April 10. 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 5 Glen Rock Incumbents seek reelection to borough council by John Koster Glen Rock Borough Council Member Mike O’Hagan and Council Member Mary Jane Surrago will face no opponents in the June 4 Republican primary. No Democrats filed by last week’s deadline, but Incumbents have until the day of the primary to announce their candidacy for the November general election. O’Hagan, noted for his concerns regarding traffic safety and youth matters, will be seeking his fourth term. Surrago, a business executive and now a veteran incumbent, will be seeking her third term. The council is solidly Republican this year. The council had been comprised entirely of Republicans except for a single term by Democrat Howard Bookbinder in the 1980s. Glen Rock saw a Democratic insurgency after a controversial revalua- tion in the 1990s and, at one point, had an Independent as mayor. At another point, the borough had a council that was split 3-3 between Democrats and Republicans. The Democrats gradually lost their hold until Joan Orseck, who had first run for office as a Democrat, switched her party affiliation to Republican before her most recent successful election bid. Glen Rock Mayor John van Keuren and the borough council have declared the week of April 20 to 27 as “Bring Your Own Bag Week” to highlight the need to control proliferation of waste plastic and paper. The Glen Rock Environmental Commission, which has been working for more than two years to reduce reliance on singleuse shopping bags due to environmental hazards, instigated this week-long event to promote the use of bags provided by the customer for the conveyance of groceries and other essentials. “Approximately 350 billion single-use Borough officials declare ‘Bring Your Own Bag Week’ plastic bags are handed out by stores across the country every year,” said Andrian Curshen of the Glen Rock Environmental Commission. “Only a small percentage are recycled or reprocessed into some other material, such as composite building materials. The rest are thrown into landfills or get carried by wind and water to streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans, where they become a health hazard to marine creatures. Plastic is a non-biodegradable, manmade product that poses serious dangers to the environment. Every effort should be (continued on page 21)