By libby kesil
Staff Writer
On New Year’s Day, Joe Szostak will become something more than an ordinary concerned citizen. Last week Szostak surprised even himself by unseating incumbent Fair Haven Mayor William Leonard.
Running as an independent, Szostak topped his Republican opponent by a nearly 2-1 margin. The final tally was 1,482 votes for Szostak and 813 votes for Leonard.
As with any elected official today, Szostak puts fiscal matters at the top of his list of concerns.
One of the first ways he said the borough could better handle its fiscal responsibilities is through better planning. Lack of planning is one of the things that drove him to seek office in the first place, he said.
Concerning the current governing body, Szostak said its approach seems most often to be "bump into things and try to fix them."
He said, "I think there’s a better way to do it than that."
A significant step in improving the fiscal process, as well as the handling of other issues that confront the council, would be increasing the accessibility of the mayor and council members to the public, Szostak said.
"I want to be open. I want to be receptive, just like they were receptive to me in giving me their votes," Szostak said in regards to his constituents.
Eileen Rodriguez, Szostak’s campaign manager, said that his address, phone number and e-mail address were on every flier passed out during the campaign, and everyone was encouraged to contact him with questions about his position or views.
Szostak also said he wants to promote the arts in the borough, an area wherein he has much experience. In doing so, he hopes to help local businesses by refocusing the community’s emphasis from sports fields to Memorial Park and the downtown.
Szostak said the emphasis in the borough has been on sports, which he acknowledged is an important aspect of community recreation, but said there is a need for more arts and music, which would appeal to people like his second son, who is a commercial and comic book artist in San Francisco.
"Growing up in Fair Haven, there was nothing for him," said Szostak. "I would like to move more of the activities toward Memorial Park and our main street, which is River Road. Right now we’re all being pulled toward Green Acres and sports and so forth.
"I want to have a Festival of Art at Memorial Park this summer," he added.
Szostak said he has ideas for engaging the art and music community in his endeavors. He said local artists are already interested in hanging pictures on the fence at the park, and he has spoken to two dance instructors who will contribute dancers from their schools. Szostak said he plans to get in touch with the high school band instructor to get the jazz band to play.
"You can bring your blanket, listen to music, like the old times," said Szostak. "These will also be benefiting our business community because we’ll bring more traffic to this side of the town. They’re very happy about it. So it is part of the goal, the vision, the plan we lack in town."
Szostak said he wants to bring more levity to the governing of the borough.
"I believe a sense of humor will get me through the next four years. We’ll be laughing at the meetings for the next four years," said Szostak.
Szostak finds humor in Prunella, his pink flamingo lamp, which sits in his front window. It is an icon harkening back to his well-publicized clash with the borough’s Historic Preservation Society, which sought to mandate how residents decorated the exteriors of their homes. Szostak is heavily involved with the Concerned Citizens for Fair Haven, a group that protested the ordinance by placing pink flamingos on their lawns.
"It goes on at 6 in the evening and stays on till 10," said Szostak. "When I’m walking back from council meetings, I can spot it from the Sickles School," said Szostak. "A sense of humor is what we need. I attribute my good health to laughing and smiling."
"Yes, Prunella is like a guiding light on Willow Street," Rodriguez said.
"So I am a little peculiar, but that’s all right.. I enjoy myself that way," said Szostak.
Szostak said helping form the Concerned Citizens was his first crack at activism.
"After I retired, in came the historic preservation stuff, and that’s how I got active politically," he said.
He said that it made him feel "terrible."
"I felt like it was an invasion of my civil liberties. It was the regulation of aesthetics," recalled Szostak. "I thought my father came over here for the American dream, and in the next generation it was going to be taken away from us."
Szostak said that the Concerned Citizens had no strength at all except for the press and his pen, which he acknowledged at times was "vicious." He said that he would now like to make peace with those who were once the opposition.
"I’ve grown … mellower in my age, and I’m extending my hand out to these people now. The town is too small. We should join forces and move forward. That was a phase; that was a time and it passed."
Before he began his run for mayor, Szostak held a series of meetings, titled "Joe Listens," to hear and record the concerns of the borough residents.
Rodriguez said she met Szostak when she came to a "Joe Listens" meeting at his house. She had concerns about taxes and access to information.
"When you went up to borough hall, it wasn’t user-friendly. It was difficult to get information. Communication was another one of my pet peeves," said Rodriguez.
Rodriguez said that it was a few weeks later that she received a call from Szostak asking her if she would like to work on his campaign.
Szostak said he met nearly everyone in the borough during his door-to-door campaign, and proudly displays the well-worn sneakers he wore.
Szostak said that there was a lot of cooperation during his campaign from friends and neighbors, as well as others in the town.
Rodriguez and Szostak’s treasurer, Liz Witterschein, enlisted their sons to help distribute fliers, he said.
"These two women were on top of everything," said Szostak.
"It’s a great story," said Rodriguez. "He worked so hard, and everybody helped. We had people helping all over town. We couldn’t afford postage. People brought kids as we handed out door to door. People just offered help in any form that they could. Everyone gave what they could, either of their time or their money."
Szostak has three sons, David, 27; Philip, 30; and Martin, 32.
Szostak, who goes to NJ Devils hockey games with his son, is a hockey fan.
"Not that I am interested in sports, but for survival’s sake, I had to be," said Szostak. "When the Devils won that year, there was a shrine right over there with jerseys and shakers … so we’ve shared a lot together, my sons and I."
Szostak said that his sons are going to hold the Bible for his swearing in on Jan 1.
He said that he and the others involved in the campaign are still euphoric over the victory.
"It was a happy night, and people are still up," said Szostak.
"It’s great for the town," said Rodriguez.
Szostak said that he had no idea that he would win until 8:30 p.m. election night.
"That’s when the news broke. Unbelievable. I thought I would lose by a small margin," he recalled. "It was a special day for us. It was a victory for everyone. We were the underdogs in town. We had no voice."
Szostak acknowledged that things are already beginning to change. He said he recently met with Rush Holt regarding funding for the dredging of McCarter Pond. He said that he sat at the head of the table, as opposed to the last row in the back of the room, where he usually sits at council meetings.
According to Szostak, his campaign button was red and white for his Polish heritage, but there was also another reason for the color scheme.
"Red and white make pink," said Szostak, laughing.
William Leonard did not return several phone calls seeking comment for this story.