Page 4 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • April 11, 2012 Area This year, there will be no local-level contests in the June 5 primaries held in Allendale, Ho-Ho-Kus, Saddle River, or Upper Saddle River. In those municipalities, only the incumbent Republican council members filed by last week’s deadline. Allendale Allendale Council incumbents Jim Strauch and Elizabeth White, both of whom are Republicans, have filed their petitions for the two available seats on the borough’s governing body. The two will run unopposed in the June primary election. Strauch, filing for his fourth term, operates an environmental window installation company and has been an active environmentalist for many years. He has been a member of the Allendale Board of Adjustment, where he served as chairman until he was elected to the Allendale Borough Council, a member of the Goose Patrol, and an assistant marsh warden at the Celery Farm Natural Area. He made headlines a dozen years ago when he ran as a write-in Republican on a platform of saving as many trees as possible during the reconfiguration of the Crestwood Park recreational sports fields. Strauch was not elected on the write-in bid, although he received more than 1,000 votes. However, when he ran as an official Republican candidate the following year, he was elected easily. Strauch also spearheaded an initiative to prevent the construction of 24 market-value condominiums in eight buildings at the Orchard Common site on Franklin Turnpike. Strauch began collection donations from residents to assemble a fund to purchase the 3.4-acre site and turn it into a passive landscaped park. His success and a substantial donation from the Passaic River Valley Coalition convinced the council, especially Mayor Vince Barra and Council Member Elizabeth White, that the initiative had a realistic hope of success. Together with former councilman Robert Schoepflin and the rest of the council, Barra, Strauch, and White assembled enough Green Acres and Bergen County Open Space money to purchase the land with the cooperation of owner Ramon Alvarez, who offered advantageous terms and donated the stone gate. White, now seeking her third term, has been active in environmental senior activities and regularly accompanied Mayor Barra and Councilman Schoepflin on forays to Hackensack and Trenton that attracted large amounts of legislative support and outside funds to Allendale pro- June primaries to be uncontested at the local level grams, notably senior and special needs housing and the preservation of open space. Ho-Ho-Kus In Ho-Ho-Kus, incumbent Republican Council Members Kimberly Weiss and Doug Troast will be seeking the two available three-year seats on the borough council. Troast is currently serving as council president. He joined the governing body in 2000, when he was named to replace Councilman Scott Wolff. Troast is first vice president of Tishman Construction, which is based in Manhattan. In that role, he is involved with the reconstruction of the World Trade Center site, working on the vehicle security center, streets, and utilities. He previously served as chief executive officer of the John Troast Group, a construction and real estate development company. He served on former Governor Whitman’s Property Tax Commission and as a trustee of the New Jersey Organization for a Better State. He also served three years on the Ho-Ho-Kus Zoning Board of Adjustment. He and his wife, Joanie, are the parents of three children who range in age from 14 to 21. They are members of Saint Gabriel’s Church. Weiss grew up in Stowe, Vermont and earned her bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College. She worked for The Travelers in Hartford, Connecticut as an underwriter and as director of property-casualty sales for Travelers Mortgage Service. She is currently co-owner of a retail yarn store in Wyckoff. She previously lived in Denver, Colorado and in Seattle, Washington, where she served on a local homeowners’ board. The councilwoman has been active with the Republican County Committee and has been involved as a board member of both the Youth Activities Council and the HoHo-Kus Contemporary Club. Her community involvement (continued on page 21)