Hillsdale Council President Resigning

Hillsdale Council President Michael Giancarlo is planning to step down from his seat as of December 31.

Giancarlo, who also sits on the planning board and the friends of the library, told Patch that he does not have enough time for his various obligations.

"While I love Hillsdale and can never see myself unengaged from the town, my other responsibilities were beginning to be affected by these numerous and overlapping responsibilities of being a hands-on councilperson," Giancarlo wrote in an email to Patch.

Giancarlo has been a member of the council for five years and said that he had been involved with the town in other ways for seven years before that. 

Giancarlo, a Republican, said the move was not political. He wanted to spend more time with his family and running his business, a pharmacy dealing in long-term care, he said. Giancarlo said he had planned to resign for some time, but wanted to wait so that the new council would be able to choose the new member to fill the seat.

Hillsdale Max Arnowitz said he was disappointed to lose Giancarlo, who he called an "extremely valuable asset" to the borough, but said he did understand his decision.

"Your family and business have to come first and second," Arnowitz said. "Then, politics."

The Bergen County Republicans will interview candidates for a replacement and send three options to the council. The council, which in January will be made almost completely of Democrats, will pick one of the three candidates.

Giancarlo will be one of several council members who resigned this year, including Jonathan DeJoseph, who left to become the borough administrator, Rod Capawana and Leslie Becker.

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