Page 4 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • June 13, 2012 Area Voters endorse candidates in local primaries Last week, voters in Allendale, Ho-Ho-Kus, Saddle River, Upper Saddle River, and Waldwick cast their ballots to endorse the candidates in the local primary elections. The candidates, who ran unopposed in their parties’ primaries, will now seek election in the November general election. There will be a contest in Waldwick, where there will be both Democratic and Republican candidates. Allendale Allendale Council incumbents Jim Strauch and Elizabeth White, both of whom are Republicans, received 232 and 218 ballots, respectively. Strauch, who is seeking his fourth term, operates an environmental window installation company and has been an active environmentalist for many years. White, now seeking her third term, has been active in environmental senior activities and regularly accompanied Mayor Barra and Councilman Schoepflin on trips to Hackensack and Trenton that attracted large amounts of legislative support and outside funds to Allendale programs, 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 received 128 ballots and 135 ballots, respectively. The two are seeking the two available three-year seats on the 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. 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. Saddle River Registered Republican voters in Saddle River endorsed GOP council incumbents Bruce Walenczyk with 201 ballots and Albert Kurpis with 192 ballots. Upper Saddle River Republican incumbents Vincent Durante and Dr. Joanne Florio are seeking re-election to the Upper Saddle River Council. Durante received 250 votes, while Florio garnered 252. Durante is employed by Interchem Corp/World Gen in Paramus as senior vice president/secretary-treasurer. He is also a member of the board of directors of Steri-Pharma, LLC in Syracuse, New York. He was appointed to the USR Council in May 2009 and elected to office in November of that year. Dr. Florio, a lifetime borough resident, has been a practicing chiropractor and nutritionist since 1988. Dr. Florio has served as a member of the local board of health and as president of Saddle River Valley Junior Woman’s Club. Waldwick Both Democrats and Republicans have filed full slates for the three seats available on the borough council. Incumbent GOP Councilman Charles Farricker received 256 ballots and Republican newcomer Anthony Celeste received 239 ballots. They are seeking the two available three-year terms. Republican Councilman Greg Bjork, who was appointed to the governing body in January, received 243 votes in his bid for Mayor Thomas Giordano’s one-year unexpired term. In the Democratic primary, Richard Drury received 150 votes and Andrew Frey received 147. They are challenging Farricker and Celeste for the two three-year terms. Allison Welker, who is seeking the mayor’s unexpired term, received 145 ballots. Farricker has served on the council since 2006 and served as the liaison to the board of education and the Waldwick Chamber of Commerce. Celeste, 22, expects to graduate from Ramapo College this summer. He works as a clerk at Bottle King in Glen Rock and is exploring options to pursue either a law degree or a master’s in public policy after graduation. Bjork has been chairing buildings and grounds committee since his appointment to the council. An 18-year (continued on page 20)