Dems Take Both Bloomingdale Council Seats
Rich Dellaripa and Mike Sondermeyer garner the most votes in Tuesday's election.
Two Democrats have taken both open seats on the Bloomingdale Council in Tuesday's election.
Rich Dellaripa and Mike Sondermeyer will be sworn in on Jan. 1. Republican Incumbent Jo-Ann Pituch, who received 1,083 votes, will be unseated and Republican Michele Siek, who received 1,109 votes, was also not elected. Dellaripa received 1,888 votes and Sondermeyer received 2,003 votes.
Both Siek and Pituch were not available for comment Tuesday night.
Dellaripa is currently a Bloomingdale Board of Education member and will be forced to vacate his seat on the board before being sworn in to the council on Jan. 1. But he said he is excited to serve the Borough of Bloomingdale in a new capacity.
"Obviously I'm very excited, I'm very thankful for the support I got from the voters of Bloomingdale," he said. "We need to put Bloomingdale on a firm financial basis and we need to do what we can to stablize taxes, make it affordable for people to live here again and make it just a great little town to live in."
Sondermeyer is a newcomer to the council, but has made an effort to stay informed about borough issues. One key issue that will be important to him as he takes office is the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program proposal for the under-construction AvalonBay luxury apartment complex that was rejected by the Republican council majority last month. Sondermeyer said he wants to take a closer look at the proposal and possibly raise the issue again after hearing the argument of the majority members who voted against the initiative.
"I want to see what their side was and why they turned it down," he said.
Sondermeyer said he looks forward to working with his Republican counterparts on the council and to move Bloomingdale forward.
"Somebody once said, 'Without change, there would be no breakthroughs and without breakthroughs, there would be no future,'" he said. "It's time for a positive change here in Bloomingdale. [Dellaripa] and I are the two guys that are going to bring that."
In This article
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Bloomingdale Borough Hall
101 Hamburg Tpke, Bloomingdale, NJ -
Bloomingdale Public Schools Board of Education
225 Glenwild Avenue, Bloomingdale, NJ -
JOHN
10:25 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2012
YES!!!!
Sgt tackleberry
11:14 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2012
time to bring some good things back to this town
ANA LUQUE
11:45 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Congratulations Mike!
Luque's family!
STEVE SMITS
6:57 am on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Congratulations Mike and Rich
Mark Lime
7:20 am on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
GREAT JOB GUYS!! Now lets get Bloomingdale going back in the right direction.
Debbie O'Neill
7:58 am on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
PLEASE let it not be too late for the PILOT!!!
Ann
12:39 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
The voters did what they had to do to bring an end to the days of hate and insults, walking out on meetings, firing every useful person and replacing with political appointments (even when it required overspending), voting "no" for any type of revenue and just spending, spending, spending. It took two election cycles to get it done.. One more to go. Or maybe the remaining Republicans will get the message and learn how to work together for the good of the town and it won't be necessary to replace them. I don't know, though. They didn't get the message last time.
Chris Winkler
1:24 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Congratulations Mike & Rich! Let's hope this is enough to get Bloomingdale moving in the right direction. We can either plan a strategy for our future, or just have it happen to us! I choose to be proactive and apparently so do the voters of our town. (Thank goodness!)
Triboro341
5:07 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Yes, Yes, Yes!!!!!! Finally they're out and we can get our town on the right path! There's a lot to be done but we finally have a team that will do it or at least sit thru a meeting.
Carolyn
6:16 pm on Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Congratulations to Rich and Mike and thanks to the others who volunteered to help but were not elected. Even if we don't agree with their methods, they were at least willing to serve, which is more than many people do. Yes, it is important to sit through a meeting as Triboro points out, and I am looking forward to attending meetings with Council people who will work with one another. It is also so crucial, that our Council members be able to listen to and learn from the public. We have a very educated public attending the meetings and threatening to walk out on them is simply not acceptable, as this election has shown. Let's move on and get things done!
Carl Smith
12:41 pm on Thursday, November 8, 2012
Congrats to our two new Councilmen...Let me state that i was borne in Bloomingdale in a house located on Main St. that still stands today in May of 1949.I have lived here my entire life and for the 1st. time in many years we finally may be able to get things right in our town. Mayor Dunleavy is a very capable leader and our Town Council is set for action.So lets all pitch in and see if we can right the wrongs that have been done over the pass years. Carl Smith
Donna Smith Tuason
9:31 am on Monday, November 12, 2012
Great job! Can't wait to see Mike and Rich take their seats in January. Hello progress!