John Chiaia Seeks Third Term on North Caldwell Council

John F. Chiaia has served on the North Caldwell Council since 2005 and is unchallenged in his run for a third three-year term in the upcoming municipal election.

The Republican councilman has chaired the Finance committee and the Recreation Committee, and currently chairs the Department of Public Works Committee. From 1999 to 2005, he served on the North Caldwell Planning Board and he is a current member of the Essex County Planning Board.

Chiaia, an attorney in private practice, concentrates in the areas of corporate legal services, including commercial transactions, NJDEP and A-901 compliance, and civil/equity litigation. Prior to entering private practice, he served as law clerk to the Hon. James G. Troiano, J.S.C., in the Essex vicinage, where he provided legal research and briefs in numerous felony offenses.

Chiaia has a law degree from Seton Hall University Law School in Newark.

He attended Notre Dame Grammar School (now) and . He is a 1984 graduate of .

Patch asked Chiaia the following quesitons via email:

Q: What achievement are you most proud of from your current term on the council?

A: I am proud that we, as a governing body, have improved the quality of public services while maintaining relatively benign impact on the tax levy. Namely North Caldwell added a basketball court between Fireman’s field and the tennis courts on Gould Avenue. This court was constructed “in-house” by our DPW and did not require hiring an outside contractor. North Caldwell also forged valuable shared service agreements with surrounding towns to insure we maintain the highest quality services, at a reasonable cost, and without sacrificing our small-town character. For example, the Court, police dispatch, water, sewer, engineering, EMS, public library, town pool, salt, animal control, Magnussen Field, and Camp Wyanokie. 

Q: What do you hope to accomplish in the next three years?

A: I hope in the next term to bring about continued improvements to the recreation areas, making them more usable to residents of all ages and athletic abilities, adding a walking path connecting all the venues within the Gould Avenue campus and to include a path around the brook behind I also hope to see the residents pass an Open Space trust fund so that 1/2 of one percent of taxes can be set aside in trust for open space improvement projects, such as the installation of a turf field and/or the purchase of undeveloped land along Mountain Avenue.

Q: What do you think are the big issues facing residents of North Caldwell and what have you done/what can you do to address them?

A: The big issue facing residents is keeping the quality town we have come to love without taxes rising to prohibitive levels. For example, North Caldwell is used to having the finest police force for preventing crime and being an engaged, community-oriented group that is helpful to residents and a positive role model to our children; rear-yard waste service and twice weekly pick-up; well-paved roadways, with Belgian block curbs. We must improve safety: on our roads, especially the West Essex egress, the Central Avenue triangle and cut, and at the bottom of Grandview Avenue, installing sidewalks where needed to protect children walking to school, establishing a deer management/safety program, expanding the Belgian block curbing in town to roads that do not have them, and alleviating the traffic build-up at the bottom of Mountain Avenue.

The recent power outages have exposed the need for more tree pruning. I plan to propose a tree ordinance that will create a standard for trees near power lines and can be enforced by our code enforcement inspector.  

Q: What additional merged services might North Caldwell residents see in the future?

A: Merged services has been very successful. Other areas to consider are merging police departments, (right now we only have merged dispatch services), volunteer fire (the goal being to reduce the fleet of trucks by having a regional approach, but not at the expense of safety or response time), and merging building departments.  

Q: What is something most people don't know about you?

A: Somethings many people do not know about me is that I enjoy going to Church, watching the Yankees, eating thin-crust pizza, collecting toy trains, and giving of my time to my favorite charitable service organization, UNICO of West Essex.

For North Caldwell’s future, I would like to see a rezoning plan for a section of town which would provide mixed-use commercial and residential, to create a town center, with the integration of recreation areas, the development would include restaurants, a liquor license, and a COAH element that satisfies the town’s remaining obligation. I would also like to see the Walker's Pond area become a town-owned park, with a walking path and skating in winter. An Open Space trust fund would be needed for the town to acquire the pond area and maintain it.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 8.