Race for Clifton City Council heats up with 17 candidates
In any given Clifton City Council race, there's always a battle royal feel. The terms aren't staggered and all seats, including the mayor's, are up for grabs at once.
Tuesday's race has 17 candidates vying for the seven seats, four more than the 13 who ran in the last race in 2018. Initially, there were 18 candidates, but one dropped out. It is a nonpartisan race so candidates are not listed under a political party. Rather, they are listed in number order obtained through a drawing.
There is a bit more interest and buzz surrounding the race this year since longterm Mayor James Anzaldi and Councilman Peter Eagler announced they would not seek reelection. That's at least two seats up for grabs.
By tradition, the candidate elected by the most votes is appointed mayor by the other council members. Anzaldi held that distinction for 32 years and eight election cycles. George H.W. Bush was in the White House when Anzaldi was first appointed mayor in 1990.
"It has been a very difficult decision, but one I made a number of months ago for numerous reasons," Anzaldi said last month when he announced he would not run again. The "most important reason deals with the direction the city has gone in the last 45 months," he said.
After "many successful years" and "so many good things happening," things have "come to a crashing halt" in the city, he said.
Anzaldi said he has "always said we need to build up, not tear down. Too much tearing down has happened, and it has damaged the city and its reputation."
So shortly after the New Year, the city will have its first new mayor since 1990. Those familiar with city politics say the race to be mayor is wide open, as long as the tradition is honored.
"All the seats are wide open," Eagler said. "In talking with people they say they have three, four, even five candidates they are voting for."
Which leaves room for several candidates for these types of somewhat decided voters.
"People will shop," Eagler said. "If it's an incumbent, they will look at what have they supported in the last four years."
For challengers, the voters will want to know how they have been involved in the community, he added.
Clifton mayor won't seek re-election:Clifton's longest-serving mayor, James Anzaldi, not seeking reelection
The difficulty for many voters is gathering the information needed. Any kind of candidate forum, news article or other medium becomes unwieldy. Just providing each candidate 5 minutes at a forum requires a window of approximately 90 minutes.
In recent weeks, candidate forums were held by the Clifton Jewish Community Council, Palestinian American Community Center and local Democrats. Videos of the forums can be accessed at https://videoplayer.telvue.com/player/xAkU_1Eb4e9C1-YCioqZmvaGx4GumMyB/playlists/5435/media/753602?sequenceNumber=1&autostart=true&showtabssearch=true, https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=mWhAe6TsNwI and https://videoplayer.telvue.com/player/xAkU_1Eb4e9C1-YCioqZmvaGx4GumMyB/media/750431?autostart=true&showtabssearch=true.
Candidates have been asked questions about what can be done about flooding, police officer retention for Clifton's Police Department, overdevelopment and traffic issues.
The city's cable TV department also asks candidates to introduce themselves and respond to two questions. That exchange may be viewed on the Clifton Channel at https://videoplayer.telvue.com/player/xAkU_1Eb4e9C1-YCioqZmvaGx4GumMyB/media/750431?autostart=true&showtabssearch=true.
Another question frequently asked is why 17 people would want to run for City Council. It inevitably leads to questions about finances.
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All candidates have to report financial contributions to New Jersey's Election Law Enforcement Commission. To see financial information filed by the candidates visit https://www.njelecefilesearch.com/SearchCandidateReports.
Candidates have raised between $0 to more than $48,000 for the position that pays a $4,000 stipend. Some argue a perk for some candidates is the health insurance for elected councilmembers. City Manager Nick Villano said three current members have opted to use the insurance, Mayor James Anzaldi, Councilman Ray Grabowski and Councilwoman Rosemary Pino.
"We offer three health plans, the cost varies depending on the plan and the amount the employee contributes is dependent on salary," Villano said. "PPO or Direct Access family plan is about $40,000 and the single plan costs about $16,000," which includes a contribution from the employee. These plans include health, prescription and dental.
Meet the candidates in the order they will appear on the ballot.
Bill Gibson, incumbent
Joe Kolodziej
Dana Beltran
Alessia Eramo
Fahim Abedrabbo
Francesco Muoio
Ray Grabowski, incumbent
Steve Goldberg
Mary Sadrakula, incumbent
Antonio Latona
Tafari Anderson
Dominic Iannarella
Chris D'Amato
Lauren Murphy, incumbent
Frank Kasper
Rosemary Pino, incumbent
Avraham Eisenman
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Race for Clifton City Council heats up with 17 candidates
