Hackettstown Mayor to resign three months before her final term expires
Town councilman Jerry Dimaio will take over as acting mayor until January
HACKETTSTOWN, NJ (Warren County)— Hackettstown Mayor Maria DiGiovanni is resigning from office, three months before her final term expires. She had previously announced that she would not run for a fourth term as Mayor.
On RNJ’s The Local Impact program on Wednesday, Mayor DiGiovanni announced she is resigning effective Sept. 20 so she and her husband can move closer to family in Ocean County. Hackettstown Councilman Jerry DiMaio will lead the town as acting mayor until January.
The mayor said that she and her husband, Chair of the Warren County Community College Board of Trustees, Dr. Phil Linfante, originally planned to move in 2021.
“But then COVID happened,” DiGiovanni said. “I have a family history of people very, very close to me being here today and not tomorrow very suddenly. So we said, ‘what are we waiting for?'”
According to Hackettstown’s “Strong Mayor-Council” structure of municipal government, each year the elected mayor appoints an acting mayor and alternate acting mayor. Councilman Jerry DiMaio, who has been appointed acting mayor for several years, will keep his seat and voting rights on council while simultaneously serving as the town’s acting chief executive until Dec. 31.
DiMaio will likely be formally sworn in as elected mayor in January, as he is running unopposed in the general election.
“The future of Hackettstown, I think, is going to be great,” DiGiovanni said. “Things are going to continue as they are.”
DiGiovanni began her first term as mayor in 2012, succeeding former Mayor Mike Lavery. Before winning her first mayoral election, DiGiovanni served six years on town council.
