BOONTON TOWNSHIP – An $11 million renovation of City Hall is setting off a battle for city council.
Republican incumbent Thomas SanFilippo Jr., a Jersey City police detective, will face Democrat Ray Menard, a retired union president and director of the New York City Opera, in Tuesday’s election. At stake is a seat on the five-member board of directors in the city of 4,400 residents.
Menard is trying to become the first Democrat in history to win a spot on the currently all-Republican committee. He said he would bring fresh ideas and years of administrative experience to a panel that would allow the town hall project to grow too large. SanFilippo touts four consecutive years of flat municipal tax rates and upgrades to city parks and facilities during his three years as president.
Here’s a look at the two contenders ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
Boonton Township Election: Meet the Candidates
SanFilippo, 43, is seeking a second term. A township resident for 13 years, he began his law enforcement career with the Morris County Sheriff’s Office in 2003. He joined the Jersey City force in 2008 as a patrol officer before being promoted to detective in 2017. He also served on the Boonton Township Planning Board. Board.
“My entire career has always been about public service,” he said. His priority, he added, is “preserving the character and history of the city, without overdevelopment like many of these cities… and acquiring land to preserve that.” Half of our city consists of preserved agricultural land and that gives it its character.”
Menard, 69, moved to Boonton Township 14 years ago. His resume includes nine years as a director and artistic administrator for the New York City Opera and nearly 35 years as a production director at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He is also a former president and treasurer of the American Guild of Musical Artists, a union representing 7,000 singers, dancers and stage personnel in the US. He cited his work helping the union and the opera navigate pandemic lockdowns.
“There are hundreds of people on stage, in the pit phase, building the big landscape with their hands,” he said. “I am used to pulling large groups of people together towards a common goal and developing and realizing an artistic vision, which is not so different from realizing a commercial vision or any vision for that matter.” Menard also serves on the board of the Morris County School of Technology in Denville.
The town hall project
Menard said management at the municipal building extension helped convince him to enter the race. The committee approved the project earlier this year, saying renovations were urgently needed at the Powerville Road building, parts of which are nearly a century old.
Menard said the commission should have received more public input and questioned why the city needs a new building that will be 6,000 square feet larger and more expensive than the recently renovated City Hall in neighboring Mountain Lakes.
During committee meetings, “We asked questions but didn’t get answers, and I just thought it was just too rubbery,” he said.
SanFilippo said the repairs and upgrades were needed in a building that had not been renovated since the 1950s. The police station in particular was cramped and did not have the space to meet modern standards for securing evidence, storing equipment and other needs.
The building will be expanded in part to accommodate a larger municipal courtroom, which will generate revenue for the city by serving other municipalities in the area, SanFilippo added. As for the cost comparison, he said construction costs have increased significantly since Mountain Lakes began the project four years ago.
Boonton Township will issue a $9.5 million bond to cover the project. But this is not expected to increase taxpayer bills as financing costs will be covered by tax revenue from the TerrAscend cannabis farm on Old Denville Road. Menard said this assumes the farm will maintain the same level of income. In any case, the TerrAscend project was advertised to local residents as a way to reduce taxes, he said, and not as a “piggy bank for capital projects.”
Experience versus a new voice
In addition to the city’s stable tax rate, SanFilippo said he is proud of a record that also includes new basketball and pickleball courts at Leonard Park and improved parking at the city’s RVA Fields.
“The city is very well run. It’s fiscally responsible,” he said. “We’re spending just enough to keep what we have and upgrade what needs to be upgraded. I think people are happy.”
But Menard said the town hall project was symbolic of leadership that could use a fresh voice. He faulted the commission for failing to cooperate with the township school board, which at the same time proposed a $15 million bond referendum for repairs at Rockaway Valley School. Voters rejected the referendum in the spring.
“There is no other voice,” he said. “It’s a place where we do it the way we’ve always done it, and I don’t think there’s innovation if there’s no other point of view.”
Email: nussbauma@northjersey.com
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Boonton Township elections sparked by debate over town hall project
