Letter: New Councilman Introduces Himself

My name is Frank Pizzella, and I have recently been re-appointed to serve on council in the Borough of Hillsdale and I am writing to formally introduce myself to the residents of Hillsdale.

I am a first generation American whose parents immigrated to the USA in the early 1960s from Italy. I was born and raised in Belleville, New Jersey. I earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1992 from Rutgers University in Biology and Environmental Sciences, as well as in Political Science, and I obtained my law degree in 1999 from Seton Hall University School of Law. After a long search for a community in which to establish roots and raise a family, my wife and I moved to Hillsdale. I reside in Hillsdale with my wife Dina, who is a registered nurse, and my two children Michael, age 8 and Ava, age 4. I am currently the director of the legal administration and compliance group for an international corporation that manages private equity funds. My work focuses mainly on the restructuring of toxic and distressed investments and creating value through detailed rescue management and corporate financial triage.

I am proud of my family, our accomplishments, my heritage, my faith and the work I have done in our community. I am an honest and hard worker who is always eager to get involved and not deterred when faced with adversity.

In July of 2012 I read a letter to the editor in Pascack Community Life, titled “Leaving Hillsdale With a Heavy Heart”, written by Sheila McAllister, in which she described her love for Hillsdale, her sadness at leaving it and her hope that the leadership and the residents would resolve the issues facing it. Mrs. McAllister’s letter had a profound effect on me and I decided to get involved and soon thereafter was appointed to council.

I am honored by the trust the residents of Hillsdale have shown to me and I will do my very best for them. I will continue to provide informed leadership and will address issues creatively and responsibly. 

I believe that the greatest gift I can give my children is a personal example of how to be a proactive member of our community. I am currently engaged in our community as co-president of the Meadowbrook Family and Faculty Association at the Meadowbrook School, where my son Michael is a second grader; a parishioner, CCD teacher and lector at St. John The Baptist Roman Catholic Church; the Treasurer and Cultural Chair of UNICO Westwood Chapter and a cub-scout den leader for the Wolves of Pack 81. I have also founded “Friends of the 88^th” which is a not-for-profit organization, whose sole purpose is to honor the 88^th Infantry Division, the Blue Devils, consisting of young men from New Jersey who fought for our country in northern Africa and southern Europe and who liberated Rome in World War II.

When I served on council from July to November in 2012, I, together with the town leadership, responsibly approached the tense issue of dispatching. We saved the town almost a quarter of a million dollars while making public safety first in importance. I worked closely with the Fire Department as Fire Commissioner on policy and procedure.  Similarly, as liaison to the Recreation Commission, I worked on issues such as field use and improvements, and as a member of the finance committee and shared services committee, I thought through, developed and suggested creative and responsible long-term solutions that could generate revenue needed to keep Hillsdale fiscally strong. I also served as liaison to the Board of Education. I now look forward to working on my new appointments.

Councilmembers advocate for residents. I am committed to reducing bad debt and keeping taxes stable because that protects our property value and grows surplus. Cutting expenses is a start, but developing creative ways to generate revenue will further secure our base and is absolutely necessary to maintain the many services we have grown to appreciate and trust. I firmly believe that essential to keeping residents safe is for us to ensure that our volunteers, police and emergency services have what they need to do their job and I strongly encourage you to support our downtown because we need our business community to thrive.    

I, like Mrs McAllister, also love bumping into friends on the streets when picking up my children from school or attending their games and other events in town. I want my children to have lasting memories of their hometown and I look forward to talking about “old times”.

Please remain open-minded, and I encourage you to attend town meetings, get involved and join us on council in working to make Hillsdale an even better, more prosperous place to establish roots, work, live and raise a family. I am certain that by working together we will have many “old times” to talk about.

I thank my fellow councilmembers for this amazing opportunity to represent my neighbors and friends.  I thank them for their support and look forward to working with all of you.

Respectfully submitted,

Frank A. Pizzella