Teaneck Township Council: See who's running in next month's municipal election

By Magan Burrow, NorthJersey.com

NorthJersey.com, April 27, 2020

Voters will choose among six candidates for three seats on the Township Council in next month's election.

Michael Pagan and Karen Orgen, both members of the Planning Board, are running with Deputy Mayor Mark Schwartz on the “Moving Teaneck Forward” slate. The “People for Progress” slate is Board of Education President Ardie Walser, Gina Gerszberg and Denise Belcher, a Planning Board member.

Mayor Mohammed Hameeduddin and Councilman Henry Pruitt are not seeking another term.

Teaneck holds its at-large council elections every two years, and the council will choose its next mayor and deputy mayors at a July 1 organization meeting. This year’s election will be held by mail-in vote. Registered voters should receive ballots by mail and have until May 12, election day, to mail them in.

Candidates were asked to provide information about themselves and answer questions about why they are running, their goals and their thoughts on development.

(Only the relevant candidate is shown here)

Mark Schwartz

Schwartz, a councilman since 2012, has served as deputy mayor for the past two years. Before joining the council, he was a Planning Board member, and he is an 18-year member of the Teaneck Volunteer Ambulance Corps and a 22-year member of the River Edge Fire Department.

Why are you running for council?

I believe we have accomplished a tremendous amount of positive items in the last eight years, and while I thought I would stop after eight, we have so many good things that we can further accomplish in the next four.

What is the biggest issue facing Teaneck?

Making sure we continue to keep it as affordable as we have in the last six years, in which we haven’t raised our taxes. This will now become a challenge in light of COVID but one I believe we can overcome.

What would you want to see in terms of development in Teaneck?

I want to continue with the smart development that we have done, which now brings in over $4 million annually. Part of that focus should be on Cedar Lane to further make it a destination for people to live, work and play.

What would some of your priorities be if elected?

To continue to do what I have been doing and detailed above: keeping our taxes low and our housing options plentiful while not hurting our current services.