BY SUSAN McTIGUE
FOR PASCACK PRESS
WESTWOOD, N.J.—When his campaign began in August 2018, Raymond Arroyo would have laughed if he were told that the fight to win his council seat would continue until February 2019. But an unexpected set of circumstances grew into a courtroom battle to reclaim his seat on the Westwood Council.
After the election Nov. 6, two-term Republican Councilman Arroyo learned that he had lost to Democratic challenger James Whelan by four votes out of more than 4,800 cast.
Because of the extreme closeness of the results, a recount was conducted that showed an even smaller margin—one vote—separating the candidates, but with Whelan still emerging victorious in December.
Arroyo and his supporters remained skeptical about several mail-in ballots that contributed to the outcome.
| Photo by Susan McTigue
Led by attorney Charles Rabolli, further investigation revealed that three of these ballots evidently for Whelan didn’t meet residency requirements to vote in the Westwood election.
The challenge was presented to Superior Court Judge Estela De La Cruz, who was faced with the choice between calling for a new election and determining that those three votes were ineligible, thus giving Arroyo the win of 2,402–2,400.
The night of Feb. 6, just after that ruling came down, Whelan conceded, posting in part, “I thank everyone who has supported me from the very beginning until the unfortunate way the election ended today. I truly hope the Westwood Democratic team decides to let me take another crack at it in the 2019 election as I feel I have a lot to offer this town as a member of the council.”
Until then, he added, “I will continue to contribute as a member of the Planning Board and in any other way I can.”
At his swearing in on Feb. 19, Arroyo said “We were happy to have the judge make that decision rather than move to a run-off election. She made an impartial ruling based on law.”
Joann Arroyo stood at her husband’s side throughout the ordeal and expressed her delight that “feeling up and down and up and down” over the last months was finally resolved in their favor.
Supporters flooded the council chambers and joined the Arroyos on Tuesday. Among them was Republican Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi, who represents the 39th District, which includes Westwood.
The crowd leapt to its feet when Democratic Mayor John Birkner Jr. announced that Arroyo would be sworn in at the top of the meeting.
Alyssa Dawson, Arroyo’s running mate, fell short in the election but lent an obvious supportive presence at the swearing in. Dawson, in her mid-20s and now chief of staff for Schepisi, served a brief but noteworthy tenure after taking over in May 2018 for Councilman Peter Grefrath, who stepped down to make way for a successor.
She explained Feb. 19 that the months of wrangling over the legitimate outcome of the election was not about party but rather about process.
“The relatively recent and popular Vote-By-Mail ballots changed the system too quickly and need to be improved to eliminate confusion and irregularities,” she said.
Dawson had the honor of swearing Arroyo in (she herself had been sworn in by her mentor, Kim Guadagno, the former lieutenant governor of New Jersey) followed by Birkner, presenting paperwork for signing.
Once returned to the dais with other council members, including Democrat and longtime borough volunteer Jodi Murphy, who took Dawson’s seat in the election, Arroyo offered his remarks with both humor and seriousness.
He did not dwell on the legal battle that had been fought for a quarter of a year. He thanked his many supporters, including his “Always Westwood” running mate Dawson, and reflected on how he and his wife settled in Westwood.
They’d left their home in Brooklyn in search of “safe harbor.”
He said, “We settled among profoundly decent people, relationships that are the core of Westwood’s social infrastructure. They can’t be legislated or purchased but should be cherished.”
He explained that the essence of local government “is to enhance public safety, health, and welfare in an intelligent, thoughtful, and effective manner: Fix the roads, pick up the garbage, get the kids on the fields and keep everyone safe. More stuff and less fluff,” he added to cheers.
As the meeting progressed, Arroyo was elected council president, ousting Chris Montana from that post, as his delayed third term of office began.
— Additional reporting by John Snyder