Incumbent council members Patrick “Bud” O’Hagan and Nancy Peet easily withstood a challenge from former councilman Ken Kruis in last week’s general election to retain their seats on the all Republican Midland Park Borough Council. Kruis ran as an Independent. There were no Democrats on the ballot. With 50 percent of registered voters turning out at the polls, Peet, who has been on the council for seven years, was top vote getter with 1,550 votes. O’Hagan, the current council president and a 21-year council member, garnered 1,395 votes. Kruis received 802 votes. A former board of recreation member, he served on the council from 2005 to 2008, when he sought not to seek reelection. He had said he was running again to provide a choice at the ballot box and a different perspective on the council. The two incumbent said they will continue their conservative, frugal approach to governance, pledging to maintain services and avoid bonding by following past “pay-as-you- Incumbents retain seats by nearly two-to-one margin go” practices. “I am honored to serve another term as a member of the town council and will continue to serve all the citizens of Midland Park. I want to express my gratitude to all who supported me. I campaigned exclusively on my long-standing record of service to the town of Midland Park and its citizens. I will continue to serve with all the citizens of Midland Park with the dignity and commitment that my position demands,” said Peet. “I join in with Bud on our record of debt free community, working within the budget caps with no furloughs, while not cutting any services,” she added. “I’m pleased that the residents decided to re-elect both Nancy and me. We made our case for re-election via our record. We walked the town distributing our literature and talking to the residents. We listened; we communicated, and we explained various subjects of concern,” O’Hagan said. “Hopefully, by being open and available, we have Midland Park Matters November 10, 2010 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 19 A Publication of the Midland Park Chamber of Commerce illustrated our positions and stance on multiple issues, and the citizens agreed with us most of the time. We may not be perfect, but we do want to be on the right track most of the time,” he added. O’Hagan is a Realtor with Terrie O’Connor Realtors, Allendale office. He is an active member and past president of the Midland Park Lions Club and served as chairman of the Midland Park Board of Adjustment for many years. He is the borough’s representative to the Joint Insurance Fund, a cooperative venture with other municipalities which manages the town’s insurance policies, and also sits on JIF’s executive board. Peet is area vice president of claims and risk management for Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services. She served for 18 years on the Midland Park Board of Education and seven years on the board of adjustment. She is currently a member of the Midland Park Planning Board and the Board of Health. Conduct (continued from page 17) and a representative of the board of recreation. This would apply to sports officials as well as spectators. “All the parties will be at the same place at one time. All will have their say. The decision will be in writing and filed,” said Dent. “If it can’t be handled at that level, then it can go to the board of rec for a final decision.” Dent said that the board felt strongly that by requiring an incident report be filed, the associations and the board could track any recurring issues with individuals and take action, including suspension, if the code was being violated. The new regulations also specify that individuals being considered to serve as board members in any of the sports associations must not have “any code of conduct warnings on file within the past 365 days which would prevent said nominee from running under the newly-adopted MPYSA Code of Conduct regulations.” Another policy the board of recreation would like the sports groups to follow to minimize conflicts of interest, is to barr officers from serving as manager, head coach or division chief in their respective leagues. Dent said that if all the officers serve as coaches or managers, there is no impartial person to whom to address a complaint. This policy would be able to be appealed if a hardship occurred within one of the organizations.