The community of West New York was surprised Tuesday night when longtime Mayor Sal Vega and his Board of Commissioners lost their re-election bids to a band of largely political newcomers led by local doctor Felix Roque.
After the town’s high taxes spurred Roque to begin a thwarted recall effort against Vega two years ago, Roque continued his political involvement, putting together a slate of candidates to take Town Hall.
In West New York’s form of government, voters elect five commissioners to run the town, and that group elects one of them mayor.
Roque said on Wednesday that he will be the mayoral choice when his slate takes office this coming Tuesday.
The West New York election results turned out to be a surprise for many in the community. Felix Roque had the highest vote total, with 3,763.
Count Wiley had 3,236, Caridad Rodriquez had 3,349, FiorD’ Aliza Frias had 3,219, and Ruben Vargas had 3,215.
Just behind them, Mayor Silverio “Sal” Vega had 3,137, Michele Fernandez-Lopez had 2,809, Lawrence Riccardi had 2,864, Albert Rodriguez had 2,830, and Gerald Lange had 2,802.
Independent candidate Ercides Aguasvivas got a mere 238 votes.
New leaders in Town Hall
Tuesday night, at Roque’s 60th Street headquarters, his supporters chanted repeatedly, “Llego papa,” which means “Dad has arrived.”
“We are going to make a difference,” Roque announced after learning he had won. “Your children can now have the same dreams I had as a kid”
Count Wiley asked the crowd of supporters “what do you want? What do you have?” while the crowd shouted “freedom!”
Roque and Wiley continually thanked God for the victory.
Walking to Town Hall
Roque and his slate and followers then walked to Town Hall, where Vega and his supporters had been counting votes earlier in the evening. But Vega had already left.
Initially Roque was not allowed up the steps to address the people, but soon, the police allowed him to climb the steps.
A Town Hall worker came outside and read the results aloud.
“Tomorrow we are going to have a party,” shouted Roque to his supporters. “God is great.”
He added, “I was told I won, but you truly won. You made me win. I am excited for the people. The people put me on this mission, and I spearheaded the movement.”
“These whole three years I did it for the people,” Wiley said. “I put my heart and soul into this and I am glad it did not go in vain. I am happy with the outcome.”
Ruben Vargas said, “I feel great to liberate the people from the last administration, where crime was sky high.”
A changing of the helm
The newly elected commissioners will be sworn Tuesday, May 17 at 12 p.m. at West New York Town Hall.
Roque said that his goals for the future include lowering taxes and cutting the crime rate.
Vega spokesman and political consultant Paul Swibinski said Wednesday that he believes the results can be attributed to “February 2009 when the town needed to raise taxes. Nothing could have repaired the damages of the taxes, but it is part of a democracy. We congratulate the Roque team in running a good campaign. We will cooperate during transition for it to run smoothly for the best interest of the people of West New York.”
Other sources said that the county’s political machine, the Hudson County Democratic Organization, did not come through to help Vega fend off Roque’s challenge.
Roque Campaign Manager Joe Demarco said, “We always believed we could do it. Those voters that wanted to vote, we made sure they had an opportunity. We had great passion and the people’s support to help us during the elections.”
He said that the supporters who were involved in the recall effort were involved in the win.
