REPRINTED FROM THE KEARNY OBSERVER THE RESUMES OF THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES.
A Special thanks to Kevin Canessa, Editor for the coverage.
John Balwierczak, Democrat, Candidate for Mayor
John Balwierczak, 37, is a lifelong North Arlington resident, homeowner and 2007 graduate of North Arlington High School, where he played varsity basketball. He previously ran for the borough council in 2024 and 2025.
He attended Jefferson elementary and the old Middle School prior (the old Wilson school facility) and worked in retail for Foodtown locally as well as his own private landscaping business.
A former member of the United Food & Commercial Workers, AFL-CIO (UFCW), John has a lifelong and permanent hearing disability and receives SSDI compensation. Balwierczak is also a personal investor in crypto currency for his own portfolio. His candidacy has been endorsed by the Bergen County Central Trades & Labor Council, as well as former North Arlington Mayors Ed Martone (1979-1983) and Peter Massa (2007-2014).
Balwierczak has become an increasingly active voice on local issues, particularly property taxes, over development and the preservation of North Arlington’s small-town character by remaining small, safe, suburban and affordable.
He is campaigning on a pledge to make affordability and responsible growth central priorities of the mayor’s office. While in a part-time position, he plans to be a full-time and engaged elected official.
Balwierczak has also proposed cutting the mayor’s salary in half and directing the remainder toward a scholarship for graduating North Arlington seniors. Balwierczak supports a bike & running path extending from the Kearny border to Lyndhurst along the Passaic River in cooperation with county funds, the establishment of a seasonal farmers market to encourage local shopping and commerce, a dog park and greater cooperation with the North Arlington Board of Education on issues of mutual concern and infrastructure investment.
“North Arlington needs leadership that listens to residents, respects taxpayers and understands that development must serve the community — not the other way around. The unbridled construction on Ridge Road like OPUS has little support within the community,” he said.
Instead, Balwierczak is calling for reinvestment in the Ridge Road business district and ending the proliferation of apartment construction along Ridge Road. He wants to end random property reassessments which are only applied in 17% of New Jersey’s 564 municipalities. Balwierczak would revert back to property revaluations on a 7 to 10-year basis to like the remaining 87% of local communities.
“My goals are to remain the gateway to Bergen County and not continue the replication of urbanization and gentrification, which is pricing out working families, especially seniors,” he said.
Balwierczak believes the current senior/veteran proposal lacks specifics like the cost and placement in a flood zone. Balwierczak believes the current redevelopment plan encourages the construction of data centers and would seek a moratorium on such development to ensure such a facility is environmentally safe with no tax burden for existing homeowners.
Dennis Papile, Democrat, Candidate for Borough Council
Dennis Papile is a longtime North Arlington homeowner who has lived in the borough since 1976. A former business owner and U.S. Navy veteran, Papile has worked as a North Arlington crossing guard since 2015 and is currently employed by the County of Bergen.
Papile is a husband, father and grandfather.
Papile brings a combination of private sector, public service and community experience to the campaign as being employed in the automotive industry.
His also emphasizes property-tax relief, greater fiscal accountability and the importance of having more than one political perspective represented on the Borough Council.
“Residents deserve a Borough Council that asks tough questions, examines every expenditure and makes taxpayers the first priority,” he said
Cengiz ‘Jim’ Sever. Democrat, Candidate for Borough Council
Cengiz “Jim” Sever is a North Arlington homeowner and longtime resident of the borough.
Originally from Brooklyn, Sever is a journeyman tile and marble installer and a member of Local 7, BAC. He is one of just a few candidates who received the coveted endorsement of the New Jersey AFL-CIO in all of Bergen County.
The New Jersey State AFL-CIO is an umbrella group of unions representing more than a million working men and women and their families. The state federation is a charter organization of the national AFL-CIO, which represents more than 12.5 million workers across the country in a wide range of occupations, from bricklayers and machinists to nurses, firefighters and teachers.
A journeyman tradesman and father of three, Sever is campaigning as a voice for working families and residents concerned about the direction of development and the affordability of living in North Arlington. Sever is a strong opponent of the policies and practices of President Donald Trump.
Sever too believes the Borough Council should have greater representation from people who live, work, and raise their families in the community. Currently the council is entirely comprised of all Republicans, and no Democrat has served since 2019.
“Our town should remain in a place where working families can afford to live, raise their children and retire with dignity,” he said.