Council Candidates Spar Over Parties' Past Actions

The candidates for Fair Lawn Council made repeated references to both the Republicans' and Democrats' actions from recent years during a forum Thursday, though all the candidates would be newcomers to the council.

The League of Women Voters sponsored a Fair Lawn Council candidates forum at the municipal building Thursday night. Democrat Cristina Cutrone, Republican Daniel Dunay, Democrat Joan Goldstein and Republican Amy Lefkowitz are seeking the two seats currently held by Jeanne Baratta and Ed Trawinski, who are not seeking re-election.

On many issues, all four candidates expressed similar opinions. They all said they would seek out shared services except for emergency dispatching, would support the local business community through the Economic Development Corporation, would maintain current services but would seek to make some facilities like Memorial Pool and the Fair Lawn Community Center better utilized, would make a nonpartisan choice when looking to hire a permanent borough manager, would keep the D.A.R.E. program in schools and would seek ways to improve pedestrian safety.

With the budget, all four candidates claimed their respective duo would be best at keeping taxes stable. They also all said they would maintain what they called a "reasonable" surplus, but there was an implied difference in the amount the Republicans and Democrats considered to be reasonable.

"We need a strong surplus," Lefkowitz said.

Dunay and Lefkowitz said they wanted to keep a larger surplus to avoid borrowing after an emergency like a large storm, while Cutrone and Goldstein said they wanted to provide tax relief, even if just a small amount.

"To me, $2 per month means something," Cutrone said. "And to seniors living on a fixed income, that means something."

The surplus disagreement followed similar arguments from current officials about the budget earlier this year, and the candidates made many references to decisions from the current and former administrations during the forum. Dunay and Lefkowitz are running as "the Cosgrove team" and said Thursday that they would keep current Mayor John Cosgrove in the position.

"[We] will keep John Cosgrove as our mayor and continue strong, responsible leadership for Fair Lawn," Dunay said.

Goldstein criticized the Republicans for repeatedly supporting issues that have already been resolved by current officials.

"We don't need a council where one person dominates and two others rubber stamp everything he sends their way," she said.

Dunay said he disagreed with current Republican officials on at least one issue, noting that he would have voted against the decision to purchase the flood-prone Dube property earlier this year.

Lefkowitz and Dunay both also pledged to eliminate health benefits for council members if they are elected.

Cutrone and Goldstein also spoke about some of the current council's actions, criticizing last year's decision to raise water fees, which Dunay defended as bringing Fair Lawn's water pricing in line with other nearby towns while preventing more taxes or a cut in service. 

The general election will be held November 5.