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.