Local GOP Group Hosts Freeholder Candidates

Five of the nine Republican candidates vying for the party’s two freeholder nominations at the Bergen County Republican Organization convention in March were in Fort Lee on Tuesday. Invited to the VFW by the United Republican Club of Fort Lee, the freeholder hopefuls came to introduce themselves and speak about their policy positions for the upcoming elections.

“We always bring candidates in,” said Fort Lee Republican Club president David Cohen. “The candidates are all different. They’re all unique. And we have to hear them to evaluate them.”

Noting that Fort Lee’s 19 districts means the borough has 38 committee members voting at the BCRO convention on March 16 in Hackensack, Cohen said, “That’s a huge chunk of delegates that they can get in their corner by coming to Fort Lee, so it makes a lot of sense for them to come. It gives people to ask questions on where these people stand on taxes, on services, providing the same amount of service for less money.”

Noting that many people view the borough as a “Democratic stronghold,” Cohen said he was nonetheless “amazed” that Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan lost in Fort Lee last November’s general election in spite of an overall Republican landslide victory in the county.

“Even so, they see Fort Lee as fertile territory,” Cohen said. “It’s like a big wheel. One day you’re on the bottom, and the wheel’s going to turn. So that’s what we’re working on.”

Speaking Tuesday at the VFW in Fort Lee were Woodcliff Lake Councilman Jeff Bader,, Oradell Councilwoman Donna Risse Alonso, former Ramsey Councilman Jeffrey Heller, former Ridgefield Councilman Nick Lonzisero and East Rutherford Councilman Joel Brizzi. Former Montvale Councilman Arthur Lavis was also on the agenda but did not appear.

Also not making the visit to Fort Lee were Rutherford Councilman John Genovesi, Joseph McAllister of Rutherford and Anthony Rottino of Franklin Lakes.

The two freeholder seats that will be contested are currently held by Democrats David Ganz of Fair Lawn and Bernadette McPherson of Rutherford.

The candidates and their messages Tuesday in Fort Lee:

Jeff Bader (Woodcliff Lake)

Having worked on Donovan’s election campaign and served on her transition committee as chairman of the public safety and department of public works transition committees: “We were charged with one thing: find ways to save money. And it was so great how much money the previous administration cost the taxpayers of Bergen County. So we turned around, and we made our recommendations, and now we actually get a joy out of seeing her talk about some of these things. We continue today to try and save the taxpayers money. The idea and what I promise to do is to look at every expenditure that the county has and if it’s not a valid expenditure to cut it.”

Donna Alonso (Oradell)

Noting her 30 years of experience in managing budgets ranging from $4 million to $ 100 million and he background in finance and accounting and experience working as a project manager for several big New York City banks: “I would like to use my skill set to bring a more business-like approach to government as I have extensive experience in strategic planning and implementing cost savings initiatives. I feel there’s a lot of waste in government and I’m sure there’s a lot of trimming we can do.”

Jeff Heller (Ramsey)

“Does anybody in this room believe that newspapers treat Democrats and Republicans the same? The minute anything breaks the wrong way, there are going to be negative headlines, and we need to be prepared to deal with those. We need to short circuit things like that. We are all Republicans, and we are either going to succeed together or we are going to get kicked out and squander our opportunities. We (Republicans) need to remain united. If you make me one of your freeholder candidates and help get me elected … I want to see Republicans control Bergen County for the next 10 years. I want to see Republicans have success in shrinking the government, squeezing out the bad and honestly becoming an emblem of good government. Why vote for me? Because I’m that guy that if you put in one of those chairs knows his way around. I want to see the accounts. I want to see where the money is and then go through and do a comparison of where the money went and take a head count of what we really need and what we don’t need.”

Nick Lonzisero (Ridgefield)

“If elected to the freeholder board it is my pledge to find additional areas to trim the county budget and limit the size of county government. I would demand quarterly reviews (of the various departments in the county), and I would set goals and aggressive benchmarks. I would ask for accountability in each department and try to squeeze out more performance with less tax dollars. There’s a lot of stones that still need to be unturned and I think there are going to be a lot more debt problems going forward that we’re going to really work hard to really get through. I would voluntarily cut my salary by 25 percent. I think you have to lead by example in these difficult times.”

Joel Brizzi (East Rutherford)

“It’s important to pick the right candidate at the convention of course, but to me it’s even more important that you choose the right candidate that can win in November. I think I’m highly electable. I’m out there. I work hard. And you certainly won’t be disappointed in my work ethic. The Republican party is the party of values, leadership and freedom. I have always applied these principals as a councilman by cutting wasteful spending and maintaining stable taxes, while carefully listening to my constituents’ needs.”