Midterm Year-in-Review

It's hard to believe that this Wednesday, May 21, 2008 marks the 1 year anniversary since being sworn in as a Trustee in South Orange. It's even harder to believe that my term is now half over. There are many times it feels like nothing has been accomplished other than countless hours of meetings and literally thousands of emails. However, in preparation for the Village President's State of the Village report which is "coming soon", I started to itemize things I have personally been involved in or accomplished and it has been reassuring to realize how much has actually been done:

• Held numerous neighborhood meetings with residents around Grove Park & Fairview Ave area to address their concerns
• Implemented prohibition against parking from Sunset to Sunrise on Park Place
• Explored possibility of automated traffic light cameras at the Public Safety Committee
• Had the Police implement enhanced enforcement of traffic violations in Sloan Street area
• Had the Police shift the hours of SOPAC security detail to later in the evening to better coincide with SOPAC/Clearview hours
• Worked on the Old Stone House Task Force which created a recommendation report focusing on 3 options: Adaptive Reuse for Commercial use, Conveyance and Demolition
• Implemented Project Status report which is posted to the Village website after each Conference Agenda Meeting to better inform the public about ongoing projects in town: http://southorange.org/StatusReport/VillageStatusReport.pdf
• Held first Allcomers/Newcomers Day to encourage Volunteerism in town
• Performed a review of all Village Committees and eliminated over a dozen inactive committees
• Finalizing Village-wide Volunteer Directory which identifies all Village and private volunteer opportunities in town
• Assisted in the formation of the Village Planting Initiative to help beautify the downtown area.

In addition, we have also seen great new businesses like Eden Gourmet, Bonte and Robyn Ross open their doors and many new business poised to open in the next couple months. We have seen the completion of the new employee parking lot at 3rd/Valley, the long-awaited demolition of the adjacent MAP building, the reconstruction of the Sloan Street Parking Lot, completion of the initial phase of the River Corridor project and initiation of an RFP to begin a full Visioning Process for the downtown later this year.

I've also had the honor to attend Celebrate South Orange, Village Halloween Parade, President's Harvest Ball, Governor Corzine Town Hall Meeting, Be About Peace Forum: Can Liberals & Conservatives Find Common Ground on Iraq, South Mountain students assembly on anti-idling, Baseball Parade, Holocaust Remembrance Service, Annual Rahway River Cleanup, Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting, Main Street Annual Meeting and Montrose in May

Despite some other "distractions" and the frustration of the continued failure of the Beifus site, I am proud that we have managed to move forward and have actually made real progress towards alot of the issues we outlined in our platform last year:(http://www.pureprogress.org/platform.php)

So, now that I have reached my "midterm", I frequently am asked if I will be running again next year. The answer simply is that "I really don't know". Certainly, alot depends on my obligations with my "real job" and my family. I also don't want to commit either way at this point so my day-to-day decisions are not tainted by politics. I really do try to give serious consideration to every single vote and don't want to consider whether or not something is "politically correct", but rather whether or not something is "right" and in the best interest of the Village and the taxpayers of the Village. That was my mindset one year ago and I am proud to say that I feel just as strongly about that today.

Coming Soon...Really!

For many years, "Coming Soon" was the motto of South Orange. I am so pleased to see that after so many years, the opening of Eden Gourmet has become a reality and with it, a tremendous sense of pride has been brought to South Orange. It's hard to explain all the excitement over a "market" to people who don't live here, but the eyesore of the former Shop Rite, coupled with the endless delays and simply the lack of good grocery options has been a sore subject for all Villagers for a long time. It is so refreshing to visit this gourmet market for a truly special and pleasant shopping experience. The owners have thought of virtually everything to please customers and if there is anything that they overlooked, they are more than willing to listen to customers to try to accommodate their needs.

The other amazing facet of this store is what a sense of community it has fostered. It is virtually impossible to visit the store and not run into someone that you know. In addition, it has attracted countless people from surrounding towns and other local merchants have commented on the increased pedestrian traffic this has brought to their businesses.

Also, recently in the old "Gio Tech" space, Robyn Fields and her husband Ross have opened Robyn Ross, an upscale women's clothing and fine jewelry store. The couple, Glen Ridge residents, came to South Orange for dinner one night and decided to locate their business here because of the transformation they saw happening in South Orange.

They are not the only ones, because soon there will be even more additional businesses to visit, as well. Coming in June (hopefully), Kitchen ala Mode will be opening in the old "Yeva Hair Salon" space. This store, owned by resident Ben Salmon, will carry unique merchandise for the kitchen and is a perfect compliment for Eden Gourmet.

Coming in July (hopefully), Sparkhouse: Creative Kid’s Stuff will be opening in the old "We've Got Movies" space. The store also owned by a Village resident will carry a variety of merchandise for kids to help them explore their creativity. This store certainly will be a welcome relief for those always scrambling for a last minute birthday present.

Also coming in June or July (hopefully), Village Trattoria of South Orange will be opening in the old "Dancing Goat" space. The restaurant is the latest expansion from the owners of the Village Trattoria that already exists in Maplewood and is well known for their fantastic Italian food at reasonable prices for the whole family.

I wish all of these merchants tremendous success and am very excited that they are all "Coming Soon" (really!)

Never Again!

Last night, I was honored to join other elected officials from South Orange/Maplewood, Senators Menendez and Lautenberg, local Clergy and several hundred residents in the 31st Annual Interfaith Holocaust Remembrance Service. We began with a small gathering in Grove Park and the crowd steadily grew as we marched toward Congregation Oheb Shalom, which hosted the service this year.

The service was a very moving tribute to the memories of the 11 million people (6 million of them Jews) who were systematically slaughtered by the Nazis during World War II. There were numerous Guest speakers from various representatives of the State of NJ, including both of our United States Senators. One of the most moving portions of the evening was during the candlighting that was done by numerous survivors who endured unspeakable atrocities and righteous gentiles who risked their lives to help others.

For me, the evening was personal, as well. My Grandparents were fortunate to come to this country in 1937 from Poland to escape the rising anti-semitism. For a while after they arrived, they corresponded via letters with their siblings and other relatives back in Europe, but after a period of time, the communication ceased. To this day, we have never been able to locate them and can only assume they were victims themselves of the vicious Nazi monsters.

I was very impressed with the enormous turnout that the Remembrance Services received last night. I would certainly like to thank all the members of the Committe that planned and coordinated such a moving tribute. As many people have said, each year we lose more and more survivors and remembering the atrocities becomes even more important for all of us to ensure that NEVER AGAIN shall the world see such hatred and destruction.