By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
NORTHFIELD — Former councilmen Dave Notaro and Tom Polistina are leading the race for City Council seats that would swing the pendulum of power back to the Republican Party in Northfield.
Notaro, a self-employed builder and landscaper who owns Notaro Construction and Landscaping, was ahead of two opponents for the Ward I seat, gaining more than both of them combined. He collected 1,216 votes to 886 for Democrat Lisa Lehne-Gilmore and 230 for independent Alicia Garry.
Polistina, who has a background in finance and works as an accountant at Nicholas A. Droboniku CPA on Route 9, was ahead of newcomer Rich DiCriscio 1,400 to 1,089 in the Ward II race.
“We are going to wait until the results are certified but it looks good for myself and for Dave,” Polistina said.
Notaro agreed that it looks like they have won.
“I don’t think there are enough to beat us at this point,” Notaro said Saturday, adding that DiCriscio texted to congratulate them.
“It was a good run. We had a good team of people helping and we look forward to working really hard with everybody, all of the people in town. We need all the input we can get to try to help Northfield grow and prosper,” Notaro said.
The outcome would end the Democrats’ year-long control of the governing body as the two Republicans would replace Republican Jim O’Neill and Democrat Susan Korngut, who chose not to seek re-election.
Notaro and Polistina would join Greg Dewees and Brian Smith in the majority, while Council President Frank Perri, Councilman Paul Utts and Councilwoman Barbara Madden would be in the minority.
“We are looking to accomplish a more unified council, No. 1. I’d like to bring us all together, try to reach across the aisle and try to heal a little bit of this divide starting with our town and working our way out,” Notaro said. “Just do the right thing.”
Notaro previously served from 2005-07, as a Democrat, while Polistina served from 2011-13.
Notaro also said before the election that his top priorities would be controlling taxes and improving communication and unity between all entities of the city and local businesses.
Regarding city taxes, he said he would like to go over all of the city’s budgets and look for more ways to “trim the fat and keep budgets at a minimal 0 percent increase.”
While school taxes are controlled solely by the Board of Education, Notaro thinks forming a working relationship with the board or its financial committee could both help heal the rift created by the crossing guard situation (the school district never accounted for the need to have more crossing guard coverage in its back-to-school plan and did not follow state guidelines recommending all stakeholders be involved in forming the plan, thus placing a $140,000 burden on the city) and possibly save money.
Their plan to improve the business district would start with creation of a working economic business development committee comprised of local business leaders, a liaison from planning/zoning boards and City Council.
In addition to his council experience, Polistina served on the city’s Little League board for 20 years and coached for seven years. He also volunteered to develop the Northfield Veterans Park and has been on the board since its inception more than eight years ago.
Polistina said he believes his professional and political experience make him a good fit.
“I am familiar with the processes and operations of the city. In my various finance, management and accounting positions, I have gained significant experience in analysis and supervision of staff, and of course accounting,” he said. “In the casino industry I gained experience in operating departments and budgeting, in addition to internal auditing where I reviewed almost all departments, ensuring internal controls were in place.”
Polistina said the cost to run the city is a major issue now and will continue to be so in the future. He favors regional cooperation to lower costs.
“We can partner, if not join services with, school, county and other city administrations. There are many shared services that have been in place or attempted over the years. Some shared services have worked and some have not, but costs will always rise so we need to continue to look for more opportunities,” he said prior to the election.
Notaro said a lot of people have talked to him about improving Birch Grove Park.
“Maybe we can fix some things over there to make Birch Grove a little better,” Notaro said.
He added that he is “not a huge fan of the dog park but it’s an idea and I hate to frown on any idea. Maybe it would be the best thing for Birch Grove and maybe it wouldn’t. That’s still on the table in City Council.”
He said the city has a 2-mile-long dog park along the bike path.
“I don’t know if it’s one of those great iconic ideas that Birch Grove needs. There’s issues with waste, issues with cleanup … I’m not sure,” he said.
Notaro acknowledged that the park is underutilized and that having a dog park there would increase the safety of those using Birch Grove because more people would be around.
“Maybe it is a good idea from the safety aspect,” Notaro said.
But he added that there are other ways to increase activity there.
“People have to supply their own insurance to use the bandstand for concerts and stuff like that. Maybe we could find a way to make it more advantageous for someone to come out there and put on a concert or something and bring people out there on the weekends, just more activities and events. There is so much more that we could do,” Notaro said.
It’s going to be more of a community involvement at Birch Grove than anything,” he said.
Northfield Democratic Club Chairwoman Eileen Toland was disappointed Lehne-Gilmore and DiCriscio did not win.
“Unfortunately the city of Northfield has lost the expertise of two wonderful candidates,” Toland said. “I am very proud of the campaigns they ran while following COVID-19 protocols. Both are officers in the Northfield Democrats — Rich Dicriscio as co-chair and Lisa Lehne-Gilmore as treasurer. We may have lost two seats in 2020, but these two loyal residents are remaining very involved.”
Toland blamed herself for the candidates not securing enough votes.
“When I came home from the elections on Tuesday night, I was very disappointed that I didn’t do more to get more numbers for everybody, for the whole town,” she said, adding that she hopes they try again the next time a seat in their ward is open.
In 2021, the seats held by Democrats Frank Perri and Barbara Madden and Republican Brian Smith are up for re-election.
