Joe Krakoviak Launches Bid For West Orange Town Council: 2024 Election

WEST ORANGE, NJ — A former West Orange Town Council member is officially seeking another term: Joe Krakoviak.

Krakoviak recently announced that he is running for a council seat in the town’s 2024 non-partisan municipal election on Nov. 5. See Related: West Orange Town Council Race Heats Up (2024 Candidate List)

Krakoviak spent 10 years on the dais, including a stint as council president. He ran for West Orange mayor in 2022, getting 2,965 votes in a tight four-way race that was eventually won by Susan McCartney.

A business communications consultant, Krakoviak has worked as a financial journalist at The Wall Street Journal (stringer) and USA Today, and founded West Orange Grassroots, a non-partisan website providing transparency on municipal finances, redevelopment and council meetings.

Learn more about his campaign here.

Krakoviak – who is running on the slogan “Together, we can do better” – said he delivered 523 nominating petitions to the town clerk’s office in support of his candidacy.

“That indicates many residents remember my 10 years of council service positively, particularly my background in municipal finance and commercial real estate,” he told Patch.

Krakoviak said he is continuing to push for issues he has championed in the past, such as improved quality of life, fiscal responsibility and accountability, and “smart economic development.”

“We need to re-prioritize the budget to get our financial house in order so we can make West Orange an even better place to live and raise a family,” he said.

Krakoviak alleged that the town’s finances have “declined significantly” since he left the dais in 2020:

“Debt has skyrocketed 49%, up a breathtaking $56 million to $169.5 million in only three years. The town has borrowed at historically high interest rates. As a result, nearly 12% of this year’s budget spending – $11.6 million – is going to partially pay debt service. We’re not buying anything with this money, only paying for past spending. In the last three budgets, spending (called appropriations in the budget) rose has risen $23 million, up 25%, to $113 million. We’ve exceeded the state’s 2% cap on property tax increases twice and will likely do so again this year. This hurts property values – as you can see by the town’s tax base declining by nearly $100 million 2021-2023.”

“We need new council members who prioritize financial strength over reckless spending and borrowing as the most important way to make our town an even better place to live,” Krakoviak said.

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