Council President

Jason Delia

Jason Delia has built his public service around showing up when Metuchen faces a challenge and bringing people together around practical solutions. Whether helping local businesses recover during COVID, advancing housing and redevelopment, planning a new Emergency Services Center, or supporting residents facing immigration enforcement, he has focused on making local government more responsive, inclusive, and prepared for the future.

Jason first became involved in Metuchen as a resident and community volunteer after moving to the Borough in 2011. He was elected to the Borough Council in 2019, re-elected in 2021 and 2024, and has been selected by his colleagues to serve as Council President since 2022.

On the Council, Jason has focused on the issues that shape Metuchen’s future. He helped drive the Borough’s 2026 Master Plan update and played a central role in the Fourth Round affordable-housing planning process. He was also deeply involved in the redevelopment of the former Gulton industrial site, helping negotiate Metuchen’s first PILOT and bring together the public and private partners needed to create The Kempson. The project includes affordable housing, preserved open space, and improvements to the adjacent wildlife preserve, and was named a 2026 New Jersey Future Smart Growth Award honoree.

Jason has also worked to ensure that major public investments reflect the community’s needs. He helped plan and negotiate the upcoming Emergency Services Center, which will bring Fire, EMS, and the Office of Emergency Management under one roof. His work included helping determine the appropriate size, location, and design of the facility, which is now under construction.

He has been a strong supporter of Metuchen’s small businesses and downtown. As a board member and Borough liaison to the Metuchen Downtown Alliance, Jason has contributed to storefront and innovation grants, public art, placemaking, community events, and the Sustain & Serve program, which supported local restaurants while providing meals to people in need.

That work builds on Jason’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As businesses prepared to reopen, he helped develop a downtown recovery strategy that expanded sidewalk cafes, created public space for outdoor dining and shopping, and supported curbside pickup. Metuchen’s downtown not only weathered the pandemic, but continued to grow. The Metuchen Downtown Alliance has since received the 2023 Great American Main Street Award, while Downtown Metuchen was named Jersey’s Best 2024 Destination of the Year and a 2025 Great Downtown Designee by APA New Jersey.

Jason’s public service has also included standing with residents during difficult and deeply personal moments. He supported members of the Metuchen community detained by federal immigration authorities by helping raise public awareness, organize financial support, and engage federal representatives. He also advocated for and helped secure a Borough policy preventing federal immigration-enforcement agencies from using Borough-owned property as staging areas for civil immigration-enforcement operations.

Jason has also worked to make Metuchen a more welcoming and inclusive community for LGBTQIA+ residents. He has worked with OutFront Metuchen and other community partners, regularly attends Pride events, and has spoken at and helped introduce the Borough’s Pride celebrations. He also helped pass a 2026 proclamation recognizing June as LGBTQIA+ Pride Month.

His work on public safety has extended beyond any single issue. Following the death of a Metuchen resident in a bicycle crash in Edison, Jason worked with the Vision Zero New Jersey Alliance and state legislators to help advance New Jersey’s Safe Passing Law, which was signed in 2021. He also helped establish 25 mph speed limits throughout Metuchen, plan the Borough’s first bike lane, and advance a major upcoming Main Street safety project with Middlesex County.

Jason’s contributions have been recognized with the Keep Middlesex Moving George Ververides Outstanding Community Leadership Award, making him its first recipient. He has also been recognized through a joint resolution of the New Jersey Senate and General Assembly. He has presented Metuchen’s experience at Rutgers’ NJTOD Symposium, Main Street Now conferences, Downtown New Jersey forums, and the New Jersey League of Municipalities conference.

Professionally, Jason is a software engineering leader with more than 20 years of experience building technology organizations, leading product development, and bringing together technical and business stakeholders. He holds an MBA from the New York Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Seton Hall University. He and his wife, Courtney, have one son.