WESTFIELD — Last week, eight candidates vying for four, four-year terms on the Westfield Town Council stepped to the dais to hash out their platforms as part of The Westfield Leader’s annual candidates’ forum.

The debate, held in the council chambers at Town Hall, attracted dozens of supporters from both sides of the aisle.

This year’s election marks the first time since 2019 that all four wards have had an open seat.

Democrat incumbent Emily Root (who was first elected to fill the remaining year of an unexpired term last November l) is seeking her first fulllength term against Republican challenger Todd Saunders. Wards 2 and 3 will both finish out this election season with new representation, with first-run candidates Erika Vargas-Garrison (Democrat) and Michael Armento (Republican) vying for the Ward 2 seat and Republican Michal Domogala and Democrat Dawn Nichol-Manning both hoping to win over the voters in Ward 3. In Ward 4, Democrat incumbent Scott Katz (first elected in 2019) is seeking reelection against Republican challenger David Kiefer.

On Thursday, the candidates each had the opportunity to weigh in on a number of local issues ranging from responsible spending and tax increases to crime, public safety and traffic.

Throughout the course of the evening, however, candidates from both parties repeatedly turned the conversation back to two items in particular — the turf field installation at Edison Intermediate School and the One Westfield Place redevelopment project.

When asked how they planned to vote on the upcoming Edison referendum, Ms. Root, Ms. Vargas-Garrison, Ms. Nichol-Manning and Mr. Katz all said they planned to vote to move the project forward.

“This project addresses a longstanding capacity issue that has been impacting our community for decades,” Ms. Vargas-Garrison said, adding that the project also will serve to “improve the neighborhood’s stormwater infrastructure.”

Mr. Saunders, Mr. Kiefer and Mr. Armento, meanwhile, said they would be voting against the project, citing a preference for natural grass, environmental challenges and the installation’s $11.8-million price tag as their respective primary concerns.

“There is no accountability. This project was not well-vetted. The cost of the project is now two to three million dollars more than was previously quoted, and a lot of issues like traffic and parking have still not been addressed,” Mr. Armento said.

Mr. Domogala did not clearly indicate which way he intended to vote, but did say he supported the referendum in general terms.

“I believe that if a project hits a particular dollar amount, we should be able to vote on it,” he said.

The candidates also expressed somewhat polarized opinions when it came time to discuss future community development, PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreements and One Westfield Place.

The Republican candidates collectively shared their opposition to the recently-approved mixed-use project, citing overdevelopment, a lack of governmental transparency and negative community impact among their chief concerns.

“The biggest problem is that the PILOT agreement is not contributing to the school budget,” Mr. Domogala said. “That is something that certainly could have been worked into these calculations during the council’s initial conversation, and it just wasn’t done.”

Mr. Kiefer, meanwhile, said that while he would be able to get behind a “more moderate and responsible approach to downtown redevelopment,” the current project and its subsequent financial agreements were not something he could support.

“Part of the justification that our mayor used to deem the town is in need of rehabilitation was to point to the dated sewer system, and I couldn’t agree more,” he said, “but they haven’t done anything about it. This kind of over-development is only going to lead to more flooding and drainage issues.”

Mr. Saunders echoed similar sentiments. “Our infrastructure is over one hundred years old,” he stated. “We have flooding; we have terrible intersections. We’ve got a lot of areas that need updating. I don’t understand how adding 900 more residential apartments into this situation will fix anything.”

The Democratic candidates, meanwhile, unilaterally showed their support for One Westfield Place, touting its deed-restricted housing options, its proposed community amenities and the various public, traffic and infrastructure improvements that are scheduled to be implemented with the project’s PILOT program as major benefits.

“I think the biggest challenge surrounding One Westfield Place right now is trying to reduce myths and information,” said Ms. Root, who voted to approve the project earlier this year.

“PILOT programs are not just tax breaks,” said Mr. Katz. “They are a transformative development tool used in many towns throughout the State of New Jersey.”

Ms. Nichol-Manning said that while she is in favor of both One Westfield Place and its approved PILOT, any such future agreements will need to be carefully considered on a “caseby- case basis.”

“PILOTS can be conditionally supported in certain circumstances,” she said, “but all of the ramifications need to be carefully considered ahead of time.”

The evening took a slightly contentious turn when Mr. Katz chose to reference Mr. Saunders’ personal finances in response to a question about the town’s lack of moderately-priced starter homes.

“I don’t quite understand how so many 32-year-olds can buy a $3.2million-dollar house,” Mr. Katz said, before looking at Mr. Saunders and adding, “I’m not naming any names.”

Though Mr. Katz apologized for the comment during his closing statement, Mr. Saunders later issued a public statement calling the remark “premeditated, malicious and inappropriate.”

The debate was livestreamed by TV 36 and can be found in its entirety on both The Westfield Leader and the Town of Westfield Facebook pages.