Thanks to our supporters!

Maybe we can do it in 2011.

Accomplishments

Tom Mac Allen

Tom's track record while on the Council from 2003 through 2007 is remarkable. He worked tirelessly to protect residents from the hazards of drinking water polluted with MTBE from leaking gasoline tanks at a local service station in the Oakwood Drive/Wildwood Terrace neighborhood. [ more ]

Grace Hazeldine

Working on the Board of Adjustment, Grace's vocal opposition prevented a gas station from being built literally across the street from the Wanaque Reservoir. [ more ]

Michael Keen

Since moving to Ringwood in 1993, Michael has routinely lobbied for safety improvements on our roadways at the municipal, county, and state levels. [ more ]

Democrats Successes While in Office

Over $300,000 in Grants for Development of Martini Field

Working with the County, local Democrats secured open space funds to purchase and develop a much needed practice field in the Skyline Lakes area. The grant provided funds to the Skyline Lakes Association help offset taxpayer costs for repair of their dams, removed an unmaintained neighborhood eyesore and allowed for development of a much needed community practice field.

 

$65,000 in Grants for Skate Board Park

After years of discussion by previous councils with no action, within their first year in office the Democrats utilized grant money and constructed the skate board park behind borough hall.  

$25,000 in Grants for Construction of Basketball Court and Repair of Playground

A pocket park playground constructed by the previous Council in the Upper Ringwood area of the community was unusable due to poor drainage, leaving standing water for days after every rain storm. Democratic Councilman Tom Mac Allen, an engineer by profession, investigated the site and developed a remedial action plan which was easily implemented by Borough DPW staff, making a previously unusable playground a viable part of the community. The Democratic Council also secured grant funds and expanded the pocket park to include a basketball court for town wide use.

At Request of Democratic Council, Recreation Fields Fenced to Protect Our Children and Stop Field Vandalism

Each winter for many years, the Ryerson Recreation fields were damaged by vandals driving on them and tearing them up. In addition, soccer balls from the upper field often went into the parking lot, closely followed by a child being placed in harms' way. When coming into office, the Democrats realized the Recreation Commission had over $200,000 in reserve funds, far more than they would ever need. They worked with the Commission and the Board of Education to erect a fence around the fields to limit balls from going into the parking lot, and to prevent the recurring field damage and annual cost of repairs; all at no additional cost to the taxpayer.

Democratic Council Facilitated Erection of Foul Ball Nets at Borough Fields

When Borough bureaucracy stifled the Baseball Directors from getting foul ball netting erected at the Borough Field, the Democratic Council became involved with the process and made it a priority to get it done. The nets were soon erected.

 

Lake Speed Limits Lowered to 25 MPH

For years mothers had pleaded with the Council to lower the speed limits around the lakes with little success. The Democrats refused to take no as an answer from the NJ Department of Transportation and instead of merely sending reports and requests for the change to Trenton as had been done in previous years, Mayor Taule and Councilman Mac Allen went to Trenton and made a compelling argument in person. Within a short time the speed limits were reduced, making the roads safer for our children and the walkers and joggers that use the lakefront roads.

Over $2 Million in State Grants for Wildwood Terrace and Oakwood Drive Water Main

First identified in the late 90s, an MTBE (Gasoline) plume was polluting local wells. Left uncorrected, the issue was brought to the attention of the new Democratic Council early in 2004 by a neighborhood action group (NAG). The Council immediately provided bottled drinking water for the neighborhood and the Democratic Council members traveled to Trenton with the NAG representatives to present their case to NJDEP. The Democratic council continued to press their case with NJDEP and in a matter of a few months were granted over $2,000,000 to construct a municipal water main for the neighborhood.

Street Lights Placed along Dosky Drive and Borough Parking Lot

To illuminate the dark road and parking lot leading to the playing fields behind Borough hall, the Council had Rockland Electric install street lights for use during the football season when practices end after dark. To help defray costs to the taxpayers, the Democratic council negotiated for the Recreation Commission to use some of their surplus funds to pay for a portion of the costs. True to form, while these negotiations to save taxpayer money were underway, Republican Councilmen Marsala and Heck were stirring up parents, falsely saying the Democrats opposed the lights while knowing all along this was not the case, resulting in much unnecessary concern. They did a similar thing with hockey, saying the Democrats were going to take away their funding when again, this was knowingly untrue.

Ringwood Highlands Fair

After many years, the Democrats brought back “Ringwood Day” rebranded as the “Ringwood Highlands Fair”. This community-wide event drew crowds from throughout the region and provided a forum for local businesses to present and sell their goods as well as a unique opportunity for our many civic groups to raise funds for their organizations. Most importantly, it raised a sense of community and pride for Ringwood. And it showcased our community to out-of-town attendees, promoting future tourism and traffic for local businesses. This event was strongly supported by the Ringwood Chamber of Commerce, who graciously donated many of the children's favorite activities. Unfortunately, funding for this popular event, which happened to coincide very closely with the Ringwood Town Picnic, a major Republican Club fund raiser, was withheld by a majority vote of the Council after only two years; against the wishes of the Democratic minority.

 

Over $200,000 in Salary & Benefit Cost Savings in Running Ringwood Government

While a majority, the Democrats implemented several cost saving measures in running town government. They eliminated one position in the Engineering Department, replaced the retiring Tax Collector with a part time person with no benefits, replaced a full time accounts payable person with part time staff with no benefits and went to shared services for the Building Inspector, replacing a full time inspector at a much lower cost.

 

$10,000 in Grants to Plant Rain Garden at Library

Using indigenous wetland plants, Democrats rolled-up their sleeves and planted a rain garden near the library bridge. The Rain Garden will provide water quality to stormwater runoff and reduce lawn maintenance costs. As a water quality feature, the Borough can also use it as an action towards meeting their state water quality requirements.