Fair Lawn Council: Six Vying For Three Seats

FAIR LAWN, NJ – In Fair Lawn, six candidates are seeking three council seats on Nov. 5.

Democratic incumbents Kurt Peluso and Cristina Cutrone, along with newcomer Kris Krause, are being challenged by Republicans John Gil, Glen Callons and Stephen Janiszak for the three 3-year-terms.

In Fair Lawn, the five-member council is a Democratic majority, with one Republican on the governing body.

Each candidate was asked to fill out a profile in advance of Election Day for publication. See below for their answers.

John Gil (Republican)

• Age: 40
• How many years have you resided in town: Life Long Resident
• Occupation: Operations Manager at a Medical Billing Company
• Previous public offices held: None
• Family: Married
• Community activities: Fair Lawn Sunrise Rotary
• Why are you running:I have had the privilege to work for, and most importantly learn from, some great leaders in our community such as Congresswoman Marge Roukema, Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi, and Mayor John Cosgrove. I want to take my knowledge and experience working at the Federal, State, and County government to help address, and most importantly solve, issues facing our borough.

Glen Callons (Republican)

• Age: 55
• How many years have you resided in town: Life Long Resident
• Occupation: Retired Fair Lawn Police Officer, now in Sales
• Previous public offices held: None
• Family: Engaged to Lisa (getting married November 8th), two children - Caity age 27 and Alex age 26. We all graduated Fair Lawn HS.
• Community activities: Was the Community Policing Officer and coached Fair Lawn hockey and football for over 20 years.
• Why are you running: My family has served Fair Lawn for generations. I know that my knowledge, training, and experience has given me an unmatched insight on what is required to make sure that our children, homes, and our businesses are the safest they can be. Fair Lawn has prepared me with the necessary training and experience during my years of service. Now, I would like to give back to the town that gave me so much.

Kurt Peluso (Democrat)

• Age: 36
• How many years have you resided in town:36 yrs (my whole life)
• Occupation: Program Manager for a national nonprofit
• Previous public offices held: Councilman, Deputy Mayor
• Family: Married: Yes Children: Austin Peluso 12 years old at Thomas Jefferson Middle School and Dean Peluso 8 yrs old at Warren Point Elementary School
• Community activities: Mayor of Fair Lawn; Coach for the 3rd grade traveling basketball team, Coach for the recreational 3rd-4th and 7th-8th recreational basketball teams; former High School and junior track coach.
• Why are you running: Since I have been Mayor we have seen two 0% tax increases, the highest surplus ever, and a $16 million dollar increase in our ratables, I want to continue to strengthen the economic stability of our community. We have also seen huge upgrades in our recreational facilities and our infrastructure. I am running so we can continue to invest in our future while strengthening our present so Fair Lawn can continue to be a community others strive to be.

Cristina Cutrone (Democrat)

• Age: 36
• How many years have you resided in town: 10 years
• Occupation: High School Social Studies Teacher
• Previous public offices held: Current Councilwoman, previously Board of Education Trustee for Bergen County Special Services School District
• Family: Married to Stephen Musnikow, a lifelong resident of Fair Lawn, with two Children; Cole, age 6 (attends public elementary school in Fair Lawn) and Nora, age 3.
• Community activities: WE DO of Bergen County (President), Access for All Committee, Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention Committee, Fair Lawn Arts Council, Senior Citizens Advisory Committee, Open Space Committee
• Why are you running:My parents taught me from a young age how important it is to help others, give back and be an active member of my community. As a Councilwoman, my goal is to always ensure Fair Lawn remains a thriving community and affordable place to live and raise a family. I am proud of the work my Democratic colleagues on the Council and I have done so far to improve the quality of life for Fair Lawn residents. We’ve had no tax increase the last two years and we’re committed to keeping taxes stable while improving services and programs for residents. We are protecting our families’ health and ensuring they have safe water to drink with treatment upgrades and a full independent water system analysis. We expanded programming for our children under the age of six with the Sprouts Play dates. We have revitalized the Senior Citizen Advisory Committee, launched the first annual Senior Citizen Resource Fair, are working to make changes that will allow our seniors to age in place and continue to support veterans’ programs and outreach. We have implemented new traffic signals to keep pedestrians and drivers safe and we have provided 100 new parking spots at Radburn Train Station for resident commuters. I'm running so I can build on the progress we’ve made so far and so I can continue to fight for Fair Lawn families.

Kris Krause (Democrat)

• Age: 33
• How many years have you resided in town: 6
• Occupation: Attorney
• Previous public offices held: None.
• Family: Married to Merideth Krause, a high school biology teacher, with two sons.
• Community activities: Volunteer wrestling coach year round for Fair Lawn Junior Wrestling. Member of the Memorial Pool Committee for the past two years, and member of the 2019 Fair Lawn Citizens’ Fire Academy.
• Why are you running: I fell in love with our community after becoming a resident. We started out in Fair Lawn as renters and by the time we were able to buy a house, we didn’t want to look anywhere else. I’m proud to call Fair Lawn my home and I’m proud to be raising my sons here. I believe I have a lot to give and serving on the council is a perfect way for me to continue to contribute to this wonderful community.

Stephen Janiszak (Republican)

• Age: 34
• Years in town: 4
• Occupation: Copywriter / op-ed writer
• Public Offices Held: None
• Family: Married to Samantha Janiszak
• Community Activities: Member of the Republican club in Fair Lawn for 4 years as well as served on the county committee
• Why I am running: I am running for borough council in Fair Lawn because I have a deep-seated belief in the idea that all politics is local. I have been a conservative activist for the better part of eight years, developed a social media following of more than 70,000 people, written for a variety of online news publications and even attended CPAC three times as a credentialed member of the media – but that means nothing unless one puts actions behind their words. I felt it was time to get involved to truly make a difference in the community I live in. My wife grew up here in Fair Lawn and brought me back here with her about four years ago and I have fallen in love with this town. From the great parks we have to the highly accredited school district and the small-town feel you get walking through our downtown area I could not think of a better town to live in.