How did communities in the Northern Valley vote during on Election Day in 2017? Northern Valley Press compiled the results town by town.
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ALPINE
Incumbent Democrats Laurence A. Shadek and Arthur Frankel will return to the borough council in 2017 after running unopposed on Election Day. Shadek received 265 votes and Frankel got 239.
School Board: The Alpine Board of Education will welcome back its President Philip Simotas and Vice President Srinivas Dhulipala after both ran unopposed to retain their seats. Simotas received 143 votes, while Dhulipala got 101 votes.
CLOSTER
Both Republican incumbents David H. Barad, 67, a council member since 2005, and Robert A. DiDio, 63, an incumbent councilman, were defeated by Democratic newcomers Scott Devlin, 32, and Dolores A. Witko, a 34-year borough resident in one of the most hotly contested council races.
Devlin, a four-year Closter resident, grabbed 961 votes and Witko 949 votes, while incumbents Barad (915) and DiDio (899) lost by a slim margin. The winners will serve three-year council terms.
In Northern Valley Press profiles, Devlin said he would ask “tough questions and hold government accountable. It’s time that residents, not bureaucrats, are the first priority,” he wrote. Witko, who declined to provide her age, said she was running “so the people can have a voice in how this town is governed. It has been the same ‘good old boys’ club’ running things in borough hall for the past 15 years.”
School Board: Northern Valley Regional High School Board of Education President Joseph Argenziano will return to the board for another term after he won 913 votes in an uncontested election. Three candidates filed for three seats: Sung Hui Kwon, 658 votes; Gregg David Lambert, 577 votes; and Melody Finkelstein, 537 votes.
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CRESSKILL
Incumbent Cresskill Borough Councilmen James Cleary and Hector Olmo were both reelected to their roles, receiving 880 and 881 votes, respectively, in an uncontested election.
School Board: Voters were charged with choosing three representatives to serve three-year terms and one representative to fill an unexpired two-year term on the Cresskill Board of Education this Election Day. In all cases, incumbent board members ran unopposed and will continue serving in the new year.
The vote tallies were: Board President Denise M. Villani, 663; Mary Klein, 549; John Park, 533. For the unexpired two-year term, incumbent Raffi Odabashian got 588 votes.
DEMAREST
Incumbent Democrat Rebecca LaPira, 41, a 12-year resident, and Democrat newcomer Mary Lynne Hamilton, 72, a 41-year resident and retired nurse with no previous elected experience, took the two open council seats. LaPira received 740 votes and Hamilton received 721 votes.
LaPira told Northern Valley Press in her profile that her accomplishments in only one year on the council included “adding more police officers, so our town is safer. We hired a new progressive engineering firm to make road and water infrastructure improvements,” she added.
School Board: Tiffany Kaplan will represent the borough on the Northern Valley Regional High School District Board of Education after receiving 549 votes in an uncontested election. Three candidates competed for two open seats on the Demarest Board of Education K-8 district. The winners were Erica Cantatore, 463 votes, and Diane Holzberg, 443 votes. Placing third was Kyusoon Lee with 404 votes.
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ENGLEWOOD
Council seats representing two of the city’s four wards were up for grabs this year in Ward I and Ward III. Current Councilmen Marc Forman (Ward I) and Eugene Skurnick (Ward III) decided not to run.
By huge margins in both wards, the two Democratic candidates outpolled their Independent opponents. Democrats Cheryl Rosenberg in Ward I and Katharine H. Glynn in Ward III tallied 1,038 and 1,049 votes, respectively, to defeat opponents Horace H. Ragbir with 84 votes and Glenn Coley with 293 votes.
The city council is composed of five members who serve three-year terms. Four are elected by their individual wards and one at-large member, currently Charles Cobb, is elected by a city-wide vote. Each ward is approximately equal in population. Mayor Frank Huttle III has served as mayor since 2010, and is in the second year of a third three-year term.
School Board: With ongoing year-long turmoil over investigations into thousands of incorrect transcipts and grades issued to students at Dwight Morrow High School, three open seats on the school board on Nov. 7 were fought over by eight candidates looking to make a difference.
Michelle Marom finished first with 1,437 votes, Dalia Lerner second with 1,365 votes and Brent D. Watson won the third seat with 1,300 votes. Other candidates included Howard L. Haughton (1,247 votes), Betty H. Griffin (1,172 votes), William Feinstein (771 votes), Dierdre Glenn Paul (659 votes), and Matthew Garrison (369 votes).
ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS
Incumbent Democrats in Englewood Cliffs beat back Republican challengers in Election Day tallies, retaining their seats. Councilman Edward F. Aversa led all vote-getters with 1,093 followed closely by Councilwoman Gloria Oh, with 1,091, according to unofficial tallies. Republicans Sanket D. Shah and Carolina Calderon received 804 and 780 votes, respectively.
School Board: Voters chose three representatives to serve three-year terms on the board: Eugene L. Chang received 549 votes; Philip K. Choi received 517 votes; and Katherine Kang got 496.
HARRINGTON PARK
Running unopposed for two open council seats were Independents Joon L. Chung and Allan S. Napolitano. Chung tallied 625 votes and Napolitano 611.
School Board: The only local contest in Harrington Park was in the race to represent the borough on the Northern Valley Regional High School District Board of Education, where newcomer Jessica Spillane ousted incumbent board trustee John Schettino.
Spillane, a 40-year-old small business owner, received 606 votes, while Schettino, an attorney who represents municipalities and boards of educations and who has served on the board since 2011, received 572 votes, by unofficial tallies.
Running unopposed for two open school board seats were Dianne Smith and Eric Fishbein, with 652 and 611 votes, respectively.
HAWORTH
Only one vote separated the top two finishers seeking two open seats as Republican incumbent Anthony Volpe, a councilman since 2012, and Democrat Jacqueline Guenego, a former school trustee, were neck-and-neck at 588 and 587 votes, respectively. Republican Donald Wright, an insurance broker and father of five, tallied 537 votes.
School Board: Four candidates vied for two open seats. Winners were Mary Anne Doran with 361 votes and Michael A. Rodino with 290 votes. Other candidates were Michael Winik, 232 votes, and Jeffrey Nadler, 212 votes.
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NORTHVALE
Incumbent Democratic councilman Kenneth Shepard, with 634 votes, and Democratic newcomer Thomas R. Argiro, with 597 votes, won the two open council seats. Incumbent Republican councilman Roy J. Sokoloski, a 10-year council member, received 572 votes.
School Board: Two candidates ran unopposed for two open seats on the local board. Jennifer DeLaura-Vendetti totaled 307 votes and Jamie Corday had 285 votes.
NORWOOD
Four candidates vied for two seats on the borough council. Incumbent Republican councilman Barry Scott, 82, who served two non-consecutive terms totaling two decades of service, was reelected Nov. 7 with 827 votes and Republican newcomer Paul Stuart Haberman, 38, joins him after receiving 813 votes. Democratic challengers Gorge L. Santiago and Allen Rapaport tallied 738 and 668 votes, respectively.
School Board: Five candidates battled for three three-year seats on the local board with Michael J. Sprague (545 votes), Kelly Wilson (530 votes) and Tammy Greenberg (508 votes) being elected to the board. Other candidates included Stephen Brossard (389 votes) and Anthony Hadzmichalis (256 votes).
OLD TAPPAN
Two incumbent Republican councilmen ran unopposed for reelection for three-year terms. Ronald E. Binaghi received 815 votes and Thomas E. Gallagher received 825 votes.
School Board: Running unopposed for one open seat was Kurt Linder, who received 416 votes.
ROCKLEIGH
Two incumbent Republican councilmen ran unopposed for two open seats. Frank S. Cumiskey received 55 votes and Douglas B. Johnsen Sr. received 54 votes.
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TENAFLY
Democrats Jeffrey D. Grossman (2,041 votes) and Lauren Dayton (2,037 votes) piled up a huge victory in snagging the two open seats, outdistancing their one Republican opponent, Edward Mazlish (872 votes).
School Board: Three candidates ran unopposed for three open seats on the school board. Topping the field was Patricia Flynn, 1,334 votes, Janet I. Horan, 1,100 votes and Edward J. Salaski, 1,099 votes.
