Meet The Candidates: How Can Mahwah Get More Ratables?

MAHWAH, N.J. — Editor's note: The following is the fourth in a six-part series regarding this year's mayoral candidates: Incumbent William Laforet and challengers John Roth and Jonathan Wong. Each candidate was asked six questions and wrote as much as they wanted in response to those questions. Patch is running the candidates' responses to each question for six consecutive days.

Question: What opportunities are there to expand the town's ratable base?

William Laforet, incumbent

I am extraordinarily proud of my record of economic growth and creating jobs for more than 39 years as both a business owner in Mahwah as well as serving as mayor. I have proactively engaged with our corporate community in order to maintain and grow our commercial base of taxpayers. Some recent successes included the development and implementation of a jobs program with Net A Porter, Ramapo College and Jersey On, resulting in 95 new Mahwah jobs, the retention and expansion of Jaguar Land Rover's national headquarters, as well as the recent groundbreaking for Valley Hospital’s new health and wellness facility.

I am proud to have played an integral role in attracting to Mahwah the U.S. headquarters of Ascensa/Dress Barn on MacArthur Boulevard, Dimensional Communications on MacArthur Blvd, and All Things Media on Industrial Avenue.

John Roth, challenger

There are limited opportunities for the construction on new commercial properties in Mahwah as most of the available land is already developed.

The opportunities exist in filling vacant buildings and space. There are also limited opportunities for the redevelopment of properties that have fallen into disrepair or are unusable. The mayor’s office needs to be more closely aligned with and have better communications with commercial agents, brokers, and developers to identify appropriate opportunities that are not just new ratables but quality low impact ratables that would represent a mutually beneficial fit for all parties concerned.

Jonathan Wong, challenger

To expand the town’s ratable base, we will need to review the best net use of our remaining undeveloped land as well as potential areas for redevelopment. Any development that we proceed with must be done responsibly and with effort to preserve our community.

This could be accomplished efficiently through an economic development committee. Neighboring communities have implemented similar committees and have been successful. The responsibilities of the committee could include, but would not be limited to: Developing and maintaining inventory of properties to be used for economic development, coordinating efforts with all necessary agencies, and assisting Township administration and council in preparing applications for grants or funding.

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