Politics & Government

Haas Proposes District Freeholder Elections, Bigosinski Supports Idea

Council Democrats back plan which is at odds with county Democratic position.

Councilman Dave Haas (D-Third Ward) announced Tuesday night that he plans to introduce a resolution this month calling for county freeholders to be elected by district instead of the current at-large system.

Haas' proposal has been backed by Fourth Ward Councilman Tom Bigosinski, the Council's only other Democrat. Both have said that this will allow Westfield to be better represented at the county level. This puts the pair at odds with the position of the Union County Democratic Party, which has been advocating for the retention of the system which elects all nine freeholders on an at-large basis. Democratic county candidates have benefited from the at-large system in elections with Democratic strongholds dominating the vote counts.

County Republicans have been advocating for the district system and several communities around the county, all but one controlled by Republicans, have passed the resolution Haas is planning to introduce. All nine freeholders are Democrats, with county Republicans being unable to elect a candidate countywide since 1995.

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Haas is the first Democrat in the county to be the primary driver behind this resolution who is not locked in a political battle with county Democratic leaders. The resolution is only advisory in nature and if passed would have no enforcement power.

Haas said he is introducing the resolution since while he believes the current system has been able to represent Westfield, a district system would allow Westfield's needs on a county level to be better addressed. He said a freeholder representing a small handful of communities would be more in tune with the needs of the individual towns.

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"There is some difference in needs and usefulness of the county in different towns," Haas said. "We get different benefits than Plainfield and Elizabeth and it would be nice to have that represented by someone directly representing our interests."

He said the current at-large system has freeholders mainly focusing on the urban towns which have large Democratic turnouts.

"We all tend to respond to what gets us elected," said Haas. "The votes of these towns (suburban towns) are not the votes needed by the current freeholders to get elected."

Haas said he chose to introduce the resolution after being e-mailed by a constituent about the issue. The e-mail came shortly after Haas knocked on the person's door as a part of his re-election campaign. He e-mailed the idea around to his Council colleagues and announced Tuesday that he will introducing a formal resolution at  a meeting this month. Haas said only Councilman Sal Caruana (R-First Ward) has responded to his e-mail, indicating support for the measure.

Bigosinski indicated in an e-mail interview that he is supportive of Haas' resolution.

"I am in favor of what Dave proposes because in my opinion it would give Westfield's a greater voice on the Freeholder Board," Bigosinski wrote, noting that the town has been represented under the present system as well.

Of the nine freeholders, seven reside in primarily urban communities including two from Elizabeth and two from Rahway. Two, Freeholder Chairman Alexander Mirabella and Freeholder Bette Jane Kowalski, come from Fanwood and Cranford respectively. Freeholder Deborah Scanlon of Union Township was born and raised in Summit.

Freeholder Vice Chairman Dan Sullivan of Elizabeth said he disagrees with the premise that at-large freeholders cannot represent the competing interests of urban and suburban towns in the county. He said the current system allows freeholders to focus on countywide issues and that district freeholders would be too tied to the interests of their districts, reversing the arguments used by Haas.

"Why would you worry about the most of the county if you were elected in one small district," Sullivan said. "I think it is faulty logic."

Sullivan said he and his colleagues on the board treat all towns equally and said he believes that many of the interests of the citizens of Westfield and Elizabeth are similar. He noted that there are freeholders from suburban towns and that Westfield has elected two freeholders, Carol Cohen and Mary Ruotolo, in the last 15 years. When Ruotolo retired from the board in 2004, Democrats tapped Kowalski, a retired journalist, to succeed her. The seat was held by Cohen before Ruotolo.

"Just because we get large majorities from traditonally Democratic towns, it does not mean that one person's vote is worth more than another," Sullivan said.

Sullivan noted that while Hudson County has an all district system and Essex and Atlantic Counties have a hybrid with both district and at-large freeholders, the rest of the state elects freeholders on a countywide basis. He said he would prefer all counties to be elected in the same manner and questioned why county Republicans are not asking for Somerset and Morris Counties, both controlled by all-Republican freeholder boards, to be elected by districts. District races in those counties would likely elect at least one Democrat to each freeholder board.

In 2001, a bill in the State Legislature would have created freeholder districts in Union County and had strong GOP support, including that of then Republican Assemblyman Rich Bagger, a former Westfield mayor. The then Republican-controlled legislature declined to pass the bill when Democrats had threatened to pass a district bill for Somerset County when party control switched the following year.

Resolutions like the one Haas is proposing have been passed in Summit, Cranford, Mountainside, Kenilworth, Roselle Park and Roselle. All but Roselle were controlled by the Republicans when the resolutions were passed. Roselle's mayor, Garrett Smith, and his faction which controls the Borough Council, while Democrats, have long been at odds with Union County Democratic Chairman Charlotte DeFilippo and her allies. In Garwood a Democratic councilman helped propose a resolution, which failed, but a Republican was the first to bring the issue up.

The county Republican party is currently pushing a petition to hold a countywide referendum to change the structure to a district system from an at-large system. The petition is currently circulating and the party has said in the past they hope to have the question on the ballot in 2010. Many observers believe the county GOP is hoping to bring about a district system in order to capture a freeholder seat, a charge the Republicans have denied.

Haas said he is not raising the issue now because of the impending election next month, where he is running against Republican Tom Delanney.

"Obviously any structure of government discussion is a political discussion," he said. "I am looking at what would be in the best interests of my constituents be it Republicans or Democrats.

With Haas and Bigosinski both seeking re-election next month, it is surprising to see both Democrats taking a position against the county Democrats. Past Democratic candidates in other communities have said they have been reluctant to take positions opposite the county party in fear of losing support for their campaigns. Bigosinski, who is facing a challenge from Republican Keith Loughlin, said he does not anticipate any political fallout.

The fact that the Westfield resolution is being pushed by a fellow Democrat did surprise Sullivan.

"I am a little surprised," he said. "I have not met Mr. Haas and I would be happy to talk to him. As a Democrat, I would like someone to talk with us first."

Haas said he does not think the county Democrats had planned to put much support into the Westfield races this year and stressed he is an independent councilman and has no ties to the county party.

"When I make comments in support of the governor and county I can be accused of not being independent and that has happened," he said. "I like to think I am independent. I think that I do consider my constituents' needs. Mostly the county Democratic machine does not pay much attention to Westfield."


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