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Mahwah’s Election Guide 2012

Info about the candidates running for local office; Election Day is Tuesday

 

Tuesday, Mahwah voters will decide on local, county, state, and national political races. Locally, voters will choose between two candidates running for mayor, five running for three seats on the township council, and three running for three spots on the Mahwah Board of Education.

Check the following links for more information about candidates running for office in Mahwah.

Mayor – Two Candidates

William “Bill” Laforet – Laforet, a Mahwah gas station owner, was elected last November to finish out the final year of late Mayor Dick Martel’s term in office. Laforet, who announced his intent to seek reelection in April, has focused his campaign on lower taxes, fiscal responsibility, and “opening the government up to the people.”

Edward “Ed” Sinclair – Sinclair, the superintendent of the township’s Department of Public Works, is seeking his first term in office. Sinclair, who announced his intent to run for mayor in June, has focused his campaign on maintaining Mahwah quality of life and volunteer services, cutting wasteful spending and leading with “honesty, integrity, and loyalty.”

Township Council – Five Candidates

H. Lisa DiGiulio – DiGiulio has been a Mahwah councilwoman for 24 years. She announced her intent to run for office in August, saying she “enjoy[s] serving the people in this town.”

Jonathan Marcus – Marcus, a corporate attorney, is seeking his first term in office. Marcus announced his intent to run in September, saying he wants to bring the “perspective of the father of a young family” to the council.

John Roth – Roth has been a a councilman in Mahwah for eight years, and previously served on the township’s planning board and Board of Education. He announced his intent to run for reelection in June, saying he likes “finding solutions to problems that help make our community a better place to live and ultimately [making] a difference.”

Steve Sbarra – Sbarra, the owner of a Sports Clips in Wyckoff, is seeking his first term in office. He had an unsuccessful run for a council seat last year. Sbarra announced his intent to run again in September, saying his past “experience in corporate management, human resources and now as a business owner, would add value to a council whose responsibilities are to provide checks and balances in regard to township matters.”

Todd Van Duren – Van Duren, owner of the Ramsey Auto Group and member of the township Planning Board, is seeking his first term in office. Van Duren announced his intent to run in September, saying he has a long history of being an “involved Mahwah resident. I have kids in the school system, they are involved in sports, and I feel that I can bring that perspective of the day-to-day in Mahwah to the council.”

Board of Education – Three Candidates

Christine Davis – Davis is seeking reelection to a seat on the school board. She was first elected in 2003.

John Dolan – Dolan is seeking reelection to the school board. He is an MHS grad who served on the board from 1992-1995, and from 2000 through 2012.

John Ebanietti – Ebanietti is seeking his first term on the school board. He said he decided to run to dedicate more time to Mahwah’s “great” school district.

Voting

Polls will be open in Mahwah from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Some districts will be voting at alternate polling locations, due to Hurricane Sandy. See all Mahwah polling locations here.

Elections on the County and State Level

The National Election

From our NJ Insiders Series:

  • Who will you vote for?

    (Voting has been closed for this question)
    • Bill Laforet
        21 (50%)
    • Ed Sinclair
        21 (50%)
    Total votes: 42
  • Which council candidate do you most strongly support? (You can only vote for one option in this poll)

    (Voting has been closed for this question)
    • Lisa DiGiulio
        3 (17%)
    • Jonathan Marcus
        7 (41%)
    • John Roth
        1 (5%)
    • Steve Sbarra
        4 (23%)
    • Todd VanDuren
        2 (11%)
    Total votes: 17
  • Your vote will only count once. This is not a scientific poll. View Results Vote!
Related Topics: Election Day, Mahwah Elections, Mahwah Elections 2012, Vote 2012, elections 2012, and participate 2012

Mona Lot

5:57 am on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Ladies and Gentlemen,please please read the ballot before you vote,make sure you do not vote down the party lines ,look before you push the cast your ballot button,we made a hugh mistake last election for mayor lets not do it again

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ref

6:00 am on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

voters,please read ballot before you cast your vote,there was a hugh mistake last year in the election for mayor,lets not make another mistake

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Thurston Howell III

7:05 am on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Don't let people confuse you when it comes to your vote......if you want to vote straight down your party line DO IT!...

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Chardel Vyjial

9:03 am on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

I'm voting Column #2 (THE D COLUMN) Obama, at the top down to Sinclair at the bottom. Don't let the storm keep you from voting! You can't complain about who wins unless you vote. Obama/Sinclair perfect together! I think that might be NJ and you slogan also.

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M. Ket

9:03 am on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Andy, Ed Sinclair was the third man on the totem pole for accountability. He has supervisors as well that he needs to follow orders from. Our current mayor had students out of school for an entire week. Last year students were only out of school one day, and up to three at Betsy Ross and George Washington. It is the DPW that has been working around the clock to clean up our town. Last year, they were salting and plowing before they could clean up trees etc.

There is no comparison of the two years. One was a snow storm and the other was a high wind post hurricane. The organization and response effort is thanks to the people at the DPW. They are the ones we should. be thinking about as we vote today.

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Andy Schmidt

9:43 am on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Yes, in comparison to LAST year, THIS year was a disasterous storm for 80% of the town. Last year some people lost everything in Mahwah, but it did not effect virtually all of town.
This year's event was such a magnitude worse - yet was handled by a magnitude better.

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james joseph

11:24 am on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

To even try to use storms and people without power, heat and food and say the mayoral DPW candidate worked tirelessly to help from this storm is outrageous and wrong. I haven't seen much if any work being done and to just blatently lie and say this person is working with Rockland Electric just to move your narrow agenda while many are distraught over there life and families being disrupted is disgusting. More people f Mahwah were effected by this storm than last year which was devastating but to a much smaller population. It has been obvious to many people I have talked to that there seemed less assistance and tireless work by dpw because w. mahwah area wasn't effected or lost power. I tried to call today to see if debris was getting cleared from our neighborhood off Miller Rd because i am worried about the pending noreaster and potential snow and the entire DPW is off today, where is tireless!!. So please lets keep some sanity and the anonymous (same few) political pundits from even trying to use this as a positive for the DPW candidate and If you really care about Mahwah get out and help and offer assistance away from the security of your computer to those in need as a new Storm is coming!

Regenbogen

9:03 am on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

And let us not forget who was behind the scenes during this "disaster" week! Ed Sinclair. Mr. Sinclair DID do his job last year during Hurricane Irene and the October snow storm, although not receiving the appreciation he well deserves.
Oh..Andy..who had the highest price gas during the town's disaster and did I hear correctly that the USPS was turned away from Mahwah Sunoco? I hope this is a nasty rumor. Also, Mr. Sinclair is working diligently with all electric companies who are in Mahwah to restore power. Unfortunately, Mr. Sinclair does not have a publicity agent.

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Todd

9:03 am on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

I am looking forward to supporting Mayor Laforet. He has proven his leadership abilities over the past week.

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Regenbogen

9:54 am on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Didn't realize the pizza luncheon yesterday for the children of Mahwah was a campaign party. Mr. Speich, Mr. Alderisio, Mr. Laforet and his campaign manager. Trunk or Treat...more pictures!! There are more pictures of Mr. Laforet during this past week than Govenor Christie!

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Andy Schmidt

10:05 am on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Rainbow, thanks for the heads-up. The Trunk or Treat was a huge event and well received by the children, who seemed genuinely excited. Parents kept pouring in even when it was already winding down. I have the feeling many trunks were running out of candy.

I didn't realize the Patch had pictures up - can you post the link please? Would love to see them.

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Roger Pachiderm

1:59 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

The trunk or treat was well attended and deserved by the children in town who have suffered the stresses their parents did. Kids lost out on one of their biggest days of the year but a good idea helped to remind the kids they are kids! The people who independently organized should be commended. I can not estimate the exact numbers but the participation was staggering. Thank you all who participated and the fire department and police department for helping too.

Hank

10:26 am on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

I was again reminded I'm getting old
I remember when the ballot was only printed in English.

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BC Lib

2:34 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

That certainly is a racist, bigoted, ethnocentric, and unnecessary comment.

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Hank

4:22 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

I am again reminded I'm getting old when
just about everything I say is interpreted as
racist,bigoted,ethnocentric and unnecessary

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Andy Schmidt

12:13 am on Wednesday, November 7, 2012

BC Lib - I respect your sensitivity on that issue.

However, if you reread Hank's comments you will note that he did NOT DEBATE multi-lingual ballots - he simply mused about his own (advanced) age, considering that he was voting at a time when there were single-language ballots.

He stated the fact that there was indeed a time when there were no multi-lingual ballots - he did not voice an opinion whether that was good or bad?

Regenbogen

11:24 am on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Perhaps Andy, you could verify it. I didn't say it happened and I would expect better from our Mayor.

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Suzy

1:13 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Just to clarify, the luncheon yesterday was from The Plant Church. They are wonderful people looking to help the community in any way the can. It's unfortunate if it was viewed as a 'political' opportunity, as I can assure it was not. I have worked closely with The Plant through Irene and Sandy with the Mahwah Elves and I can tell you their intentions are just to help people in need.

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Regenbogen

3:16 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Thank you Suzy. And many thanks for all you do for Mahwah. You are a guardian angel. I know the Plant Church is in no way involved politically.

Thurston Howell III

1:33 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Tom and Andy, I guess "Marc" was banking on this stunt of filing a complaint againts the Mayor was going to be this years big bomb....that went off like the underware bombers.....fisssssssssssssssss poof!

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T-Bird 148

1:59 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Wow ... let's throw as much poo in the air and see what sticks. This is ridiculous! I can't wait for this election to be over ... not a huge fan of either person, but just want to move on. I'm sick of reading and hearing all this trash. It's sad that someone will win at the cost of making the town sound like a joke.

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Ryan Price

2:34 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

My hats of to Bill Laforet and his team. Who would have though that Hurricane/Superstorm Sandy would become such campaign tool. As of today, all the emergency announcements have been removed from Mahwah's offical webpage "www.mahwahtwp.org";. They can only be found on the "Team Laforte" Facebook page. A man who can quickly organize and hijack these events and circumstances for his aggrandizement, certainly has my vote... well almost, I'm still waiting for the picture of him kissing a baby in the guise of helping Mahwah thru these difficult times.

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Mahwah 1st

3:16 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

I was considering voting for Mr. Sinclair, but seeing his crony’s at the trunk-or-treat last night with their campaign signs and shirts was the last straw. Last nigh was to be a special night for the kids not politics. It seems that the current Mayor has put his campaign aside to look out for the good of the Mahwah citizens.

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Kevin

4:50 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

I think Ref is Mr. John Roth.

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BC Lib

5:47 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

@ Hank ~ young or old your racism is unacceptable. What makes it different is I don't have to fear being lynched for telling you you are a bigot. I don't fear losing my job because I find your commentary offensive and I will tell you it is. Prejudice commentary from the "good-ole-days" from white men of privilege was wrong then and it is now.

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Hank

7:52 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

when the ballot was just in English it was racist?

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Andy Schmidt

12:20 am on Wednesday, November 7, 2012

BC Lib - what is your opinion on how the languages are chosen? If it was racist when those languages were not printed - then is it any less racist today, when some other languages are NOT included that some residents speak?

Are you any less a bigot for implying only "white men" would be able comprehend an English ballot, but people of color need to see it printed in one of the other languages?

Mike Kupchik

7:05 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

This morning, I voted all over the spectrum, after having studied the data on all the candidates and issues, yet was sad last votes were for the sole 3 on ballot: we need more interest in the future. As for Hank, think we were separated at birth, as I love his comments.

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Andy Schmidt

10:15 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Mike - good point.
Specially considering that THIS is actually relevant to people's taxes vs. the small township percentage.

Roger Pachiderm

9:13 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2012

The mayor won by a pretty solid margin. Township likes him.

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