Figured it's time to introduce the new majority in the borough. After the last version of the Democratic Party imploded around 2007, the local GOP seized complete control of the council. My, how times have changed in this working-class New Jersey community.
First a little background on the Borough of Elmwood Park. Maybe some of you out there who know the area even remember us as East Paterson, before the 1973 name change.
We have four (4!) major highways cutting through town--Routes 80, 4, 46, and the Garden State Parkway. Other major, but non-highway, thoroughfares that run through our town: River Road (hugging the Passaic River) runs from Kearny/Harrison all the way up to Mahwah on the New York border. Market Street starts in Paterson, going down to the county courthouse in Hackensack. Boulevard is our main north-south road, but only goes from Route 4 (Broadway) into Garfield.
The biggest business in the borough is BioReference, as Elmwood Park is its headquarters. Before BioReference moved into town, Marcal was the major industry. It's still there, but not nearly what it once was. Until the company went under in the early part of this century, Grand Union grocery stores made its corporate headquarters on the corner of Broadway and Boulevard. During the Second World War, defense industry jobs were a boom to the town, with an entire section still made up of the worker housing (they resemble barracks) built by the contractors at the time.
Current population (2010 census) is 19,403, with 78% White (mostly Irish, Italian and Eastern European), 15% Latino, 7% Asian (mostly Indian), and 4% Black. Up until the 1940 census, the borough was a small, sparsely populated community of less than 5,000. But the war industry caused the population to explode by over 200% to more than 15,000 residents by 1950. After the war, many remained employed in factory jobs in the industrial corridor of Paterson to Passaic to Newark. The per capita income stands at just under $30,000, with the median family income at about $75,000. Same-sex couples represent 49 households as of 2010.
Half the population is not affiliated with any political party, but the registered Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-to-1 (34%-17%). Notoriously low voter turnout, however, has hindered the Democratic ability to control local government.
Mayor Richard Mola (R) has held his seat continuously since his election in 1971. Yes, that's 42 years for the Republican mayor. The Elmwood Park mayoral elections are held the year after Presidential elections, which tend to give the GOP an advantage. Our borough clerk also serves as the mayor of Woodland Park (West Paterson), and has been appointed to that position despite being a Democrat.
Elmwood Park is within the 9th Congressional District (Bill Pascrell, D-Paterson) and 35th Legislative District, represented by State Sen. Nellie Pou (D-North Haledon), Assemblywoman Shavonda E. Sumter (D-Paterson) and Assemblyman Benjie E. Wimberly (D-Paterson). For President, Elmwood Park has increasingly voted for the Democratic candidate, as John Kerry won 54% of the vote, Barack Obama 55% in 2008 and 60% in 2012.
Many cycles, the mayorship was never really in play. Mola was a Bergen County Freeholder for 22 years, with the backing of the regional GOP, even statewide GOP. In 2011, without any elected office experience, I was recruited to challenge Mola, and as expected, lost big, as did the only remaining incumbent Democratic councilman, Frank Caramagna. That election did, however, set the foundation of what was to come in the following two elections (there are municipal elections every year in EP), when the Democratic Party would prove it was not about to fade away.
In 2012, Caramagna and I formed a council ticket, working our butts off, knocking on doors and getting our message out to voters. We won, and won big, knocking off two incumbent Republicans. Our foot was in the door. But with a 4-2 advantage, the Republicans--with Mola as the tie-breaking 7th vote when needed--were still in charge.
The mayor and I had spared during the 2011 election, but Mola knew and always respected my father and our family's involvement within the community. Over the last few years, the mayor and I have somewhat struck up a cordial working relationship, as he is definitely a proponent of good government, even if he believes it should be smaller government. Despite our rival party affiliations, he always works within the democratic process, never diving off the extreme end of the GOP pool. In fact, Mola has had more in common, particularly in terms of style and professionalism, with us Democratic councilmen than his Republican colleagues.
During the 2013 cycle, our signature target was the hyper-partisan Republican councilman, Tom Conboy. The Democratic Party brought a strong ticket, with Joe Dombrowski and Steve Martino challenging Conboy and Larry Castiglia. Our dedication to repeating the relentless door-to-door campaign style worked. Not only did Dombrowski run away with the first open seat (26% in the 4-way race), Martino won the second (25%) with room to spare. To make the victory sweeter, Conboy came in last (23%), and it wasn't even as close as it sounds. The double win is critical due to the fact that Mola has no veto power, simply a tie-breaking vote when it's needed. Essentially, the Democratic majority has what could be considered a "super majority" on the council.
In two election cycles, the Elmwood Park Borough Council went from 6-0 Republican to 4-2 Democratic. All of this despite the Christie tsunami of 2013. This is how the Democratic Party can win. On such a local level, it's about directly interacting and connecting with voters. Those lessons are pushed every day here at DK, and our story in Elmwood Park is just another example of how it can lead to success. There were no dirty tactics (not on our side, at least) or short cuts.
As time goes on, I'll be back with more stories from our small corner of New Jersey. There are plenty, I assure you. But for now, I thought this would be a good way to throw myself into the fray, particularly at a time when we can claim a resurgence of Progressive ideas in a place where the GOP for too long held more sway than it deserved or earned.
Thank you for you time.