93-Year-Old WWII Veteran Is Sworn In as Mayor of New Jersey Town

Vito Perillo, 93, was sworn in Tuesday evening as the new mayor of Tinton Falls, New Jersey.
Vito Perillo, 93, was sworn in as the new mayor of Tinton Falls, N.J., Tuesday evening.(Facebook/Senator-Elect Vin Gopal)

Vito Perillo swore his first first order of business is to set up a reasonable budget.

A 93-year-old World War II veteran was sworn in Tuesday night as the newest mayor of Tinton Falls, N.J.

Vito Perillo won a seat as a Republican candidate after winning 53 percent of the vote over Gerald M. Turning, who was seeking a second term in office.

Perillo, who served with the U.S. Navy in the South Pacific from 1944 to 1947, ran on a platform that called for lower taxes and more transparency. It was the first time Perillo has ever run for office.

To win a seat, Perillo wore out two pairs of shoes campaigning door-to-door, he told The Asbury Park Press.

“He is fit and witty and [has] just got decades left in him,” Perillo’s granddaughter Melissa Balsamello said during the campaign.

Perillo reportedly decided to run after a pair of whistleblower lawsuits involving the police department cost the borough about $1.1 million in settlements.

He has declared that his first order of business is to set up a reasonable budget.

Turning, his opponent, was the borough police chief from 2004 to 2011 and the borough administrator between 2010 and 2014.

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