Meet ‘Gentleman’ Joe Giralo: Atlantic County, New Jersey Clerk

Atlantic County Clerk Joe Giralo has been in office for 107 days.

He is off to a great start. Giralo is all about constituent service. He is a breath of fresh air within the very tainted electoral public service business.

Giralo arrives early each morning to vacuum, clean and set the constituent chairs before the Atlantic County Clerk’s office each day.

To quote future New Jersey Governor Jack Ciatterelli, “Who does that?” Giralo does. That’s who.

Giralo is in the process of building great camaraderie between himself and his entire team that he inherited from outgoing Atlantic County Clerk Ed McGettigan, who served three terms, for a total of 15 years in the position.

To his credit, Giralo has even retained McGettigan’s former Deputy County Clerks, Mike Sommers, and Antoinette Flath.

Most new clerks sweep with a new broom and “clean” house and bring in their own senior management team.

Flath has worked at the Atlantic County Clerk’s office for 29 years, which covers the legendary Lori Mooney, Michael Galvin, Jim McGettigan, and now, Joe Giralo eras.

Flath handles the recording side of the business and Sommers who came in with McGettigan, handles the election side.

Both are very knowledgeable and respected by their peers around the state. Francis is a legitimate go-to guy on complex election matters.

Get our free mobile app

Giralo’s path to becoming Atlantic County Clerk comes by way of the past 36 years working with the Atlantic County Improvement Authority.

Goralo managed the Small Cities and Community Development Block Grant  (CDBG) Programs of housing rehabilitation … as well as the Atlantic County first-time homebuyer programs. Giralo also managed a total of 108 loans provided to Atlantic County businesses.

In keeping with Giralo’s pledge to bring the Atlantic County Clerk’s office closer to the people … Giralo is holding a public event, titled:

Quarterly Community Access Open House:  Making government services available to you, when you need them.
WHEN: Thursday, May 5, 2022 from 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m.

WHERE: The Historic Atlantic County Court House
5901 Main Street, Mays Landing, NJ 08330

Representatives from the following will be present:

• Atlantic County Government
• The Atlantic Countv Clerk's Office
• The Atlantic County Surrogate's Office
• Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson
• The Atlantic County Board of Commissioners
• Congressman Jeff Van Drew (NJ-2)
• New Jersey Senator Vince Polistina (NJ-2)
• New Jersey Assemblyman Don Guardian (NJ-2)
• New Assemblywoman Claire Swift (NJ-2)

It’s a “one stop shop” opportunity to see the highest rankling County, State and Federal elected officials in Atlantic County all at one time.