Editing Woodland Park, New Jersey (section)

==Government==

===Local government===
The Borough of Woodland Park was chartered by the State of New Jersey to function under the [[Faulkner Act]] (formally known as the Option Municipal Charter Law) within the [[Faulkner Act (small municipality)|Small Municipality]] form of government (Plan C), implemented by direct petition as of January 1, 1967.<ref>[http://www.dudley-2010.com/Faulkner%20Act%2046pages.pdf "The Faulkner Act: New Jersey's Optional Municipal Charter Law"], [[New Jersey State League of Municipalities]], July 2007. Accessed November 13, 2013.</ref> The borough is one of 18 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use this form of government.<ref>[https://njdatabook.rutgers.edu/sites/njdatabook.rutgers.edu/files/documents/inventory_of_municipal_forms_of_government_in_new_jersey.pdf ''Inventory of Municipal Forms of Government in New Jersey''], [[Rutgers University]] Center for Government Studies, July 1, 2011. Accessed June 1, 2023.</ref><ref>[https://njdatabook.rutgers.edu/sites/njdatabook.rutgers.edu/files/documents/forms_of_municipal_government_in_new_jersey_9220.pdf#page=14 "Forms of Municipal Government in New Jersey"], p. 14. [[Rutgers University]] Center for Government Studies. Accessed June 1, 2023.</ref> The governing body is comprised of the mayor and the borough council, with all positions elected [[at-large]] on a partisan basis as part of the November general election. The mayor is elected [[direct election|directly]] by the voters to a three-year term of office. The borough council includes six members elected to serve three-year terms on a staggered basis, with elections take place in a three-year cycle, with the mayor elected one year and three council seats up for election in the second and third years in the cycle.<ref name=DataBook>''2012 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book'', [[Rutgers University]] [[Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy]], April 2006, p. 148</ref> A government reorganization takes place on January 1 of every year, at which time a mayor-elect or newly elected council members are sworn in.<ref>[http://www.wpnj.us/content/165/default.aspx Mayor and Council], Borough of Woodland Park. Accessed March 12, 2020. "The Borough of Woodland Park was chartered by the State of New Jersey to function under a variation of the Faulkner Act, Small Municipality Plan of the Optional Municipal Charter Law form of government. The Mayor and six Council members serve staggered terms. A partisan municipal election is held every year in November. One year the voters choose a new mayor. The next year three council members must be chosen. Then in the third year the other three council members are elected. A government reorganization takes place at the first meeting in January of every year, at which time a mayor-elect or newly elected council members are sworn in."</ref>

{{As of|2023}}, the [[Mayor]] of Woodland Park is [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] Keith Kazmark, whose term of office ends December 31, 2023.<ref>[http://www.wpnj.us/content/165/319/default.aspx Office of the Mayor], Borough of Woodland Park. Accessed July 20, 2020.</ref> Members of the Woodland Park Borough Council are Michael Sica (D, 2025), Vincent Bennett DeCesare (D, 2024), Tina Gatti (D, 2024), Christine Tiseo (D, 2025), Tracy Kallert (D, 2024), and Sam Yodice, Jr. (D, 2025).<ref name=MayorCouncil>[http://www.wpnj.us/content/165/2406/default.aspx Governing Body], Borough of Woodland Park. Accessed July 20, 2020.</ref><ref>[http://www.wpnj.us/filestorage/485/528/532/Woodland-Park-2022.pdf#page=11 2022 Municipal Data Sheet], Borough of Woodland Park. Accessed July 20, 2020.</ref><ref name=PassaicDirectory>[https://www.passaiccountynj.org/home/showpublisheddocument/1938/637667926512370000#page=75 ''Passaic County 2021 Directory''], [[Passaic County, New Jersey]], updated as of April 2021. Accessed July 1, 2022.</ref><ref name="Template2021">[https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NJ/Passaic/111517/web.278093/#/summary 2021 General Election November 2, 2021 Official Results], Passaic County, New Jersey, updated November 18, 2021. Accessed January 1, 2022.</ref><ref name="Template2020">[https://www.passaiccountynj.org/home/showpublisheddocument/3378/637678115691870000 November 3, 2020 Summary Report Official Results], Passaic County, New Jersey, updated November 20, 2020. Accessed January 1, 2021.</ref><ref name=Passaic2019>[https://www.passaiccountynj.org/home/showpublisheddocument/3366/637678115112970000 2019 General Election November 5, 2019 Summary Report Passaic County Official Results], [[Passaic County, New Jersey]], updated November 18, 2019. Accessed January 1, 2020.</ref>

In May 2022, the borough council selected Adam Chaabane from a list of three candidates nominated by the Democratic municipal committee to fill the seat expiring in December 2022 that had been held by Joseph Spinelli who resigned after serving more two decades in office.<ref>[https://www.tapinto.net/towns/passaic-valley/articles/woodland-park-councilman-joe-spinelli-saluted-after-serving-the-borough-for-21-years-4 "Woodland Park Councilman Joe Spinelli Saluted After Serving The Borough For 21 years"], TAP into Passaic Valley, May 6, 2022. "The Borough said 'thank you' on May 4 to a legend, an icon, and an institution in West Paterson/Woodland Park as Council President Joseph Spinelli stepped down from the dais....The Borough Council, after considering three candidates from the Woodland Park Democratic Committee, selected Adam Chaabane to finish out Spinelli’s term, which ends on Dec. 31."</ref>

In 2012, Borough resident Matthew La Corte was fined for his planting of a political lawn sign. After nationwide backlash towards the borough and a series of court hearings, the borough agreed to drop the case and waive the nearly $24,000 in fines that had accumulated at $100 per day for each day the signs were up.<ref>Kadosh, Matthew. [http://www.northjersey.com/news/freedom-of-expression-prevails-in-sign-case-1.452633 "Freedom of expression prevails in Woodland Park lawn sign case"], ''Passaic Valley Today'', April 5, 2012. Accessed January 28, 2015. "A municipal prosecutor has agreed to dismiss charges against a borough man who violated an ordinance by placing lawn signs on his father's Lackawanna Avenue property outside of the election season. Matthew La Corte, 19, had displayed two Ron Paul lawn signs on his father's property starting in June of last year, and when informed that he was violating borough ordinance, refused to take them down."</ref>

===Federal, state and county representation===
Woodland Park is located in the 11th Congressional District<ref name=PCR2012>[https://www.nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/2012-congressional-districts/njcd-2011-plan-components-county-mcd.pdf Plan Components Report], [[New Jersey Redistricting Commission]], December 23, 2011. Accessed February 1, 2020.</ref> and is part of New Jersey's 40th state legislative district.<ref name=Districts2023>[https://pub.njleg.gov/publications/pdf/2023-NJ-Leg-District-Map.pdf Municipalities Sorted by 2023-2031 Legislative District], [[New Jersey Department of State]]. Accessed September 1, 2023.</ref>

{{NJ Congress 11}} {{NJ Senate}}

{{NJ Legislative 40}}

{{NJ Passaic County Commissioners}}

===Politics===
As of March 2011, there were a total of 7,930 registered voters in Woodland Park, of which 2,309 (29.1% vs. 31.0% countywide) were registered as [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]], 1,448 (18.3% vs. 18.7%) were registered as [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] and 4,171 (52.6% vs. 50.3%) were registered as [[Unaffiliated (New Jersey)|Unaffiliated]]. There were 2 voters registered as [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarians]] or [[Green Party (United States)|Greens]].<ref name=VoterRegistration>[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2011-passaic-co-summary-report.pdf Voter Registration Summary - Passaic], [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, March 23, 2011. Accessed January 16, 2013.</ref> Among the borough's 2010 Census population, 67.1% (vs. 53.2% in Passaic County) were registered to vote, including 83.6% of those ages 18 and over (vs. 70.8% countywide).<ref name=VoterRegistration/><ref>[http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/GCTP7.ST16?slice=GEO~0400000US34 GCT-P7: Selected Age Groups: 2010 - State -- County Subdivision; 2010 Census Summary File 1 for New Jersey] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20200212202223/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/GCTP7.ST16?slice=GEO~0400000US34 |date=February 12, 2020 }}, [[United States Census Bureau]]. Accessed January 16, 2013.</ref>

In the [[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2012|2012 presidential election]], Democrat [[Barack Obama]] received 55.4% of the vote (3,119 cast), ahead of Republican [[Mitt Romney]] with 43.9% (2,471 votes), and other candidates with 0.8% (44 votes), among the 5,714 ballots cast by the borough's 8,489 registered voters (80 ballots were [[Spoilt vote|spoiled]]), for a turnout of 67.3%.<ref name=2012Elections>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2012-results/2012-presidential-passaic.pdf |title=Presidential General Election Results - November 6, 2012 - Passaic County |date=March 15, 2013 |publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections |access-date=December 24, 2014}}</ref><ref name=2012VoterReg>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2012-results/2012-ballotscast-passaic.pdf |title=Number of Registered Voters and Ballots Cast - November 6, 2012 - General Election Results - Passaic County|date=March 15, 2013 |publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections |access-date=December 24, 2014}}</ref> In the [[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2008|2008 presidential election]], Democrat Barack Obama received 2,897 votes (49.0% vs. 58.8% countywide), ahead of Republican [[John McCain]] with 2,782 votes (47.0% vs. 37.7%) and other candidates with 68 votes (1.1% vs. 0.8%), among the 5,918 ballots cast by the borough's 8,031 registered voters, for a turnout of 73.7% (vs. 70.4% in Passaic County).<ref>[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2008-gen-elect-presidential-results-passaic.pdf 2008 Presidential General Election Results: Passaic County], [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 23, 2008. Accessed January 16, 2013.</ref> In the [[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2004|2004 presidential election]], Democrat [[John Kerry]] received 2,686 votes (48.6% vs. 53.9% countywide), ahead of Republican [[George W. Bush]] with 2,642 votes (47.8% vs. 42.7%) and other candidates with 37 votes (0.7% vs. 0.7%), among the 5,531 ballots cast by the borough's 7,506 registered voters, for a turnout of 73.7% (vs. 69.3% in the whole county).<ref>[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2004-presidential_passaic_co_2004.pdf 2004 Presidential Election: Passaic County], [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 13, 2004. Accessed January 16, 2013.</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; font-size:95%;"
|+ Presidential elections results
|- bgcolor=lightgrey
! Year
![[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
![[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
![[Third Party (United States)|Third Parties]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''[[2024 United States presidential election in New Jersey|2024]]<ref name="2024Elections">{{cite web |url=https://www.nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/election-results/2024/2024-official-general-results-president-passaic.pdf|title=Presidential November 5, 2024 General Election Results Passaic County|access-date=January 11, 2025}}</ref>'''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Republican}}|'''52.3%''' ''3,476''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|42.7% ''2,840''
| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;" |5.0% ''316''
|-
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2020|2020]]<ref name="2020Elections">{{cite web |url=https://www.nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/election-results/2020/2020-official-general-results-president-passaic.pdf|title=Presidential November 3, 2020 General Election Results Passaic County|access-date=January 11, 2025}}</ref>'''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Republican}}|46.8% ''3,431''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''50.4%''' ''3,693''
| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;" |2.8% ''87''
|-
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2016|2016]]<ref name="2016Elections">{{cite web |url=https://www.nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/election-results/2016/2016-gen-elect-presidential-results-passaic.pdf|title=Presidential General Election Results – November 8, 2016 – Passaic County|publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections|access-date=December 31, 2017}}</ref>'''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Republican}}|47.6%''2,891''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''49.7%''' ''3,022''
| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;" |2.2% ''133''
|-
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2012|2012]]<ref name="2012Election">{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2012-results/2012-presidential-passaic.pdf |title=Presidential General Election Results - November 6, 2012 - Passaic County |publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections |access-date=January 11, 2025}}</ref>'''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Republican}}|43.9% ''2,471''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''55.4%''' ''3,119''
| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;" |0.8% ''44''
|-
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2008|2008]]<ref name="state.nj.us">[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2008-gen-elect-presidential-results-passaic.pdf 2008 Presidential General Election Results: Passaic County], [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 23, 2008. Accessed January 11, 2025.</ref>'''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Republican}}|47.0% ''2,782''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''49.0%''' ''2,897''
| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;" |1.1% ''68''
|-
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''[[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2004|2004]]'''<ref name="Presidential Election 2004">[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2004-presidential_passaic_co_2004.pdf 2004 Presidential Election: Passaic County], [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 13, 2004. Accessed January 11, 2025.</ref>
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Republican}}|47.8% ''2,642''
| style="text-align:center;" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''48.6%''' ''2,686''
| style="text-align:center; background:honeyDew;" |0.7% ''37''
|}

In the [[New Jersey gubernatorial election, 2013|2013 gubernatorial election]], Republican [[Chris Christie]] received 59.4% of the vote (2,188 cast), ahead of Democrat [[Barbara Buono]] with 39.7% (1,461 votes), and other candidates with 0.9% (32 votes), among the 3,769 ballots cast by the borough's 8,648 registered voters (88 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 43.6%.<ref name=2013Elections>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2013-results/2013-general-election-results-governor-passaic.pdf |title=Governor - Passaic County |date=January 29, 2014 |publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections |access-date=December 24, 2014}}</ref><ref name=2013VoterReg>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2013-results/2013-general-election-ballotscast-passaic.pdf |title=Number of Registered Voters and Ballots Cast - November 5, 2013 - General Election Results - Passaic County|date=January 29, 2014 |publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections |access-date=December 24, 2014}}</ref> In the [[New Jersey gubernatorial election, 2009|2009 gubernatorial election]], Republican Chris Christie received 2,165 votes (45.3% vs. 43.2% countywide), ahead of Democrat [[Jon Corzine]] with 2,151 votes (45.0% vs. 50.8%), Independent [[Chris Daggett]] with 238 votes (5.0% vs. 3.8%) and other candidates with 64 votes (1.3% vs. 0.9%), among the 4,776 ballots cast by the borough's 7,814 registered voters, yielding a 61.1% turnout (vs. 42.7% in the county).<ref>[http://www.njelections.org/election-results/2009-governor_results-passaic.pdf 2009 Governor: Passaic County] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120822213732/http://www.njelections.org/election-results/2009-governor_results-passaic.pdf |date=August 22, 2012 }}, [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 31, 2009. Accessed January 16, 2013.</ref>