WESTWOOD, N.J.—Approximately two dozen members of the valley business community turned out to the annual Breakfast with the Greater Pascack Valley Mayors on Jan. 29 at the Iron Horse Restaurant.
In turns at the microphone many of the mayors voiced concern that significant construction in the area is being driven by external forces, with local residents bearing the brunt of infrastructure costs and traffic.
The leaders, notably Westwood Mayor Ray Arroyo, also spoke to trends that showed the Pascack Valley remains an attractive area to do business, and that towns willing to innovate could see rich rewards.
Speaking to “churn and dynamism” in downtown Westwood against the backdrop of an ongoing master plan review, Arroyo said, “Some see the glass as half empty when in fact it’s quite full.”
Hosted by the nonprofit Greater Pascack Valley Chamber of Commerce, the breakfast gave each mayor or his or her designee five minutes to speak on hot-button issues.
The public was invited, and time was set aside for questions and answers.
Introduced by former Westwood Mayor Skip Kelley, who serves on the GPVCOC board, the organization’s president, Robin Malley of Friedberg Properties, set the tone for the roughly hourlong event, airing concerns about vacant storefronts and increasing traffic.
She said she believed Amazon, the commercial juggernaut, was “the culprit for a lot of what we lose because it’s so convenient to shop on Amazon instead of getting in our cars and going somewhere else.”
Also speaking were Emerson Mayor Danielle DiPaola, Hillsdale Mayor John Ruocco, Montvale Council President Douglas Arendacs, Old Tappan Mayor John M. Kramer, Oradell Mayor Dianne Didio, Park Ridge Mayor Keith Misciagna, Washington Township Mayor Peter Calamari, and Woodcliff Lake Mayor Carlos Rendo.
River Vale skipped the event, leading the other mayors to agree in jest that all municipal problems in the Pascack Valley could be placed at Mayor Glen Jasionowski’s feet.
One of the attendees, Mike Fitzsimmons of Westwood Gallery, told Pascack Press, “I felt the overall takeaway was an underdog battle of municipalities against the county, state, and courts.”
He added, “Even though this is one side of a many-sided issue, it is clear that each side needs the other to improve and preserve the quality of life for residents of the Pascack Valley.”
With space limited, Pascack Press will share the individual mayors’ remarks in forthcoming stories under the headline “Mayors Dish,” with the understanding that the fortunes of all our towns are intertwined.
This week: Emerson, Montvale, and Westwood. Next week in these pages: Hillsdale, Park Ridge, Woodcliff Lake, and the Township of Washington. We’re seeking input from Jaisonowski.