This year, Councilpersons Phil Puglise and Arlene Festa are running without challenge, as typical for Totowa. Nevertheless, the governing body, for a little over a month, has been circulating around the borough to hear people out. As of Oct. 10, that survey was almost finished.

Councilman John Waryas said most everyone is positive, other than the occasional speeding and pothole complaint.

Waryas said home visits enable local leaders to get input from residents since many do not attend council meetings. While visiting, the council members also gave residents town reference booklets, courtesy of the Republican Club. He said the pamphlets list useful information, such as town department phone numbers and local government meeting dates.

Waryas said the door-to-door drive has been completed in little over a month, beginning shortly after Labor Day.

Puglise also commented on what residents have been telling him.

"One of the issues is the speeding. Then everybody was concerned about county taxes, and what they can do about that, because the county is killing them with taxes."

Puglise said the police department addresses speeding as much as resources allow.

"You can’t be on every street every night."

He added that county taxes fall out of the local governing body’s control.

The councilman said another repeatedly encountered topic is road resurfacing.

"People want to know when their street be paved, but we try to spread it out. We try to do a street in every district. We have six districts. We try to do as much as we can with what we put into the budget. Now you can only do so much."

Puglise said the door-to-door campaign is beneficial, since the entire council connects with Totowa.

"Everybody goes out, not just the two people that are running. All seven council people go out."

He added the governing body welcomes what is on people’s mind.

"If they do have something that they want to complain about, let us have it, but everyone was pleasant. Most people seem happy. They don’t have a lot of issues. That’s the impression we get."

Councilman Lou D’Angelo said the dialogues revealed that residents were pleased with the local government.

"I was really surprised. We had a positive welcome. I didn’t get one negative reaction."

D’Angelo said, despite a presidential election year with weighty matters, that residents were focused primary locally.

"They’re more concerned about the local stuff, the speeding and the taxes," he said, adding that regarding speeding, its an ongoing battle. "I don’t know if you ever are going to win the battle."

The councilman said the nearly complete Totowa tax revaluation was occasionally mentioned.

D’Angelo said the borough is in fine shape. He said the Coiro administration’s shrewd financial stewardship has maintained a healthy surplus, and will leave the borough debt free in a few years. He added the town is maintaining its appearance.

"We got a tree allocation now," he said, referring to a state greenery replacement package. "We’re paving quite a few streets. We’re doing the right thing for Totowa."

The councilman said, despite unopposed elections, the home visits are important in letting people know local government cares about what they think.

"It’s such a great thing to go door to door and see them face to face, so they know how we are and see we’re approachable."

D’Angelo also said the town wide sweep also brought a patriotic reminder to residents.

"We asked that they get out there and vote. It’s a crucial election. Every vote is going to count."