Sacco Junior High School Auditorium, located at 2000 85th Street (formerly High Tech High School). Ample parking is available and all North Bergen residents are invited to attend this historic event.

 

State law mandates that if a vacancy on the Board of Commissioners occurs after September 1st in the last year of the official’s term then the newly appointed Commissioner must serve until the end of the current term.

 

The next Municipal Election will be held on May 11, 2027.

 

Commissioner Cabrera and the rest of the Board of Commissioners have announced their support for Lincoln School Principal Nick Sacco, Jr., to fill the open seat following Mayor Sacco’s retirement. Nick Sacco, Jr. has been a lifelong public servant and volunteers his time running children’s programs at the Recreation Department as well as the North Bergen Public Library, and he is a married father of a son in local schools.