Westfield Ward 1 General Election 2023: Todd Saunders

WESTFIELD, NJ — Westfield's general election on Nov. 7 has eight candidates running for four open seats representing each ward in Town.

Republican Todd Saunders is running for the one, four-year seat representing Ward 1 against Democrat Emily Root.

Other candidates include Democrat Erika J. Vargas Garrison and Republican Michael Armento for Ward 2; and Democrat Dawn Alicia Nichol-Manning and Republican Michal D. Domogala for Ward 3; and Democrat Scott A. Katz and Republican David Kiefer for Ward 4.

Are you running for office in Westfield? Contact Alexis Tarrazi at alexis.tarrazi@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate's profile and submitting campaign announcements to Westfield Patch.

Todd Saunders

Age: 32

Town of residence: Westfield, NJ

Position sought: Town Council (Ward 1)

Party Affiliation: Republican

Family: N/A

Education: The College of William and Mary

Occupation: Started my career at Google and I am now the CEO at Broadlume, a software company that services 3,000+ small business flooring retailers.

Previous or current elected appointed office: N/A

Campaign website: www.saundersforwestfield.com

Why are you seeking election for Town Council?

I loved growing up in Westfield and I am proud to be from here. My family has been in town for 60+ years.

Having a strong community and loving your neighbors is important to me. Over the last year, I have convinced my best friends, their wives, and a few of my co-workers to move to Westfield.

This brings me to why I am running. All of the people that I spent years convincing to move to Westfield have started to come to me with concerns and questions about the town's direction. They are worried about overdevelopment, concerned about vacancies, frustrated with the parking/traffic, and upset that the Westfield they fell in love with is now turning into a corporate-feeling metropolis. Worst of all, they feel the leadership in Westfield is not listening and their voices are not being heard.

After not being able to give good answers and finding myself looking for excuses/justifications for the town, I decided to take action.

I’m running for Town Council in Ward 1 because I want to bring moderate, critical thinking back to town. I love this town and I believe that if we listen to the community, act rationally, and do the work together, Westfield can thrive once again.

Development in Westfield including the Westfield One Project and development in general has become a hot topic in town. How do you feel about development in Town?

I am for innovation, change, development and adapting as a town. With that said, I am also for moderate and smart economic development which is why I am against the current One Westfield Place project.

Westfield has a hometown feel to it that is unique and welcoming. We can innovate and build a more thriving community without destroying our history. The current project includes 65 foot tall buildings, 2 parking decks, 37 fewer commuter parking spaces, 300,000+ sqft of office space, 205 new residential apartments and increased traffic in a town where residents are already concerned with overdevelopment, traffic and congestion. This project is way too much and it will turn our town into a generic metropolis.

What bothers me more is the process and lack of diligence the Administration did when designing the plans for OWP.

• There was no formal RFP project proposal process - The town gave the property to the developer in a no-bid process. The Town should have had at least 5 bids on the project so that we could compare budgets and project plans. This is basic diligence. A no-bid process is reckless and is not in best interest of the town.
• The Administration skirted zoning laws - Every downtown business owner, and redevelopment project in Westfield has to abide by the town’s zoning laws but OWP was given a free pass. Why was OWP given a free pass to skirt all these zoning laws? Why can’t current building owners then build 65 feet high like the new developers?
• One landowner with no ties to town will own the majority of our town - Westfield has an incredible culture and small town vibe. OWP is giving a majority ownership of our town to a mega corporation with no ties to Westfield. Why didn’t we split the project up amongst multiple developers to give us diverse options and hedge our risk across multiple companies?

After talking to Ward 1 residents over the last several months, I firmly believe that there is a middle ground that can address the OWP concerns and create a solution that benefits everyone. Here's my proposal:

Redevelop Lord and Taylor - Work with Streetworks (current owners of the Lord and Taylor lot) to redevelop the area into something that will stimulate our downtown and also fit into our colonial landscape.

Conduct a comprehensive RFP project proposal process for South Avenue - A full, comprehensive RFP process should be done for South Avenue. We should at bare minimum get 5 proposals from 5 different developers. As part of this we should work with our Zoning Board to establish guidelines to ensure all proposals align with our zoning laws.

Give the project to multiple developers - Instead of giving the entire project to a single developer and putting all of our eggs in one basket, we should diversify and work with multiple developers. This will allow us to decrease single party risk, increase development options and give us more flexibility in the planning process.

And most importantly, we should hold a non-binding referendum - This non-binding but critical step will ensure that the majority of tax paying residents are onboard with this significant change to our town. This is too big of a change to not give all of our taxpayers a say and a vote.

The Edison Fields Bond Ordinance has been added to the ballot to go up for public vote in November. What do you think of the project and the use of turf over natural grass?

I am happy that it is going to a vote and believe that a decision this big should be left up to the taxpayers. We should also have a vote for OWP.

We definitely have a town field problem, and there are a lot of ways to solve it. Personally I would like to compare the current project proposal to 3 different options before making a decision. I would like to see analysis on the Edison field project as compared to a proposal that:

• spends the same amount of money to hire a grounds crew to keep the Edison fields natural grass, but in better condition.
• puts the fields at other locations around town
• that separates the turf from the lights in the proposal

Once we can transparently see all the data, I believe a more fair and understood vote can happen.

There have been more discussions about crime in Town in regards to car and home burglaries. Are you happy with how the Town and Police are handling this? And how would you like to improve this?

Cops have the hardest job in our communities and I am beyond thankful for the job the Westfield police do every single day. Based on the constraints the Mayor puts on the Town Police, I am happy with how they are handling crime, but I am not certainly not satisfied.

For us to get complacent and satisfied, would be a huge mistake. The data shows that Westfield crime in 2023 is trending to be higher than 2022, and the truth is, lots of residents in Ward 1 feel uneasy about all the cars being stolen and homes being broken into.

We should proactively look at more ways to stop any and all crime in our town. There is nothing more important to me than the safety of our families and our taxpaying residents.

What other issues do you feel need to be tackled in the Town?

Most of our issues revolve around overdevelopment, traffic/congestion and crime. I would also love to see smaller classrooms, and give parents back the option for full day kindergarten.

What sets you apart from the challenging candidates?

My family has been in Westfield for 60+ years. I have a unique perspective of wanting to preserve the past but also protect our future through innovation.

I’m also an entrepreneur that has always been passionate about small, local businesses and creating jobs. My dad owns a small business in downtown Westfield, my grandparents owned a small business, and I started my career at Google helping small businesses utilize Google products.

For the last eight years I have been the CEO of Broadlume, a software company that helps local flooring stores with their marketing and software. We have 150 employees across the country, and when starting the company, I was named in Forbes 30 Under 30.

I promise to bring my unique perspective to town council and help create jobs, innovate through critical thinking and preserve our past, while looking towards our future.

What else would you like to share about yourself or your campaign?

I am a moderate, critical thinker. This is the most important local election in our Town’s history and I promise to earn your trust, every single day.