It is with great sadness and great pride that we complete our final Board of Trustees meeting tonight with Doug Newman as our Village President. Sadness, of course, because we are losing our leader and someone who has been a great inspiration to many. Of course, I often disagreed with Doug as he did with me. However, he always managed to keep his cool and work calmly to find a workable compromise to almost any issue.
As anyone who watched these meetings or got to know Doug quickly saw, he truly does know something about everything. (although he sometimes would like you to think he knew everything about everything) His grasp of facts, figures and infinite details for a wide variety of critical issues that were happening at any given time is incredible. Watching Doug navigate through the issues in excruciating detail, even into the wee hours of the morning, was exhausting, yet impressive. Yet, I would often awaken the next morning after a late Executive session to find numerous additional emails from Doug that were written even after the meeting or before I had awaken. Doug is never one to toot his own horn, but he literally did work for the Village 24 x 7 these past 4 years.
However, it is difficult for anyone to sustain that level of commitment for anything, so it wasn't a huge surprise when Doug announced he was not going to run again so he could regain his life and focus his energy elsewhere.
I have great pride for having served with him and the things that have been accomplished under his leadership these past 4 years. When I think back to the way things were just 4 years ago, it was a very different Village – just looking around the room here, we have a new Clerk, a new attorney and a new Director of Recreation. Meetings are more focused, agendas and ordinances are posted online in advance of the meetings and we always announce Executive Session agenda items publicly. We also rarely have long lines of residents standing at the podium to complain about issues - although that is partly because many of those complainers are now sitting up here on the dais. Looking around town, there are many things that have happened on Doug's watch - Eden Gourmet is open and thriving, the Firehouse renovation is complete, and the first phase of the River Greenway is completed. While Doug cannot take direct direct credit for these items, just 4 years ago, we thought these were all "Coming Soon" and they are now all realities.
There are so many memorable events and activities I shared with President Newman over the past 4 years, from literally measuring streets for commuter parking spaces with a tape measure, to attending ribbon cuttings for new businesses, to hosting Mock BOT Meetings with the Cub Scouts to probably one of Doug's most enjoyable tasks – establishing the Community Garden. Of course, we have also had our share of challenges – from potential layoffs of employees, to a very public issue over a private conversation between 2 Trustees, to "flash mobs", to continuously scrutinizing the budget to mitigate the insane tax burden we all bear. However, through it all , Doug has provided leadership and remained focused on doing everything he could, solely for the benefit of all residents.
As we end a Chapter in South Orange history, I may be biased, but I can honestly say that South Orange is a better place than it was 4 years ago. It truly does "take a village" to make things happen – from all the employees, to the residents, to all of us up here, to the business owners. We should all be proud of our town and be thankful for the endless time and energy that Doug Newman contributed over the past 4 years. It has been an honor to serve with him and I thank him for his service to our community.
