Warren Township Election: Republicans Lead, Unofficial Results

Alexis Tarrazi
Updated ·5 min read

Updated as of 9:17 a.m.

WARREN, NJ — Republican incumbents Michael "Mick" C. Marion and George Lazo are leading the race for the Warren Township Committee, according to unofficial results.

Marion, currently the Mayor of Warren, and Lazo, current Deputy Mayor, are running against Democrats Ilana Goldstein-Barsky and John Patrick Fahy.

Here are the latest unofficial results as of 9:12 a.m.:

  • George Lazo: 4,212

  • Michael "Mick" C. Marion: 4,142

  • John Patrick Fahy: 3,477

  • Ilana Goldstein-Barsky: 3,419

Warren Township School Board also has a contested race with five candidates vying for three, three-year seats.

Here are the latest unofficial results as of 9:12 a.m.:

Lori Ruckstuhl-Clar is also running unopposed for the one, one-year unexpired seat.

  • Lori Ruckstuhl-Clar: 4,961

For Watchung Hills Regional School Board, Peter Fallon is running for the one, three-year seat representing Warren and Michael Birnberg is running of the one, three-year seat representing Watchung.

  • Peter Fallon: 5,446

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Current Warren Mayor Marion, 55, and Deputy Mayor George Lazo, 57 ran together on the ticket.

Marion has 25 years of corporate business experience at Michael E. Marion & Associates Inc., a global management consulting firm with proven success as a Senior Executive and Owner. He also has 18 years of entrepreneurial real estate consulting and property management ownership.

Lazo has worked for the past 34 years as Senior Executive for Marriott International as a leading service provider. Lazo has experience at Marriott in Leadership roles in both Operations and Sales has led to a significant focus on service and delivery to our residents, businesses, and Township Staff.

Democrats Fahy, 30, Goldstein-Barsky, 42, challenged the incumbents.

Goldstein-Barsky has been working in the Product Management field for more than 15 years. She had previously served on the Warren Township Board of Education from 2018 to 2019.

Fahy is currently looking for work after finishing a new degree in August. His father is a trainman for Amtrak and his mother is a public defender working for the State of New Jersey.

Coronavirus

Marion and Lazo feel the single most pressing issue facing the community is the coronavirus pandemic.

"As Mayor and Deputy Mayor, we have been relentless in meeting with various emergency, health, and government officials and providing information, resources, and direction to help all our residents in Warren. We televise regular meetings to address the many issues surrounding the pandemic and how to meet those challenges in Warren. We also have been sending frequent email and social media messages to people in town and established new social media network and a new camera for our live meetings, all in an effort to keep our community as up-to-date with information as we can during these difficult times. We have been visiting businesses in Town and working with health officials to develop policies and ordinances that help our residents be prepared to return to the 'new normal' as efficiently as possible," Marion and Lazo said.

Fahy also pointed to the coronavirus as the most pressing issue, but more specifically the fall out from it.

"The most pressing issue facing our community now is the impact from the pandemic. Short-term there are some clear strategies that we can take to limit the impact of the tax revenue fallout from COVID-19. The first, is what we have been proposing for the past 3 years: a complete and comprehensive moratorium on all new PILOT development. PILOT developments involve giving developers tax abatement deals, where new properties, some valued at over $1 million, are not required to pay the full property tax assessment, but instead pay a significantly reduced fee directly to the township. These PILOT properties pay no money towards our school systems, which make up the biggest part of our local property tax payment. PILOT programs are not only deeply unfair to the residents of Warren who have been paying their fair share of taxes for decades, but they are also deeply dangerous and risk the future fiscal health of our township in the coming decades. It's time we make the correct and responsible decision by ending all future PILOT developments," Fahy said.

Other Issues

Other issues Marion and Lazo would like to see address are Warren's fair-share housing obligations.

"As many of you may know, Warren, like all other towns in this State, is subject to fair-share housing claims that have been making their way through the court system. As decade-long residents of this great rural Town, we have challenged Trenton-mandated housing requirements and continue to fight for fellow residents to try to manage our own housing goals locally. This is a time—more important than ever—that experienced leadership is needed for our Township on this issue. This is what we bring to the table on this critical issue, and we will continue to vigorously defend the small town character of Warren in which we have raised and continue to raise our families," Marion and Lazo said.

Goldstein-Barsky pointed to the lack of transparency in the town government as one of the main issues.

"Too many times Township Committee decisions are made without adequate input from our residents. In order to assure transparency, we need live-streaming committee meetings in real time, and providing meeting agendas and full descriptions of proposed ordinances available on the township website well in advance of meetings. And most importantly, decisions related to future development in the township should be made with careful consideration and input from all stakeholders. Residents as well as local businesses need to have equal voice in these decisions," Goldstein-Barsky said.

Links to the candidate's profiles:

For full coverage of the 2020 election in New Jersey, go here: New Jersey Elections 2020

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This article originally appeared on the Warren Patch