Welcome Bonte!

This weekend, we had the pleasure of trying the latest restaurant to open in town - Bonte Wafflerie and Cafe. It's located on South Orange Avenue, where Ambiance Jewelers used to be.

They've completed renovated the space and it's bright, airy and filled with the smell of waffles when you walk in the door. However, they don't just have waffles and also have a fairly extensive sandwich, panini and salad menu. The sandwich I got was very tasty and the waffle I shared with my daughter was great and a far cry from an Eggo waffle. They are still working out the kinks in the service, but everyone was extremely helpful and trying their best to accomodate people.

I wish them lots of success here in town.

While I haven't posted in this blog nearly as much as I would like recently, I also wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a very Happy Holiday!

I hope to post more frequently in the new year and I certainly welcome your suggestions on topics for discussion.

Luckiest Guy in the World

Last night I was made to feel like the absolutely luckiest guy in the world. My incredible wife, Amy, had been plotting for over 2 months to hold a Surprise 40th Birthday Party for me and last night was the grand event. I had absolutely NO idea this was in the works and I am still in shock.

We had been planning for a pretty low-key birthday celebration with my immediately family for next week, so I wasn't expecting anything when Sheena Collum suggested I meet her and some others at Bunny's after work on Friday. At 7pm, we all met, grabbed a booth in the back and hung out. Shortly afterwards, Sheena tells everyone that "Leslie has a band playing next door in the Bistro and she wants us to check it out". I tell everyone to go ahead, I would wait at the table and to call me if it was any good. They continue to insist that I come check it out and I finally relent. On the way over, I noticed a large number of familiar faces in Bunny's, but that's not terribly unusual on any given night.

I walk into the Bistro, see people standing around listening to a guy on an acoustic guitar and until I saw my daughter Stephanie running towards me (with Amy behind her) did it actually register that something was going on. As I looked around the room, I saw the most amazing group of people that I have had the privilege to call "friend" over the past years. It really was the most incredible feeling. I am so flattered that all these people came out for me and I had the best time spending the evening with them. THANK YOU!

Of course, I cannot mention the evening without gloating over the most incredible wife in the entire world - Amy. She told me later that she had been secretly planning this for over 2 months and she didn't miss a single detail - from the perfect location, to the perfect guest list to the perfect entertainment, it was a great night.

After all the "issues" of the past few weeks, it was so nice to spend a fun casual evening with the greatest bunch of people. I really am the luckiest guy in the world!

(For additional pictures: share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AaMWjdm5as2Sz)

We had a Ball

Last night was the first ever South Orange President's Harvest Ball to benefit the new South Orange Middle School After-School Enrichment Program. The event was held at SOPAC and was sold out with over 200 people in attendance. Most people were decked out very nicely in "festive attire" and everyone seemed to have a nice time for a great cause.


The evening began with a jazz band band, followed by remarks by the Event Chair, Karen Hartshorn Hilton, School Superintendent Brian Osborne and Village President Douglas Newman. We were then treated to two performances by the Middle School Choir and then "Walk the Dog" rocked the house for the rest of the evening.




It was great to see so many familiar faces, as well as many new ones come out celebrate South Orange and raise money for a good cause. We even had representation from Maplewood, with Mayor Profeta showing us his moves on the dance floor.

A big THANK YOU to the Event Committee, sponsors, donors and everyone who helped make this event happen. Let's hope this becomes an annual event.

Meet me tonight in Atlantic City

The past 3 days were spent down in Atlantic City participating in the NJ League of Municipalities Conference - an annual gathering of all of the governing bodies and Municipal Employees throughout New Jersey.

While I am sure many of the veterans of the conference use this as an excuse to party in Atlantic City, I did my best to attend as many sessions as possible to actually learn (go figure!). I attended sessions on:

• Politics Unusual – The Dollars and Sense of Humor in Government
• Downtown Revitalization in Tight Economic Times
• Avoiding A Collision at the Intersection of Records Management and Technology
• From Maintaining Decorum to Video Taping – Current Issues Affecting Municipal Meetings
• Newly Elected Mayors and Council Members Clinic on Ethics, Open Public Meetings, Open Public Records and Civility in Public Discourse
• Conflict Resolution for Municipal Officials – Managing Conflict Through Negotiations and Collaboration

I actually found the sessions to be rather informative and interesting, particularly to hear about the common issues that many other municipalities share. It was a worthwhile experience and I hope my colleagues on the Board and in Village Hall got as much out of it as I did.

New Jersey's Rock

We went to Night 8 of the ten-night stand of Bon Jovi at the new Prudential Center in Newark this week. I'm not an enormous Bon Jovi fan, but it seemed like a very Jersey thing to do and I wanted to see the new arena for myself.

I was very impressed with the Prudential Center - it feels so open and comfortable. I was a bit concerned about the parking & traffic based on all the hype I had read, but it turned out to be a total non-issue. We easily found parking on the street a couple blocks from the arena and from the time the band walked off the stage until we walked into our house it was a total of 25 minutes, including walking to the car.

It's a shame the area around the arena isn't terribly attractive right now, but I can see enormous potential for restaurants, bars etc for some gutsy investors who are willing to make the first move. I really hope the arena is successful and helps provide some long overdue rejuvenation to Newark. The potential (and convenience) of the area is huge for those of us in South Orange.

Here's hoping that Springsteen chooses the "Rock" when he returns to our area this Spring and shatters Bon Jovi's record 10-night stand.....unless of course he wants to make my life even more convenient and play at SOPAC!

New Kids on the Block

Some people anxiously await the Super Bowl...but I've always found Election Day to be far more exciting (although I will concede the commercials aren't as good). As always, it brings changes and this year, we have a new Assemblyperson with the election of South Orange's own Mila Jasey. In neighboring Maplewood, there is a new member of the Township Committee, Lester Lewis-Powder. And Monday night at the Board of Education, they appointed Sandra Karriem to fill a vacancy.

I have met each of these people briefly and think they will all bring great things to their respective positions. I urge them all to always remember who they are and to bask in the glory of victory now...because the political honeymoon will inevitably be as short lived as the promises people make to not drink as much at the next Super Bowl!

Congratulations to Mila, Lester and Sandra!

The tax man cometh

After 16 years since the last townwide revaluation, the Village is finally in the last stages of implementing new property tax assessments. This week, approximately 1/3 of the town received letters informing them of their new property values. The remaining letters will be sent out over the next week. As letters are mailed, the information is also being posted on the website of the 3rd party company that performed the assessments at: http://www.asinj.com/revaluation/current-revaluations/south-orange.htm

Anyone who has questions about the results can contact Appraisal Systems at 201-493-8530 Monday thru Friday from 9:30am-4:00pm to arrange a meeting. Meetings will be scheduled for mornings, afternoons, eveings and Saturdays from Nov 6th-Dec 20th.

Halloween in the Village

For the first time ever, I was able to enjoy the Village Halloween Festival and Parade this year with my 5-year old daughter. Everyone met in Spiotta Park for some games & entertainment and then the parade went down South Orange Avenue to Sloan Street where all the merchants provided candy for the kids.

It was a nice afternoon for everyone. The kids seemed to really enjoy themselves ...

and even some of the Adults got into the action.

Thank you to Main Street South Orange and the Chamber of Commerce for organizing this annual tradition!

Big Loss for the Village

We were recently informed of the retirement from the Village of one the hardest working people I have ever met. It is with great sadness that I want to share that Village Clerk Marj Smith will be retiring at the end of this year.

I have known Marj peripherally over the years through various dealings with the Village and always found her to be extremely reliable and professional to residents. However, once I became a Trustee, I really began to see the incredible work ethic, helpfulness and knowledge that Marj possesses about the Village. Marj was extraordinarily helpful to me (and my colleagues) as we got up to speed during out first weeks and months on the Board. Her extreme patience for all of us was truly impressive and greatly appreciated!

I have learned to count on Marj for her institutional knowledge and her amazing organizational skill to ensure that things get done properly. Marj is at the center of the sheer volume of hardcopy and electronic mail we each receive every week . Most people do not realize that Marj is also an Attorney and is generally responsible for drafting resolutions and proclamations, as well as manually transcribing the tapes of (extremely LONG!) BOT Meetings to produce accurate & timely meeting minutes.

If all that wasn't enough, Marj has been a devoted volunteer to the South Orange Resuce Squad, volunteering countless hours of her "spare" time to further help the community.

I am sure I have left off many other of Marj's accomplishments and talents, but I just wanted to wish Marj & her husband well in their new life. She should just know that things in South Orange will never be quite the same again.

Cities by the Bay

I've had several meetings in the Bay Area for my "other" job over the past few days which resulted in staying over the weekend and having the opportunity to do some exploring.

I've been to San Francisco several times before, but it's always fun to wonder around and explore further.  Over the past few days, I spent some time in North Beach and Cow Hollow in the city itself.  I also took a day trip down the Coast to Monterey, Carmel-by-the-sea and Santa Cruz.  It's interesting how totally different these towns are.

Monterey has a pretty touristy waterfront (Fisherman's Wharf and Cannery Row) plus a quaint historic town. 

Carmel is clearly a hangout for the Rich and Famous.  I passed by one house for sale that was $5.25 million, but other than it's location close to the beach didn't seem that impressive from the outside.  Another neighboring house was listed for $2.4 million for 1400 square feet.  The town itself was filled with shops like Coach, Tiffany etc.

Santa Cruz was the polar opposite with it's pretty sleazy "boardwalk" area that reminded me quite a bit of Seaside Heights.

I also drove through the beautiful Stanford campus and the equally impressive Palo Alto downtown, which seems to really get it right with an upscale mix of stores and restaurants, but also more moderate hangouts and services for the students.

It was a fun trip enjoying the scenery and amazing weather (I am glad I missed all the rain in NJ), but now it's time to come back home and return to "reality". 

California Dreamin'

Modern technology....picture above was taken from my cell phone camera & automatically posted to this blog remotely. Can't do that with an MOL blog. :)

Where it all began

I thought it would be interesting to have a place to comment on life in general and life as a South Orange Trustee, in particular. I hope to use this blog to share my thoughts and I welcome and encourage you to use this forum to share your thoughts and feedback with me, as well.

Probably the most frequently asked question I get (other than "What's going on with Beifus?") is "How time consuming is it to be a Trustee?". The answer: "Very!" However, so far, it has been one of the most incredible learning experiences of my life...learning so much about municipal government (how it works...and doesn't!), learning about people and learning about myself.

Although the job comes with no pay and plenty of frustrations, it's still an amazing adventure and a tremendous honor.

I thought it would be best to remember how it all began and hope that I (and my colleagues) can look back on the following video anytime things get contentious and remind ourselves how we all started (thanks to SOBETS for saving this clip for posterity):



Come join me on this ride...