Meet the Candidates for Saddle River Borough Council
On June 5th Saddle River residents will have the choice to elect 2 town council members on the Borough Council. Currently, 4 candidates are running for the 2 seats, with each pair running as a team. Meet the candidates.
Saddle River is predominantly a conservative and Republican town so the candidates are all running as Republicans for the town council seats. One team has an incumbent in Liz Salazer. Liz currently is on the Borough Council now and has served the town for many years on the council and numerous committees. Her running mate this year is Nick Ponzini, who is a relative newcomer into town. Nick Ponzini is a lawyer and partner at an NJ tax and accounting practice.
On the other side are John DeRosa and Rosario Ruffino, two longtime Saddle River residents who are both CPAs and both have long histories in the private sector. Together they have 50 years of combined experience in the financial services industry.
Liz and Nick have the following platform they want to convey to voters:
RESIDENTS SAFETY AND SECURITY: Our #1 priority is to maintain the highest caliber Police, Fire and EMS services available
FISCAL DISCIPLINE: Maintain a conservative agenda to ensure continued low taxes
WANDELL SCHOOL: Support Wandell in every way possible
QUALITY OF LIFE: Assurance that the services you expect and deserve will be there for you
HISTORIC PRESERVATION: Preserve our irreplaceable historic landmarks to ensure their ongoing existence and to guard them against being ‘repurposed’ or sold into ‘public/private partnerships’.
Currently, Liz and Nick does not have a website but is sponsored by the current mayor of Saddle River Al Kurpis.
DeRosa and Ruffino have the following platform (from their website):
TONE: We pledge to work with the Mayor and Council in a productive and civil manner. This is not to say that we would “rubber stamp” all proposals. It would be naïve to assume that all Council members would agree on all issues all the time. But the manner in which the Council debates issues and comes to conclusions reflects heavily on the perception of our town and we are keenly aware of this. We will elevate the tone of Saddle River’s political debates. Like you, we are tired of political battles between two “sides” in which personality differences color the process. It makes it more difficult to reach the best policy for residents and frays the bonds within our small community.
PROPERTY TAXES: First would be to reduce spending where appropriate and/or negotiate cost savings on the services provided to the town. Second, and maybe more importantly, we must do our very best to procure better services for the tax dollars that are being spent.
GARBAGE COLLECTION: Currently DeRosa and Ruffino do NOT seek to bring the garbage pickup “in-house” and would like to keep the private rear yard garbage pickup. They suggest that the town seek additional bids for private garbage services to possibly gain savings and better prices for the town.
DEER MANAGEMENT: DeRosa/Ruffino would propose that in conjunction with the non-lethal spaying solution focused on the does, that the town consider implementing a limited period of bow hunting for the bucks, coincident with the normal deer hunting season. This additional step will have a more immediate impact on the deer population.
CELL TOWER: DeRosa/Ruffino would like to explore coordinating with one of the major carriers to use Saddle River as one of the pilot cities for 5G technology. This proactive thinking might someday rid ourselves of the issue of having currently an unsightly cell tower in the center of town and near our elementary school.
BEAUTIFICATION: DeRosa/Ruffino support aggressively pushing for this effort to be accelerated and extended to improve the visual appeal in and around the East Allendale Road / Route 17 interchange. We also support improving our downtown by improving the look of our public buildings and landscaping the “Exxon Property” in an aesthetically appealing manner.
To learn more about DeRosa and Ruffino go to their website.
On June 5th the town of Saddle River will be asked to nominate for the Republican primary two qualified candidates to be seated on our town council. Saddle River News ask all voters to look at the candidate’s positions and make their choice.