Westfield Ward 3 General Election 2025: Danny Lallis

NEW JERSEY - The general election season is in full swing in the Garden State and Patch has asked local candidates to share their thoughts before Nov. 4.

Editor's Note: Patch sent out emails to all candidates to the email addresses listed for their campaign provided to the office of the clerk. The responses received will be published between now and the general election. Contact edward.callahan@patch.com with any questions regarding coverage.

Name: Danny Lallis

Age: 45

Town of residence: Westfield

Position sought: Town Council

Party affiliation: Republican

Family: My wife, Heather (Westfield High School Grad), my son Liam (3rd Grade), and my daughter Kate (kindergarten)

Education: College of the Holy Cross (B.A., English), The George Washington University Law School (J.D.)

Occupation: Attorney

Previous or current elected or appointed office: N/A

Why are you seeking office?

My road to seeking office started because I coach baseball in town. I grew increasingly frustrated with the fact that we do not have enough playable fields.

Worse than that, none of the fields have been upgraded in the last eight years. We are simply letting our kids down.

While that may have been the impetus for considering to run, I ultimately chose to seek office because I believe in addressing issues in a pragmatic and commonsense way, while ensuring that there is an open process. Sometimes I feel as though we are missing the forest for the trees where we become so fixated on large-scale projects (One Westfield Place, Edison Fields) that everyday issues (traffic, pedestrian and bike safety, effects of overdevelopment) are pushed to the side.

I am running because I believe in focusing on the forest and taking incremental steps to improve our everyday lives in town.

What's your reaction when you see businesses, etc. vacate downtown? What do you look for in new tenants?

We want to have a flourishing downtown (and Southside as well), so it is always disappointing to see businesses leave. However, one thing we can do as a community is to support our small businesses by visiting the retail stores and shops. For example, my family and I go to Indigo Art Studio where the kids love painting (and we had my daughter’s birthday party there).

More fundamentally, we can support current and new tenants by ensuring the downtown area is inviting and accessible, which means having the sidewalks, streets, and crosswalks properly maintained and exploring ways to beautify the streetscapes. Additionally, the availability of parking spaces is of vital importance because if people cannot park downtown, they are not going to be visiting businesses there.

What's your approach to overdevelopment concerns in Westfield?

My approach to overdevelopment is to try, at every opportunity, to prevent predatory developers from continuing to build in this town unabated. A big step towards decreasing overdevelopment is to make certain that all planned projects are fully vetted, there is a transparent process in place, and requests for proposals are sought.

Most importantly, the residents deserve to know exactly what is proposed, understand the scope of any planned project, and have a voice in the process. I believe that current complaints about flooding issues and increased traffic are issues directly related to continued overdevelopment.

Talk to me about public safety, whether it's your idea on how to help prevent vehicles being broken into around Westfield, or some other concern, where do you see an opportunity to improve?

Public safety is always a paramount concern, whether it be preventing criminals from breaking into cars or ensuring that cyclists and pedestrians are safe while traversing our neighborhoods. The biggest way to prevent crime in town is to effectively support our hard-working Police Department, which is something Mike Domogala and the other Republicans elected two years ago have succeeded in pursuing.

In terms of keeping pedestrians and the roadways safe, taking small steps such as educating drivers about the Safe Passing Law and having e-bike rodeos at the schools coupled with evaluating appropriate ordinances, such as the e-bike ordinance I proposed, will help keep the community safe.

What do you believe is the most important concern to address when implementing a project such as the multi-million dollar proposed improvements to Houlihan-Sid Fay Fields?

The most important concern is that the residents are fully apprised of the project and its scope. For anyone who has ever taken their kids to Sid Fey, you know that upgrading the parking situation was long overdue.

Indeed, it is shocking that it has taken this long for that to occur, but it is important to note that the actual playing fields are not being upgraded or improved.

So, there have still been no field improvements in town.

Additionally, the progress of any such project needs to be strictly monitored to ensure that benchmarks are hit and that the project progresses within its expected timeline. For example, as the One Westfield Place project moves forward, we need a Town Council willing to hold the developer to the agreed-upon timelines and to explore any opportunity to re-evaluate the scope and cost of the project.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post? What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I genuinely respect every one of the candidates who have taken the time and made the effort to run for office here in Westfield. It is vitally important to our community that we have residents willing to put themselves out there to provide a needed service to our town.

However, given my background as a practicing attorney, I do believe that I offer a unique perspective for Town Council.

Aside from understanding the law, a major part of my job is collaborating with people who have different perspectives and negotiating to achieve a resolution. In addition, I also routinely confer with my clients regarding best practices for their businesses, whether it be employee manuals or document retention policies.

These are attributes and skills that will allow me to be an effective member of the Town Council.

I am also new to local politics and bring a fresh perspective and enthusiasm for bringing positive and viable change to Westfield. My opponent previously ran for council alongside the outgoing administration and has also been the chairperson of Westfield’s Recreation Commission.

In that time, the Edison Field Project promoted by that administration (or my opponent if you want to be more direct) was voted down after a referendum was forced, and no playing fields in this town have improved in over six years. While exploring sensible opportunities to increase field space in town is warranted, evaluating such opportunities should not be at the expense of taking rational steps to increase the viability of the playing fields we already have.

I believe that Mike Domogala’s plan to have the playing fields at our public schools maintained and managed by the Department of Public Works is a commonsense approach to increasing the number of usable playing fields in town immediately.

What's a motto you live your life by?

I am sure many people will have a profound motto or quote from some famous philosopher or historical figure. Mine comes from my father by way of Tony Lupien (former major leaguer and head baseball coach at Dartmouth College).

One time, I was struggling while pitching in a travel baseball game, and my coach (a.k.a., my dad) advised me to “Throw the ball hard.” This phrase has become a bit of a mantra for me in my life.

For me, “Throw the ball hard” means to always give your best, at all times and in every endeavor. That’s how I try to approach all that I do in my life, whether it be my job, my family, coaching, or running for council.

What does it mean to you to represent Westfield?

It would simply be an honor to represent Ward 3 on the Town Council. This process has been an overwhelmingly tremendous experience, allowing me to meet and connect with so many residents.

My son has tagged along with me on many occasions while I knocked on doors over the past few months, and being able to show him that hard work and dedication pay off would be amazing. But, regardless of what happens, I will forever be grateful for everyone who has encouraged and supported me along the way.

This is truly an amazing town.

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