Ridgewood May 16, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 3 Aronsohn, Pucciarelli, and Hauck win election by John Koster Incumbent Ridgewood Councilman Paul Aronsohn was the top vote-getter in last week’s village council election, earning 2,479 ballots in the six-candidate contest for the three available seats on the governing body. Ridgewood Planning Board Vice Chairman Albert Pucciarelli came in a strong second with 2,078 votes, and Gwenn Hauck won the third seat with 1,727 ballots. Mayor Keith Killion lost his seat in a cliffhanger that was not decided until the last districts reported their tallies. Aronsohn ran in 2008 on the same slate as Killion and the late Anne Zusy. His slight lead, which turned up even in the absentee ballots, grew district by district and turned into a landslide when the West Side districts were counted. Hauck, who had a lower tally in the first phase of the vote, began to pick up speed as the West Side votes came in. Toward the end of the race, she had outdistanced Killion by a few hundred votes. The announcement led to a hush over the Belcher Auditorium at Ridgewood Library, where the votes were tallied. Partisans of both sides attentively watched the projected numbers on a screen behind the auditorium stage. Russell Forenza had trailed the field from the start, and Mary Jane Shinozuka, far ahead of Forenza, lost her lead over Hauck early in the count, so the final showdown was between Killion and Hauck. The first two of the last four districts brought Killion within striking distance of Hauck’s previous lead, but when the last two districts came in, Killion lost by 16 votes. Killion received 1,711 ballots. Shinozuka, a member of the Ridgewood Planning Board who is opposed to Valley Hospital expansion, received 1,484 votes. Forenza, a fiscal executive for the City of Paterson and the strongest advocate of a negotiated compromise with Valley Hospital, received 817 votes. “We worked hard,” Aronsohn said of his victory, and the victories of the two candidates he had endorsed. “We stuck to the issues that people cared about. There was a good popular turnout.” The voter turnout was 23 percent, with 3,744 votes cast from a roster of 16,220 registered voters. “I am delighted to be able to serve the people of Ridgewood,” said Pucciarelli. He pledged to maintain and increase transparency in government and to stick to a policy of trying to save taxpayer money. “We worked hard and the West Side turned out,” Hauck stated. “I did what I thought was right, and the people of Ridgewood have spoken,” Killion said of the election returns. Killion, while serving as mayor, voted with the council majority to grant a 12 percent raise to Village Manager Ken Gabbert, who had not had a raise the previous year. Killion said Gabbert had saved Ridgewood large amounts of future spending by negotiating contracts. The council vote on the 12 percent raise was 4-1, with Aronsohn dissenting. A number of people from the public at the Candidates Night on April 30 agreed with Aronsohn and opposed the 12 percent raise in tough times that had required layoffs and cutbacks of village employees. At the Candidates Night, Killion defended the raise. At the April 30 forum, Aronsohn joined the other five candidates in supporting the lake-like appearance of Graydon Pool. He qualified his approval of the sand-bottomed lake-like pool, however, by urging construction of a concrete ramp to allow better handicapped access to the water. Preserve Graydon Coalition printed an open letter immediately after the Candidates Night (continued on page 10)