Mom still calls them 'the boys' but South Jersey sons will be mayors of neighboring towns

PAULSBORO — Not that mom wasn’t proud already of her boys, but the November elections helped wrap up 2023 on a high note for Adina Giovannitti.

John and Vince Giovannitti, who grew up in a family of seven children in Paulsboro, both will be sworn in as mayors come January. It will be a first term for John, who is Paulsboro council president now, and a second term for Vince, a Greenwich Township resident since 1992.

“They’re the boys,” 90-year-old Adina Giovannitti said. “Good fathers. Good men.”

More: Holt Logistics Corp. plans on buying Paulsboro riverfront land

More: Port-based manufacturing jobs on horizon in Paulsboro, two steel plants under construction

“I am sure siblings have served as mayor of different towns at the same time,” Vince Giovannitti said. “But, it could be unique that two siblings were elected mayor of neighboring towns during the same election.”

They're respective municipal buildings are just 8 minutes away from one another, less than 3 miles across Broad Street.

John Giovannitti ran opposed in the November general election to succeed retiring Mayor Gary Stevenson, though he did have to deal with a challenger in the Democratic Party primary. He takes over as mayor on Jan. 2.

Younger brother Vince starts his new mayoral term on Jan. 3. He also had spent years as a township councilman.

John Giovannitti, 61, says he had felt ready to take over from Stevenson after a decade leading the council. The borough’s “weak mayor, strong council” government keeps the president and mayor in close contact.

“And I think that’s why I was selected,” John Giovanitti said. “People knew I was willing to put the time in. Not every councilman wants to be the council president because it does. … And I like to be a leader, and I like the challenge.”

Like his senior sibling, Vince was a councilman for many years before seeking the mayor’s seat. Now 57, he is the youngest in the family. John is the fifth child of seven.

John Giovanitti, a longtime wrestling coach, is the athletic director and an assistant principal at Paulsboro junior/senior high school. Vince Giovanitti started in the district as a special education teacher and then a high school counselor, retiring after 31 years.

Vince Giovanitti had his first election win in 2003, following an interim appointment to the Greenwich school board. He started a 16-year run on Township Council in 2005.

The family has four boys and three girls, but only John and Vincent are in politics. Their late father, though, was a Paulsboro school board member for 21 years and its president most of those years.

“He, sort of, set the bar for public service,” Vince Giovanitti said. “But my family’s full of educators, teachers. You know? So, we all felt a call to get involved and try to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.”

John Giovanitti said his mother worked the bingo events for their parish. Other relatives were active in their church and, or, civic groups. His own leap to government came while on the borough Recreation Committee.

“My one uncle, he worked every day going to the senior citizen club when he was alive,” he said. “So, we come from a family that believes in giving back.”

Joe Smith is a N.E. Philly native transplanted to South Jersey 36 years ago, keeping an eye now on government in South Jersey. He is a former editor and current senior staff writer for The Daily Journal in Vineland, Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, and the Burlington County Times.

Have a tip? Reach out at jsmith@thedailyjournal.com. Support local journalism with a subscription.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Brothers start new year as mayors in neighboring Paulsboro, Greenwich