DEMOCRATIC SIGNS BEING VANDALIZED, STOLEN!
NA Residents Exhausted by Rampant Overdevelopment, Property Tax Hikes and this all-Republican Monopoly of Local Government!
Balwierczak & Yampaglia urge those victimized to file a report with NAPD.
NORTH ARLINGTON – Residents are speaking out online to the practice of stolen political signs off the properties of Democratic households just weeks before the November General Election scheduled for Tuesday, November 5th. 
The issue of signs has been ongoing as the Borough’s Construction Official tried to have a sign removed from the home of Democrat John Balwierczak, a former Republican who left the party over the issue of massive overdevelopment, urbanization, increased traffic and decreased residential street parking thanks to the policies of embedded GOP incumbents Brian Fitzhenry and Allison Sheedy.
Here is a copy of the call Balwierczak received from the Borough’s Construction Official, Robert Kairys who earns well over $100,000 annually, and is a supporter of the GOP incumbents Fitzhenry and Sheedy.
Both Fitzhenry and Sheedy are the hand-picked puppets of Mayor Dan Pronti, a real estate agent by profession and part-time politician who has engineered hundreds of apartment dwellings constructed along Ridge Road with the crisis now metastasizing to Schuyler Avenue, River Road and the Belleville Turnpike.
With Republicans monopolizing all seven seats of local government, massive overdevelopment has replaced the long standing notion that North Arlington remain the gateway of Bergen County.
That North Arlington continue to be small, safe and suburban.
No Democrat has served on the governing body since 2019 and no Democrat has been elected in eight years.
Neither Fitzhenry or Sheedy have faced a serious challenge in over a decade.
Both have awarded themselves four consecutive pay hikes, appropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars for lavish offices for part-time elected officials. Sheedy, a double-dipping, dual job holder was paid $500 last year by local Republicans to work and election where there was no competition.
Democrats wonder if Sheedy will be compensated again to campaign for her own reelection?
Sources tell NA Today that Fitzhenry has no interest in campaigning and has refused to comment on his three-year record of approving hundreds of new apartments with hundreds more scheduled moving forward.
Fitzhenry has raised property taxes this year, and every year he served as a member of the North Arlington Board of Education.
No one running for council has raised property taxes more than Brian Fitzhenry. 
Public school parents are concerned about the explosion of apartments that many believe will result in a sharp spike in our school population that could result in larger class sizes and increased school taxes.
There has never been an election with such a clear contrast as to where the candidates stand.
“Fitzhenry and Sheedy’s campaign is being financially supported by out-of-town developers, contractors, builders and real estate insiders who are here to urbanize and gentrify North Arlington. We have a Mayor who is a real estate agent. We have a sitting councilmember who is also a real estate agent and was an original supporter of the failed EnCap housing scheme that was propped up by Donald Trump when he served as a redevelopment official. EnCap was a scam, a phony attempt to turn garbage landfills into golf courses, but ultimately an attempt to build 1,500 units of low income apartments that would have destroyed North Arlington as we know it. Republicans have a record of cuddling up with real estate interests and what you see on Ridge Road is a result of that alliance,” offered Balwierczak, a life-long resident and graduate of North Arlington High School.
“The whole premise of these apartments was to stabilize property taxes. The exact opposite has occurred. I’m concerned about the impact on schools and class sizes. Should we be successful we will call for an immediate halt on this collision course with our residents. We will put taxpayers first and end this rampant overdevelopment that is turning North Arlington into Belleville.”
Yampaglia, whose father served as our municipal judge and brother as a four-term council member, is disturbed by the stealing of signs.
“This is a suppression of free speech. Why would anyone steal a sign? Why would anyone think this will change the results of an election? I’m calling upon our opponents to join us in opposing these campaign tactics. No one who is supporting our team is engaging in such negative behavior. This kind of nonsense instills fear in people participating in the democratic process. This is why bringing back responsible two-party government matters. One party government and this Republican monopoly has resulted in massive suburban overdevelopment no one ever asked for or wanted. We need to build-up our grass roots democracy, not tear it down.” 
The Democrats in contrast to the Republicans have been campaigning for a year, securing hundreds of petition signatures while registering voters to expand the community’s local democracy.
If you had a sign stolen, contact the North Arlington Police Department at (201) 991-4400.
The NAPD are located at 214 Ridge Road or you can visit them online at www.northarlington.org
Meet the Democrats every Saturday at the North Arlington Post Office from 9 am to 12 noon located at Ridge Park Drive.
You can also meet the candidates on Wednesday, October 30th at the Arlington Diner beginning at 7:00 PM.
For details call (201) 655-8497.