Soon after the polls closed Tuesday night, Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner was biting his bottom lip, showing a look of deep concern.
“I’m nervous,” he said to a follower at the Weehawken and You campaign headquarters on Park Avenue.
About 20 minutes later, when the first group of returns was reported and posted on the walls of the cramped room, filled with approximately 75 supporters, Turner started to flash a sly smile. He was coming to understand finally what it was like to actually win a municipal election.
It’s not that he hasn’t been popular all along – just that he never had competition until now. Turner, who faced a challenge for the first time in his 12-year political career in the township, trounced the opposing Weehawken Initiative Now (WIN) ticket by more than a 3-to-1 margin. Turner and his four-member ticket of incumbent councilpeople won by a landslide in an election that brought out 63 percent of the town’s nearly 5,500 registered voters.
Turner was the big winner, capturing 2,680 votes (77 percent) for a council-at-large seat. Weehawken uses the council/manager form of government, where only councilmen are elected and a mayor is then selected by the council members from among themselves.
Runningmate and incumbent Councilman-At-Large James Terlizzi collected 2,469 votes (71 percent). The two WIN at-large candidates were Arielly Laszlo (798 votes, 23 percent) and Dr. Ben Goldman (770 votes, 22 percent).
The rest of the incumbent Weehawken and You ticket, running in specific wards, was also swept into office. First Ward incumbent Louis Ferullo defeated WIN candidate Robert Terhune 868 to 309. Second Ward incumbent Rosemary Lavagnino defeated Karen Brady 915 to 293, and 3rd Ward incumbent Robert Sosa beat challenger John Hubbard 678 to 181.
“This is a win for the entire township,” Turner told campaign supporters soon after the votes were tallied. “It’s a win for everyone. This result is because of all of you. You’re the ones who deserve the congratulations. You are the ones who realized that we would never hurt the town. To win this way, by almost 4-to-1, shows that you want us to stay the way we are.”
Turner said that the victory came after a nasty campaign in which, according to Turner, the opponents were spreading vicious lies as part of their campaign propaganda.
“This result is for the people who knocked this town for two months,” Turner said. “This is a victory for everyone in this town.”
The defeated WIN team didn’t take the results as a bitter loss, but rather a sign that their message was heard throughout the town.
“We were thrilled that a quarter of the voters went for our team,” Goldman said. “That means one in four voters wanted the incumbents out. Clearly, we’re disappointed that the majority of the people will not have any voice in the town for the next four years. We’re saddened what the future holds for the future of Weehawken, especially with the major changes in store.”
Laszlo echoed those sentiments.
“I actually take the results as a major victory,” said Laszlo, who was once the acting township clerk under Turner’s administration. “I always see the glass half full. For all of us, this was an incredible experience. I got to know the community even better. I fell in love with Weehawken all over again.”
What it meant
WIN’s criticism of Turner focused on three points. They thought the proposed 1,244-unit Roseland waterfront development, which will be built over the next 10 years, is too dense and large. They feel that Turner’s government is not open enough, and they want a faster revitalization of Park Avenue, with more public input.
But the members of the ticket failed, in some cases, to give specific solutions, and at times admitted that they hadn’t attended public meetings to voice opinions such as those against the development.
Many who supported the Turner team felt that the town was going in the right direction.
So what does that mean for the members of the WIN team? Will they continue their fight against the current administration?
“It’s not the end of the road by any means,” said Robert Terhune, who was unsuccessful in his attempt to snare the 1st Ward seat from three-term incumbent Louis Ferullo. “I feel really positive about still remaining involved in the future. I plan to talk to Mr. Ferullo and learn everything I can from him. If we did this well this time, imagine what we can do four years from now?”
“Ours was a grass roots movement,” said Arielly Laszlo, who was unsuccessful in her attempt to win an at-large seat. “We were obviously outnumbered, but we gave it our all. It was a triumph of the spirit. Considering we only had a few weeks to campaign, I’m not discouraged at all by the results.”
Ben Goldman had no immediate plans.
“I’m not sure what I’m going to do,” Goldman said. “I still have a lot of enthusiasm. People are telling us that this is just the beginning. They consider it a huge win for them, but we ran an excellent campaign and picked off a quarter of the vote from a ticket of incumbents.”
Happy in victory
“The election results were an absolute mandate for us,” Turner said. “The public came out and spoke in unified fashion. Every single ward was by a 3-to-1 margin or better. It’s an overwhelming mandate. It’s a vote of confidence for the entire council. The residents said that they like the government we have and they want it to continue forward.”
Added Turner, “When you get 60 percent of the vote, it’s considered a landslide. When you get 77 percent, then that’s obviously well beyond our wildest expectations. It’s a complete affirmation of the policies and the programs that we’ve put into place. The vote tells us that we have to continue those policies. It was a vote of trust. To get these kinds of numbers is mindboggling. If 60 percent is a landslide and a mandate, then 77 percent is a super-mandate.”
Turner said that he was pleased that his ticket won each and every of the town’s three wards and 10 districts with ease.
“This was an inclusive victory, young and old, from Boulevard East to Park Avenue, from neighborhood to neighborhood,” Turner said. “It was a victory across the board. Nothing united this community more than the election results.”
Turner will take the oath of office for his fourth term as mayor on July 1. The council members will also be sworn in at that time as well.
“We’re going to continue to be as inclusive and as open as we have been,” Turner said. “We’ve already started the process of reaching out to a lot of the people who voted for the WIN ticket to explain our policies and to let them know how things operate in the town. Hopefully they’ll have a greater appreciation of what we do. They may have some legitimate concerns, but they do not understand our policies, and that’s our plan to reach out to them. There will be always a select few that will be against us no matter what we do, but we want to reach those that have legitimate concerns.”
Turner was asked what it felt like to finally win an election.
“It’s gratifying to know that the residents appreciate the time and work,” Turner said. “It’s also gratifying to know that our entire team won and we will continue to work as a solid team.”
There was another reason why Turner was excited Tuesday. It marked the 14th wedding anniversary for the mayor and his wife, Eileen.
After the last vote was counted, the entire group went to the Food Court in Lincoln Harbor to celebrate. And this time, they had plenty to celebrate. They got another four years in office.
For related stories, see pp. 3 and 5.