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Bonding over bacon
(by Karen F. Mrnarevic - January 16, 2008)
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STAFF PHOTO BY KAREN F. MRNAREVIC
On Wednesday, Jan. 9, the mayors of the
Pascack
Valley met at the Iron Horse in Westwood for the annual Pascack Valley Mayor’s Association breakfast. Pictured from left: Park Ridge Councilman Rich Henning; Hillsdale Mayor John Sapanara; Woodcliff Lake Mayor Joseph LaPaglia;
Township of
Washington Mayor Rudy Wenzel ; Emerson Mayor Louis Lamatina; Westwood Mayor John Birkner.
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There were no illusions among the mayors in attendance at the annual Pascack Valley Mayor’s Breakfast, sponsored by the Greater Pascack Valley Chamber of Commerce, on Wednesday, Jan. 9 at the Iron Horse in Westwood.
While they tried to accentuate the positives in their respective towns, conversation returned again and again to the large-scale challenges currently facing the
Pascack
Valley . The overarching theme of the morning was that the towns must cooperate with one another if they hope to solve their problems.
Township of
Washington
The first representative to speak,
Township of
Washington Mayor Rudy Wenzel , touched briefly on the township’s planned objectives for the coming year, including the improvement of athletic fields by replacing grass with artificial turf. He then turned to the pressing issues of the Federal Aviation Administration’s rerouting of planes over the
Pascack
Valley and the closing of
Pascack
Valley
Hospital .
His outlook for the coming year was realistic, if not pessimistic. “I don’t think it’s going to be a great year from a financial standpoint,” said Wenzel, “The tax burden is going to continue to rise.” But he stressed that in order to solve the problems facing the Pascack Valley, it is imperative that “people get out and start listening and voicing your opinions… reach out not just to your local government, but your assembly, your senators and the governor.”
Park Ridge
While Park Ridge Mayor Donald Ruschman was unable to attend the breakfast, Councilman Richard Henning delivered an address in his absence. Henning started by asserting that the whole
Pascack
Valley is at a crucial point in its history, on its way to becoming something of a “sixth borough” of
New York City .
“One thing we all share these days is the feeling that we’re all getting hit… these days you have planes flying over… an abundance of trains going through the community… and it feels like everything is crashing down on us.”
He reiterated that the boroughs of the
Pascack
Valley need to join forces to adapt to these changes and preserve the sense of peace in the greater community. He also mentioned the steps that the Pascack Valley Administrators are already taking to streamline borough services, and lessen the tax burden for residents.
Henning went on to comment on the necessity for all members of the Pascack Valley community to contribute towards lessening the burden of local volunteer ambulance corps, which are reportedly in dire need of volunteers. He also called for all the
Pascack
Valley municipalities to “step up to the plate” and appeal to county and state authorities to come up with comprehensive strategies to combat the FAA and insure that a full service hospital returns to the site of the defunct
Pascack
Valley
Hospital .
Hillsdale
Newly elected Hillsdale Mayor John Sapanara also touched on new opportunities for residents to get involved in the community. He commended such groups as the American Legion for its fundraising campaigns and the Sun Dial Club for its efforts to beautify the community.
Sapanara also lauded Hillsdale Borough Administrator Harold Karns for winning the New Jersey Municipal Management Association’s annual distinguished service award.
“Harold has always been very conscious of his neighbors… and that’s one of the things I really want to do,” said Sapanara. Touching on the notion that the towns of the Pascack Valley can improve by banding together and sharing their resources, Sapanara took a moment to mention the fact that Hillsdale provides free parking at its train station on the weekends, available to all residents in the Pascack Valley.
River Vale
River Vale Administrator Robert Gallione spoke on behalf of Mayor Joseph Blundo, taking the opportunity to comment on what he calls the “synergy” of the Pascack Valley Mayor’s Association. In Gallione’s opinion, the current mayors and administrators work uniquely well together. “The mayors like each other, just as the administrators do,” he said.
Gallione touched upon the ongoing efforts of the Pascack Valley Administrators’ shared services initiatives, taking a moment to mention the efforts of Woodcliff Lake Administrator Ed Sandve, who is currently at the helm of the
Pascack
Valley municipalities’ effort to bid jointly on road resurfacing projects. In closing, Gallione returned to the theme of cooperation: “All of us like working together, and we look forward to 2008.”
Emerson
Emerson Mayor Louis Lamatina echoed Gallione’s sentiment that civility and productivity go hand in hand. He commented on his own mayor and council’s renewed sense of unity, saying, “It’s amazing what you can get done… when you aren’t arguing with each other.” He humorously noted that the one member of the council he finds himself butting heads with is his fellow Democrat. “It surely shows that we are a democracy… You would think that one Democrat would be in lock step with the other Democrat,” but that is not necessarily the way it works.
Lamatina also talked about the challenges that he has seen throughout his first year as mayor, including the disappearance of a local woman and a bomb threat that forced a closing of the borough’s schools last year. He said he found himself in a position to command public relations for the town, deflecting media attention from law enforcement and the Board of Education in each of those instances, keeping the community informed without interfering with authorities’ investigations into those matters.
Old Tappan
Mayor Polse of Old Tappan was unable to make it and asked Councilwoman Anna Haverilla to speak in his place. Haverilla focused on the progress that Old Tappan has seen recently, reopening its newly renovated library, and breaking ground for the town’s new police station. She also touched briefly on the issues facing the greater
Pascack
Valley , saying, “We do have the same problems with volunteerism… it’s very low; we wish people would stand up,” and get more involved in the community.
Westwood
Newly elected Westwood Mayor John Birkner began by stating that he refused to enter into the divisiveness game. “My goal is harmony,” he said. “For 50 years the mayors of the
Pascack
Valley shared ideas and shared goals and shared vision,” said Birkner. “Now we are moving forward and sharing DPW, sharing different assignments… to save money. It is really an honor for me to be a part of this.”
He touched on the fact that the absence of a full service hospital within the
Pascack
Valley is “an acute situation” that requires the attention and action of the greater community. Birkner firmly believes, and promises that he will do everything in his power to insure that the facility will once again be a full service hospital in the future. “We are leaving an opening for a hospital… to service our residents,” he said, dispelling residents’ concerns that the property will be sold for commercial use.
Woodcliff
Lake
The final speaker at the podium was Woodcliff Lake Mayor and President of the Pascack Valley Mayor’s Association, Joseph LaPaglia. He focused on his own borough’s efforts to streamline the performance of the mayor and council by polling council members and setting goals for the “municipal company” at the beginning of each year. Being a “businessman mayor,” as LaPaglia calls himself, he says he sees the logic in this type of planning for the future and setting up decisive objectives. He hopes that the impact of his executive approach to managing of
Woodcliff
Lake will lead to some real improvements in the way the borough budgets for and executes its many projects.
Among the issues identified through the poll of the Woodcliff Lake Council as “high priorities” were the following: working to reverse the FAA decision to reroute air traffic over the Pascack Valley; coming up with a plan for the future of the Pascack Valley Hospital; the Regional High School funding formula; the Woodcliff Lake Borough Hall expansion project; and Valley-wide sharing of fire department and DPW equipment.
For an article about shared services in the
Pascack
Valley , see next week’s Community Life.
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