Favaro Wins Reelection in Cliffs, Second Council Seat Too Close To Call

Incumbent Democratic Councilman Joseph Favaro easily retained his seat on the Englewood Cliffs Council Tuesday, but the second seat is still up in the air, with Democrat Nora Jobson Nora and Republican Ramon Ferro effectively neck and neck.

Incumbent Republican Carrol McMorrow was defeated, trailing Jobson by more than 120 votes.

In unofficial results, with an unknown number of absentee and mail-in ballots yet to be tallied, Favaro was the top vote getter with 1,066 votes. The next highest vote getter was his running mate, Jobson, but with 963 votes to Ferro’s 928, the election was still too close to call Tuesday night.

McMorrow, the only Republican on the Englewood Cliffs governing body, had been critical of the Council for the way it conducts its meetings—things like not holding budget meetings in public and meeting minutes getting lost. At a Korean American Civic Empowerment (KACE) debate in October, she said officials should have better informed residents about the red light camera at Route 9W and Palisade Avenue, NorthJersey.com reported.

McMorrow has been a resident of Englewood Cliffs for more than 10 years and has served on the Council since 2010, working to reduce taxes while increasing services to the community, according to KACE.

At the same debate in October, Ferro said he wanted to see an investigation into the mishandling of fire siren replacement, and that he sought to be a “watchdog” on the governing body, along with McMorrow, NorthJersey.com reported.

According to KACE, Ferro has been a resident of Englewood Cliffs since 1979 and served on the Council in the mid-1990s.

Favaro is the current Council president and former borough clerk, a capacity in which he served for 26 years before retiring in 2007. He also served on the Council in the 1970s and has credited the mostly Democratic-controlled Councils over the past 40 years with bringing Fortune 500 companies to the borough and said it was Republican-controlled Councils during the two years prior to 2012 that were to blame for the fire sirens, according to the NorthJersey.com report.

Seoane-Jobson was critical of Republicans for firing two officials she held in high regard in 2011 with no reasons given, she said, and for cutting taxes, while “overestimating revenue” and “underestimating spending,” NorthJersey.com also reported.

Her political career came about as the simple result of becoming concerned about and educated on local issues from attending Council meetings and following them in the media, according to KACE.