To the editor:
As the 2018 chief of the Westwood Volunteer Fire Department I had the opportunity to work closely with our then fire and ambulance council liaison, Ray Arroyo. So I know firsthand what an asset he is on the dais.
Ray proved his unifying worth by initiating Boots and Badges to raise funds and honor the memory of Westwood native and Paterson Police Department Detective Tyron D. Franklin.
He proved it by getting the hospital to give our new Fire Department volunteers free physicals that the state requires. He facilitated the transfer of two experienced, productive, and valued Emerson Volunteer Fire Department members despite the political push back of some who’d resisted them coming aboard.
And, as the Fire Department liaison, he steered the budgeting for our new software system, which brings our recordkeeping into the 21st century, through governing body approval.
He also assisted the Ambulance Corps in recovering $7,200, very timely in a year when rainouts had reduced the corps carnival fundraising effort.
Ray also gave, to my volunteer department during our 2018 inspection dinner, the most sincerely grateful and inspirational speech I’d ever heard an elected official deliver. It’s on his Westwood Councilman Ray Arroyo Facebook page and the Always Westwood page. Anyone who wants to know why Ray should be our next mayor should probably read it.
Ray’s biggest weakness is that he is not a relentless and shameless self-promoter. He’s much better at quietly doing the job and producing results than grandstanding and virtue signaling.
Having worked closely with Ray on initiatives that benefit everyone in our town—Republicans, Democrats, and Independents—I am in complete agreement with the residents who know him and therefore know this: Ray Arroyo is without a doubt the most knowledgeable, qualified, and common-sense choice to be Westwood’s next mayor.