DO YOU KNOW WHEN DAN PRONTI IS LYING?
HIS MOUTH IS MOVING!
Balwierczak: Judge me on what I say, not the lies Dan Pronti spreads!
NORTH ARLINGTON – The more apparent it becomes Dan Pronti will be exiting office, it seems he’ll say anything about challenger John Balwierczak, the lifelong resident, homeowner and graduate of North Arlington High School.
Balwierczak had to chuckle about the latest allegation that he is against all municipal employees. Here is Pronti’s latest tirade online where Balwierczak is banned from comment or equal time:
“What Dan fails to understand or comprehend is that my criticisms are directed at his lack of leadership or putting taxpayers first. I don’t blame the Borough Administrator for enjoying a three-day work week; I blame Dan for endorsing and enabling such a work schedule and contract. When the Library Board he appointed settled out-of-court for $200,000 in light of a hostile work environment civil action, I blame Dan. When we had two murders on Ridge Road and a federal drug raid on a business mixed up in narcotics, Pronti said nothing. This is a retired cop we’re talking about. If I’m elected mayor, I’ll work with our employees, but I report to taxpayers first. They are my boss,” offered the Democratic challenger.
Balwierczak was blunt and to the point on pay raises.
“Pronti and this Borough Council have enjoyed automatic raises for five years and running. Why is a part-time mayor automatically raising his salary without public approval or input? Pronti is the highest paid mayor in all of South Bergen, West Hudson and East Essex counties. Why does Dan i earn more than the mayor of Belleville? It has twice the population of North Arlington? What is the rationale for this wasteful spending?
Here is a graph of the salaries of area mayors, all far less than the two-term MAGA incumbent:
Balwierczak once again corrected Pronti’s outright lies and exaggerations.
“My criticisms are with a part-time mayor and full-time real estate agent who is urbanizing North Arlington into a twin of Belleville, a gateway not to Bergen County, but to Newark. My values are NA values, not Bayonne or Hudson County. The person who is unqualified to serve is Pronti himself.”
Balwierczak is asking voters to look hard at Pronti’s record:
- Rising property taxes, random property reassessments that is pushing longtime residents out of North Arlington, especially seniors!
- A tenant/renter backlash to Pronti’s policies and if elected, Balwierczak supports the reestablishment of an independent Rent Leveling Board.
- The complete decimation of our business district along Ridge Road that has become a ghost town replaced by unbridled construction of apartments like OPUS, which the community opposes. Even Pronti now freely admits OPUS was a mistake, a project he enthusiastically endorsed since 2018 when he was a councilman trying to push the late Mayor Joe Bianchi out the door.
- The proliferation of hundreds of apartments along Ridge Road that have increased taxes, stress essential services and urbanized NA into a small city.
- Pronti remains openly hostile to our public schools as he continues his assault on non-partisan school trustees he can’t influence or control with unqualified candidates who will answer to him, not the parents, teachers or children. There is no room for partisan politics on our school board.
Balwierczak is also concerned about the growing rumor that Pronti will try to make the position of mayor full-time, and award himself with an obscene, six-figure salary when the current administrator retires.
“Everyone knows Dan Pronti was lobbying hard last year for a job with Jack Ciattarelli who got clobbered for governor. Pronti couldn’t even deliver NA for Jack as Governor Mikie Sherrill carried our community disrupting his desire for a state-appointed job. So don’t be shocked NA when he tries to make this part-time mayoral position full-time with a fat paycheck, perks and benefits should he win a third term,” blasted the Democrat.
“Maybe he’ll even try to negotiate a car for himself too. Anything is possible with him at the helm,” noted the challenger.
Balwierczak was asked to comment on the rest of Pronti’s outright lies and fabrications.
“They are too numerous to take seriously. Should I win I’ll be in the minority with the remaining Republicans. I was once a Republican and then Dan Pronti came along and decided massive overdevelopment and stripping NA of our values of being small, safe, suburban and affordable no longer matter. This is a principle both Democrats & Republicans agreed with for decades until he came around. The problem isn’t the Republican Party; the problem is the partisan heavy hand of this Mayor. I can work with a Brian Fitzhenry or Kirk Del Russo, they would be a part of a new team, a better, more invigorated North Arlington and not the savage political environment created and fueled by Dan.”
Balwierczak believes a clear contrast with Pronti is his commitment to ending wasteful spending and saving tax dollars.
“Why does Pronti not acknowledge when a whistle blower steps forward and sends my campaign an image of a North Arlington vehicle parked in a premium position at an Atlantic City Casino some 120 miles south of here? I have borough employees sending me anonymous letters highly critical of his actions as mayor and his treatment of our work force. My criticisms are the lack of example he sets. Isn’t it strange after 8 years he has really nothing substantial to point to, yet he confidently assumes a third term? This is why he hides on FACEBOOK attacking me so viciously day after day,” said Balwierczak.
“He is arrogant, mean spirited, and condescending. An embarrassment to elective office.”
And Balwierczak reminded voters that he and is running mates Dennis Papile & Jim Sever have been endorsed by the Bergen County Central Trades Council, the largest collection of union members in North Jersey representing thousands of working families and seniors. 
“If I’m so anti-employee, why wasn’t Pronti and his hapless ticket even considered for this critical endorsement? Jim Sever; my running mate has also been endorsed by the New Jersey AFL-CIO. We are the ticket that best represents blue collar working families and most of all, seniors.”
JUST WHAT IS THE PRONTI RECORD?
“Why won’t he promote his own record and stop the gutter campaign tactics that are back firing? Pronti prefers a stacked deck, sitting in his perch at Borough Hall, bullying and intimidating anyone and everyone. I would love the opportunity to debate him, but that will never occur because he hates the whole idea of having to face the voters. He despises a vibrant, grass roots democracy, and seeks to eliminate local NA Democrats once and for all,” concluded the candidate.
“I stand by everything I have stated in this campaign. What I won’t allow is generalizations, lies, and distortions to go without a response.”
The Democrats are meeting next week, October 7th at the Arlington Diner located at the corner of River Road and the Belleville Turnpike beginning at 7:00 PM.
It is a fundraiser and you can RSVP the campaign at (201) 937-4277, or via e-mail at [email protected]
“Come and see me and ask any question you might have. If you can’t make it, call me at (201) 655-8497 or via e-mail at [email protected] and would be happy to speak with you. That is my cell and e-mail. I return all messages and correspondence.”