Joseph Scarpa, a proud resident of Rochelle Park, New Jersey, for more than 46 years, has announced he is running for re-election to the Rochelle Park Township Committee and asks for the residents’ support once again on Election Day, November 7th.
An honors graduate of both Midland School and Hackensack High School, Scarpa went on to study political science at Seton Hall University. There, he was active in campus affairs, serving as the president of the Student Government Association. Before graduating Summa Cum Laude, he received the University’s Distinguished Service Medal and was inducted into the Pi Sigma Alpha National Honor Society.
When Scarpa graduated from college and ran successfully for Township Committee in 1990 at the age of 24. He has remained on the committee since, having been re-elected eight times. Scarpa was selected by his colleagues 11 times to serve as Mayor and served during times such as Rochelle Park’s 125th Anniversary in 1996, but also through the devastation of Hurricane Floyd in 1999 and the terrorist attacks on 9/11.
No person has served more consecutive years on the Township Committee in the 146-year history of Rochelle Park. In addition, Scarpa has been inducted into both the NJ League of Municipalities Elected Officials’ Hall of Fame and the Mayors’ Hall of Fame. Additionally, he worked ten years as the Chief Legislative Aide for State Senator Louis F. Kosco. He was the Borough Administrator in Bogota from 1997-2000 and is currently serving there in that capacity once again. From 2000-2013 he was the Borough Administrator in Emerson, the longest-serving administrator in the Pascack Valley during that span. He was recognized in 2003 by the New Jersey Municipal Managers Association for his “Outstanding Service to Local Government.”
Scarpa was also an adjunct professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University, where he earned a Master of Administrative Science degree in 1999. He taught classes on government ethics and governmental management.
Always concerned with helping youth, Scarpa served as the vice president of the Rochelle Park Alliance Against Drug and Alcohol Abuse, as liaison to the Rochelle Park Recreation Committee and as a CYO counselor at Sacred Heart Church. For 22 years, he volunteered his time to teach high school juniors about citizenship and government at the American Legion’s Jersey Boys State civics program.
He also served as volunteer Commissioner on the Bergen County Housing Authority for five years, vice chair on the Bergen County Housing Development Corporation and was named “Person of the Year” by Assemblywoman Rose Heck in 2000.
With his unmatched experience and leadership for Rochelle Park, Joseph Scarpa is the candidate that residents need to represent their concerns on the Rochelle Park Township Committee. Remember to vote on November 7th.
