Demarest Deserves Better

Demarest Deserves Better Transparency

Where our facts come from

Every fact on this site, and the public record that backs it.

Taxes, public decisions, and community resources

[1] Average residential property-tax bills

New Jersey’s published figures put Demarest’s average residential property-tax bill at $26,112 in 2025, compared with $24,741 in 2024. The difference between those reported averages is $1,371, or about 5.5%. These are averages across residential properties, not the increase on every household’s bill. They describe the total property-tax bill. In the 2025 statewide table, Demarest ($26,112) ranks third behind Tavistock ($38,393, three homes) and Millburn ($26,298), and first in Bergen County ahead of Tenafly ($25,128) and Alpine ($23,291).

The percentage is calculated from the two published amounts. A two-year comparison does not establish a longer-term trend or the reason for the change. The ranks compare every municipality’s published average. Tavistock reports three residential properties. In 2025 Demarest’s average was $102 above Mantoloking’s, the next in the state.

[2] Audit corrective action plan

Demarest’s public archive lists Resolution 150-26, titled “Corrective Action Plan for 2025 Audit.”

The attachment is a scanned document whose detailed recommendations were not readable in this review. A repeated recommendation is not proof of misconduct, missing money, or an issue remaining unresolved today.

[3] Zoning at 232 County Road

Demarest’s published zoning map records an amendment through Ordinance 1174-26 on March 12, 2026. The ordinance text submitted for Planning Board consistency review allows a maximum of seven townhomes in two buildings at Block 63, Lot 5, and requires one affordable unit that is not age-restricted, plus a fractional-unit subsidy payment.

Adoption is supported by the zoning-map record. The detailed figures above were read in the consistency-review version. Zoning permission does not establish demolition, site-plan approval, construction, or occupancy. A formal historic designation for this property has not been verified.

[4] Railroad station lease

The Borough’s archive identifies Resolution 196-25 as an award of a lease of the train station. Demarest’s 2026 newsletter describes the intended use as a café and restaurant. At the November 10, 2025 meeting, the mayor said the lease was still being negotiated. At the January 5, 2026 reorganization meeting, he reported that the lease had been signed and said the restaurant would open this year.

A signed lease and a stated plan to open do not establish an opening date, current operation, or the displacement of senior programming.

[5] Railroad station history and community use

The Demarest Railroad Depot was built in 1872 and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The New Jersey Historic Trust describes its use as a community meeting place. Demarest’s 1983 master-plan reexamination also described the building as a senior citizens center at that time.

Historical use does not establish the location or schedule of current senior programs, or that the lease ended any particular program.

[6] Resident questions and public discussion

The November 10, 2025 minutes record residents raising concerns about traffic, flooding, trees, alternatives, and information sharing concerning 232 County Road. The same minutes record officials’ responses about legal constraints and their opposition to the proposal then under discussion. They also record questions about the station lease and public input.

Minutes establish that particular concerns and responses were recorded. They do not establish that all residents agreed, that there was no public discussion, or that every factual assertion made by a speaker was correct. The proposal discussed in November 2025 should not be confused with the later seven-unit ordinance.

[7] 2026 general-election information

New Jersey’s general election is Tuesday, November 3, 2026. The voter-registration deadline is October 13. Early in-person voting runs October 24 through November 1. Election Day polling hours are 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. The state lists September 19 as the start of mail-ballot mailing for the general election.

Housing and redevelopment

[12] Former bank at 129 Hardenburgh Avenue

Demarest published a July 2024 Planning Board hearing notice concerning redevelopment planning that included 129 Hardenburgh Avenue, Block 23, Lot 15. The January 12, 2026 Council minutes discuss the Borough’s purchase of the former bank property and record the mayor confirming that the Borough intends to sell the building as part of a redevelopment. In the same minutes, the Council President said she had learned “what I am legally allowed and not allowed to share with the public regarding the specifics of any of our talks with potential developers.” She also said, “The public will be informed as each step is taken.” Resolution 052-26, adopted January 26, 2026, states that the Borough owns the property and conditionally designates a Jersey City developer as its redeveloper. Resolution 115-26, adopted June 8, 2026, authorizes the mayor to sign a redevelopment agreement with that developer. It states that the developer submitted an offer to purchase the property and proposes a mixed-use residential and commercial project.

Neither resolution states a sale price or a number of homes. The records reviewed do not show that the agreement was signed or that a sale closed. State law permits closed sessions for negotiations, and the limits the Council President described do not establish wrongdoing. This property is separate from 127 Hardenburgh Avenue.

[13] Affordable housing at 127 Hardenburgh Avenue

Demarest’s 2025 Housing Element and Fair Share Plan reports approval of a 17-unit, entirely affordable development at 127 Hardenburgh Avenue: eight family rental units, five supportive-housing units, and four age-restricted units. It records Planning Board approval on February 1, 2023, memorialized April 11, 2023.

The plan’s construction and occupancy dates are forecasts made in 2025, not confirmation of current progress.

[14] Housing mix and planning context

The same 2025 plan identifies four existing age-restricted affordable homes at Alpine Country Club/Bellaire Drive. A planning credit is not always an additional physical home.

This is a historical planning record; later amendments may supersede its proposed mechanisms.

[15] Townhomes at 95 County Road

The 2025 housing plan reports approval of an eight-unit townhouse development, including two affordable units, at 95 County Road.

The approval is not a current occupancy report.

[16] The Woodlands

Demarest’s February 28, 2022 Council minutes record discussion of a $1 million affordable-housing contribution requirement for The Woodlands and receipt of a related check.

Current completion and occupancy are unverified here.

Photographs, public spaces, and senior programs

[17] Campaign photographs

Campaign photographs can document visible conditions at the place and time photographed. They do not establish how long a condition existed, what caused it, whether repairs were planned, or whether programs were available elsewhere.

  • Supplied by the campaign, Photographs on this site.

These are campaign materials, not independent inspection reports.

[18] Wakelee Field and volunteer recreation

The Demarest Athletic Association describes itself as a nonprofit volunteer organization. Its FAQ states that the playing fields are Borough-owned and maintained, and describes volunteer work preparing fields and improving fencing and batting cages.

This supports recognition of both Borough maintenance and volunteer contributions. It is not an independent condition assessment of Wakelee Field’s seating, paths, buildings, or accessibility.

[19] Davies Arboretum

The Master Gardeners of Bergen County describe Davies Arboretum as an 18-acre property purchased by the Borough in 1973 with Green Acres funds. Their volunteer-site description identifies an old farm icehouse remnant and gardening work at the property. Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Bergen County also lists Davies Arboretum among Master Gardener volunteer activities.

These sources establish a community resource and volunteer involvement. They do not establish neglect, lack of use, or an accessibility violation.

[20] Existing senior services

Demarest’s website lists a Golden Seniors Association Board of Trustees. Its stated responsibilities include senior activities supported by Council appropriations and grants.

This verifies an existing organization and stated responsibilities, not the current frequency, attendance, or range of programs.

Candidate backgrounds

[8] Ray Cywinski, candidate for Mayor

Ray Cywinski has lived in Demarest for 44 years. He served the town as mayor for eight years and as a councilman for more than twelve, and he has sat on boards, committees, and nonprofits here and across the state, including a national board that works with members of Congress and state legislators. In his career he managed a workforce much like a public works department, from snow plowing and road repair to landscaping, and he oversaw both the technical and the financial side of major projects. He owns no property in Demarest except the home he shares with his wife, has no business interests here, and has no family on the Borough payroll. Ray is running to put the budget back under line-by-line review and to get the town asking residents before it decides.

[9] Steve Tillack, candidate for Council

Steve Tillack has lived in Demarest for eleven years with his wife, Rhoda, and their four children. He is president of the Demarest Nature Center, a volunteer driver for the Demarest Ambulance Corps, and a founder of Boy Scout Troop 20. He spent more than thirty years in finance and business roles at global companies including L’Oréal, Unilever, and Procter & Gamble, where he managed large budgets and found savings without cutting what mattered. Steve is running to be a consensus builder on Council, and to restore the downtown and green spaces Demarest already has rather than replace them with something that could be anywhere.

[10] Ted Martens, candidate for Council

Ted Martens has lived in Demarest for 45 years, and his three children went through Demarest public schools from kindergarten to twelfth grade. He is a retired partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, a certified public accountant, and a forensic accountant. He served on the Demarest Council from 1996 to 1999 and chaired its Finance Committee. He is a retired lieutenant colonel in the New Jersey Army National Guard, where he served as a combat engineer officer, and he is a lector at St. Joseph’s Church. Ted is running to go through the Borough’s budget the way he went through his clients’ books, fix the accounting control problems the auditor has already flagged, and make sure residents hear about big decisions before the vote, not after.

[11] Anita Gatto, candidate for Council

Anita Gatto has lived in Demarest for 45 years and raised her two children here, both of whom attended Demarest public schools. She served on the Demarest Council from 2000 to 2006, including as Council President and Police Commissioner. She is a senior sales associate with Corcoran Infinity Properties in Alpine, and earlier worked at CBS Television in live broadcast and air control. She has served on the Northern Valley Regional High School principal’s advisory committee and the Bergen Board of Realtors Ethics Committee. Anita is running for the one-year Council seat to build programs and places where seniors, families, and kids can come together, and to bring the same care to every part of this ticket’s plan.

  • Supplied by the candidate, Biography and expanded responses.