Happy Holidays & Happy New Year

Hard to believe another year is coming to an end. It is amazing how the years seem to go by faster each year. I think 2008 will be remembered as an interesting year for both South Orange and the Country.

Across the Country, 2008 will be remembered most as the year people celebrated the historic election of Barack Obama and the sense of hope an optimism he brings. At the same time, 2008 will also be remembered for the meltdown of the economy and the painful aftermath after so many years of greed and excess.

In South Orange, we celebrated the long awaited opening of Eden Gourmet (plus Kitchen a la Mode, Robyn Ross, Sparkhouse Kids, Rita's, Village Trattoria and a number of others). The Village saw its first new Village Attorney, as well as its first new (Acting) Village Clerk in many many years. The Village also began to plant the seeds for our future over the next 10-20 years with the start of a series of comprehensive Village Planning "Conversations" with the community to help chart a course for where we want to go.

In 2009, we can look forward to having this process finish up, HOPEFULLY along with the the long overdue (understatement of the year) construction of our historic firehouse.

I just want to wish everyone a very Happy Holiday and all the best for a very Happy New Year!

Democracy in Action

For anyone who has read my previous blog posts on the "Parking Woes", we had a very interesting BOT meeting last night where the proposed Ordinances finally came to a head, a public hearing was held and a decision was reached.

For the first Ordinance, it was proposed to limit parking to 2 hours from 8am-noon on streets within a 3/8 mile radius of the train station. At the meeting last night, over 20 residents stood up to speak their mind and share their opinion on the Ordinance. While the majority of residents favored the Ordinance, there were some who felt their street should be excluded from the restrictions and there were some who felt the Ordinance didn't go far enough. In the end, the Ordinance passed by a vote of 4-2. The new restrictions will now go into effect in January.

For the other big Ordinance of the night, it was proposed to create residential permit parking on a number of streets that did not immediately abut homes or businesses. This time over 20 residents stood up to unanimously oppose this plan - mostly on the grounds they did not want the parking in their residential neighborhoods, but also on the fear of safety issues and the fact that there does not seem to be a crushing demand for parking at Mountain Station. In the end, there was no motion to move this Ordinance forward and it died.

I completely understand and respect the concerns of all the residents who came forward to speak on both of these Ordinances. I also certainly appreciated the time everyone took to sit through a very long meeting in order to be heard. I certainly learned alot by listening to what everyone said. I was particularly impressed at how professional and respectful everyone (both on the Board and at the podium) was towards each other. It just proves that people can disagree but do so in an adult manner.

I still feel that we desperately need additional commuter parking, however, I now feel we should focus that effort for South Orange station only and in areas which will have much less impact on the neighborhood, such as N. Ridgewood Rd (which already has bumper to bumper FREE daily parking) and Meadowbrook Lane (which has plenty of capacity - especially in the Winter).

I want to thank everyone who came out to the meeting to share their opinions and to participate in the process. While I'm sure not everyone walked away happy with the results, I am certain that everyone would have rather spent their evening elsewhere and I do think the process was fair. However, clearly we learned alot about how we can improve for next time.

Parking Woes - Part 3

As I posted previously, the Village is looking to try to alleviate the crushing demand for commuter parking for residents, while also trying to balance the concerns of residents who live in close proximity to the train station and where commuters are currently parking all day in front of their homes.

Several weeks ago, the first part of the equation was addressed with the passage of an ordinance on first reading to limit parking to 2 hours between 8am and noon on specific streets. Tonight, we are expected to address the second part of the equation with an ordinance on first reading to limit the following areas/streets to resident commuter parking only between 6am and 11am:

Vose Avenue - East side, beginning at a point 190 feet South of the prolongation of the southerly curb line of Montrose Avenue and extending 128 feet South therefrom.
Meeker Street - West side, beginning at a point 115 feet South of the prolongation of the southerly curb line of Mountain House Road and extending 348 feet South therefrom.
Clark Street - West side, beginning at a point 64 feet North of the prolongation of the northerly curb line of Meadowbrook Place and extending 656 feet North therefrom.
North Ridgewood Road - East side, beginning at a point 800 feet North of the prolongation of the northerly curb line of West South Orange Avenue and extending 128 feet North therefrom.
North Ridgewood Road - East side, beginning at a point 52 feet South of the prolongation of the southerly curb line of Mead Street and extending 260 feet South therefrom.
Ralston Avenue - South side, beginning at a point 30 feet East of the prolongation of the easterly curb line of Vose Avenue and extending 84 feet East therefrom.
Third Street - North side, beginning at a point 38 feet East of the prolongation of the easterly curb line of Church Street and extending 150 feet East therefrom.
Third Street - North side, beginning at a point 255 feet East of the prolongation of the easterly curb line of Church Street and extending 106 feet East therefrom.
Third Street - North side, beginning at a point 397 feet East of the prolongation of the easterly curb line of Church Street and extending 20 feet East therefrom.
Church Street - East side, beginning at a point 200 feet South of the prolongation of the southerly curb line of West South Orange Avenue and extending 106 feet South therefrom.
Prospect Street - West side, beginning at a point 32 feet South of the prolongation of the southerly curb line of Milligan Place and extending 184 feet South therefrom.
Prospect Street - West side, beginning at a point 32 feet South of the prolongation of the southerly curb line of Second Street and extending 20 feet South therefrom.
Academy Street - West side, beginning at a point 35 feet North of the prolongation of the northerly curb line of Second Street and extending 84 feet North therefrom.
Academy Street - West side, beginning at a point 62 feet North of the prolongation of the northerly curb line of Third Street and extending 172 feet North therefrom.

In addition, the East side of Meadowbrook Lane will also be restricted to resident commuter parking from November 15 through March 15.


This results in a net gain of:
66 resident commuter parking spaces for South Orange Station
52 resident commuter parking spaces for Mountain Station
45 "seasonal" resident commuter parking spaces along Meadowbrook Lane which is virtually equidistant to either station.

A visual representation of this is as follows (where red represents new 2 hour parking and green represents new commuter parking):

View Larger Map

Clearly, no solution is ever perfect, but this is a great start to putting a dent in the excessive waiting list that currently exists for commuter parking, while also addressing the quality of life concerns of homeowners.

It is expected that both ordinances will be heard together on second reading on Dec 15th, where a Public Hearing will be held. In the meantime, I'd love to hear your feedback.

Glory Days

It's a little more than 24 hours since Barack Obama was named as "President-Elect" and the significance and magnitude of this election still has not fully sunk in. While all the polls heading in to the election looked favorable, there is always uncertainty. However, watching the thousands of people gathered in Chicago last night, as well as the scene repeated across the world from Times Square to Asia was truly remarkable and historic. For the first time since the immediate aftermath of 9/11, it appeared as there was hope once again for the world to come together again. Even John McCain offered a well delivered and gracious speech in an inspiring tone that was absent from the campaign trail, but ironically reminiscent of the John McCain that most people initially learned to like & respect many years ago.

While the honeymoon will quickly fade, I have great hope that we are on the cusp of an amazing new chapter of American pride, prosperity and global respect. Let's all join together to support President Obama. Even in tough times, let us all remember the amazing feeling of hope and optimism we experienced together on November 4, 2008. If we don't squander this goodwill, this really can be the beginning of Glory Days.

Man at the Top

Man at the top says it's lonely up there
If it is man, I don't care
From the big white house to the parking lot
Everybody wants to be the man at the top

After 8 long years of the Bush Administration, in less than 48 hours we will hopefully have the final official news of our new President. I always find Presidential elections fascinating and far more exciting, interesting, not to mention MEANINGFUL than any Super Bowl, World Series or Stanley Cup. For weeks, I have been diligently following the polls at www.electoral-vote.com, the analysis at www.politico.com, the sensationalism at www.huffingtonpost.com as well as watching the pundits on MSNBC and CNN, and of course the satire on The Daily Show and SNL. It still baffles me when people say they aren't interested or are "undecided"...especially this year, when the difference could not be more stark on virtually all policies of substance and the stakes couldn't be greater - From the Environment to the Economy to the Supreme Court to America's standing in the World.

While certainly all the polls seem to be leaning towards Barack Obama, I hope people are not complacent and that they actually get out there and vote.

I certainly do not want to jinx things, especially after the fiascoes of 2000 and 2004, but I am cautiously optimistic that Barack Obama will win by a rather substantial margin. Based on the polls I have seen, I think it is fair to predict that Obama will get at least 348 Electoral votes and could get as many as 369, by winning North Dakota, Montana and pulling out a surprise in Georgia. In addition, I think Obama will get all the current "swing states" (Ohio, Indiana, Nevada, Colorado and Missouri) with the possible exception of Florida. If that happens, it'll be the largest electoral victory since Bill Clinton defeated Bob Dole in 1996.

Now - make sure you get out there and VOTE on Tuesday, so we can hopefully welcome President-Elect Obama on Wednesday!

Land of Hope and Dreams

Last Thursday night, the Village held the first "Community Conversation" around the future vision for our town. We had a decent turnout of over 100 people who initially met in the Little Theater of South Orange Middle School for an overview of the process from the Cecil Group - the Boston-based planning and design firm hired to facilitate and design the vision. After describing the overall process, everyone assembled broke off into 6 smaller groups in separate classrooms, each with a facilitator. In the room I was in, we went around the room introduced ourselves and stated our "vision" for the town, which was recorded on flip-charts by the facilitator. After everyone was done, each person was given 4 colored stickers and told to place the stickers on the flipcharts next to the idea(s) they liked the best. Finally, the votes were tallied and the 4 or 5 highest vote getters were named the winners. All groups then reconvened in the Theater where the "winning" ideas in each group were revealed to everyone.

Mark your calendars now for the next session on December 2, 2008 at 7:30pm in the SOPAC loft.

The objective of the next session will be to "Review the alternatives raised and discuss the different concepts and the opportunities and challenges they pose."

As new information is collected, it will be posted on the Village website at www.southorange.org/vision.

If you want to be added to the email list for notification of upcoming meetings, send an email to vision@southorange.org

Parking Woes - Part 2

At the Board of Trustees Meeting last night, the attempt to tackle parking issues continued. However, once again, I think that the cart is being put before the horse by trying to ban parking BEFORE additional parking for resident commuters is created. An ordinance was brought on First Reading (and passed by a vote of 4-2) which will limit parking to 2 hours between 8am and noon on both sides of the following streets:

Beech Spring Road From the intersection of North Ridgewood Road to a point 1100 feet west of the intersection.
Conway Court Entire Length
Edgewood Terrace Entire Length
Highland Road From the intersection of North Ridgewood Road to a point 785 feet west of the intersection.
Kingsland Court Entire Length
Kingsland Terrace Entire Length
Montague Place From Prospect Street to Tichenor Avenue
Raymond Avenue From Vose Avenue to Raymond Court
Redmond Road From the intersection of North Ridgewood Road to a point 475 feet west of the intersection.
Stewart Place From Vose Ave to train tracks
Tillou Road (North side) From a point 458 feet west of the intersection of North Ridgewood Road to a point 715 feet west there from.
Tillou Road (South side) From a point 485 feet west of the intersection of North Ridgewood Road to a point 715 feet west there from.
Village Road From Prospect Street to Tichenor Avenue
Walton Avenue From Edgewood Terrace to Ridgewood Road South

In effect, this ordinance will prohibit commuter parking on all residential streets within 3/8 mile of the South Orange Train Station.

I totally understand the desire of residents living on these streets who do not want commuters parked in front of their home all day. On the other hand, there are an enormous number of residents who NEED to get to work via the train and who do not live in walking distance of the station and for whom the jitney schedule is not practical.

As we saw when commuter parking was prohibited on Meadowbrook Lane, this type of broad prohibition simply pushes cars elsewhere to other streets, simply shifting the problem rather than solving it. I think a more comprehensive solution is needed BEFORE we prohibit parking. As Village President Newman discussed last night, there are numerous approaches underway:

1) Identify all streets within walking distance of the train station and allow resident street permit parking where there are no homes. Several months ago, Village President Newman, Trustee Rosner and I made such a walk and identified close to 200 parking spaces that could be made available immediately. We are now awaiting the Village Engineer's review of these streets. Once that occurs, and relevant ordinance are passed, resident commuter parking permits can be sold for these spaces.

2) Review the jitney schedule & route to see if more commuters can be accommodated. The jitney is a great resource. However for people who go into work very early or come home very late, the jitney is often not practical. We need to make sure the jitney is reliable and convenient for it to be more successful.

3) Continue to reach out to private entities to see if additional resident commuter parking can be identified. The Parking Authority has recently secured 25 spaces in the Our Lady of Sorrows parking lot (which is within walking distance of S.O Train Station) and 25 spaces in Temple Sharey Tefilo Israel parking lot (which is within walking distance of Mountain Station)

4) Review the Commuter Parking waiting list. Currently, there are approximately 700 people on the waiting list for South Orange commuter parking permits parking. However, when letters were recently sent to the oldest names on the list offering them permits, only approximately 1/3 responded positively, suggesting that a significant portion of the list is out of date with people who have moved away or no longer desire parking permits.

Finally, as I have stated in an earlier blog, the Parking Authority should review the current rates for commuter parking and consider raising the rates to help fund the jitney and to further reduce demand and the size of the waiting list.

I think if all of these solutions are pursued, we can make a real dent in the size of the commuter parking waiting list. Once we have made a real concerted effort to accomplish the above, then would it first be appropriate to proceed with the prohibition on parking now on the table. Since the steps above will take some time, we should suspend the prohibition on parking on Meadowbrook Lane for the Winter Months when there is limited recreational activity so we can do this right.

In the meantime, if you commute to New York via the train and require parking, if you do not already have a permit, be sure you are on the waiting list for a parking permit! If not, call the Parking Authority at 973-378-7715 x2037.

In the meantime, there will be a Public Hearing on Nov 24 on the proposed ordinance to ban commuter parking on the streets above. Come to Village Hall and let us know YOUR thoughts.

Living in the Future

In August, we awarded a contract to the Cecil Group of Boston to create a Downtown Visioning Plan to determine how our three business districts (South Orange Ave, Valley St, Irvington Ave) should evolve over the next 20 years. The selection process to choose the firm was undertaken by the Development Committee earlier this year and was quite extensive.

I know people have some fundamental questions:

1. How much will this cost?

The contract awarded is not to exceed $225,000

2. What is a Vision Plan?

This plan will focus on

• Land Use and Zoning Guidelines - zoning for specific future uses will be developed based on existing land uses.Key sites and alternative land uses will be identified.
• Design Vision – improvements will be identified for road access and parking,streetscape,and key public spaces such as parks and major buildings.
• Market Study – planners will assess demographics in South Orange and surrounding areas,historic and economic trends,as well as the existing and potential retail market.
• Traffic and Parking Study - current use and conditions will be compared with demand.

3. Didn't we just do a Vision Plan?

The last Vision Plan was done by the Atlantic Group back in 1994, prior to the arrival of Midtown Direct, which dramtically changed many facets of our town.

4. How do I provide input to the plan?

There will be 4 public meetings and workshops to provide residents, business and property owners, and other stakeholders a unique opportunity to get involved in planning from the ground up. The schedule so far is as follows:

Thursday, October 30th, 7:30 – 9:00 pm in the South Orange Middle School
Tuesday, December 2nd, 7:30 – 9:00 pm in the SOPAC Loft

For this process to be most successful, it is imperative that you come out to share your ideas and provide your input. Remember: IT TAKES OUR VILLAGE: Creating a community vision for South Orange

Cycling Stephanie!

There are certain memorable milestones as a parent that put you in such awe of your child as they develop. Today was one of those days as my 6 year old daughter, Stephanie, finally learned to ride a 2-wheeler on her own today. We had taken the training wheels off earlier this year and have been trying for a while to get her to learn to ride on her own, without much luck. Today, we went down to the new River Bikeway in South Orange and something finally clicked and she "got it"! By the end, she even managed to ride back and forth the length of the walkway without stopping or falling. I almost get the sense that I was more excited about this milestone than she was, but I am just so proud of her and so looking forward to being able to take family bike rides together. Now, hopefully the weather will stay nice for a while longer, before Winter sets in!

Slaughterhouse Why

At the Sept 22 BOT Meeting, County Executive DiVincenzo presented his plan to continue killing deer in South Mountain Reservation this Winter. Last year 213 deer were killed at taxpayer expense in the Reservation. In addition, the County admitted an additional 5 deer were shot and "not recovered", but left to suffer.

I have heard from at least one resident who witnessed the horror of a deer so badly wounded that one of his limbs was dangling from his body and it was bleeding profusely. At the meeting on Monday, I urged Mr. DiVincenzo to stop this senseless suffering and explore non-lethal means of controlling the deer population. Doing some very quick research online, I learned of some very successful programs for immunocontraception to control deer fertility that have been proven effective.

Immunocontraception is a very effective and inexpensive form of contraception that is delivered remotely by dart, which prevents fertilization. One of the most successful methods I found is a vaccine called PZP which has been used successfully in Connecticut, Maryland, NJ, NY, Ohio , VA and Washington. Two of the largest studies were performed on Fire Island, NY in conjunction with the Humane Society and National Park Service, as well as a study in Gaithersburg, MD where the birth rate for deer was cut by 72 percent with PZP.

In addition to the moral injustice of killing the deer, there is the financial objection that, according to the Star Ledger, the deer slaughter last year cost the taxpayers $60,000 for the killing of 213 deer. That works out to a cost of almost $300/deer. The implementation of an immunocontraception program is estimated to cost only around $60/deer according to some studies. Also, if done properly, an immunocontraception does not need to be done indefinitely each year, as with a hunt. Some studies have shown immunocontraception vaccines to still be effective as much as 5 years after injection.

Finally, if moral or financial reasons aren’t enough, there is the fact that hunting simply does not work as a sustainable solution to reduce or even control the deer population due to the principal of reproductive rebound. According to many documented studies, deer conceive multiple embryos, but the number of fawns born is directly related to nutrition and herd density. When herd density is temporarily reduced through hunting, there is reduced competition for food and the number of twins and triplets born actually increases. One study even showed that after a hunt, surviving females produced enough offspring to not only replace those killed, but enough to actually INCREASE the size of the herd. This is reproductive rebound.

So, for moral reasons, financial reasons and the practical reason that hunting is an archaic, barbaric and ineffective method, I urge the County to explore immunocontraception and other non-lethal means of controlling the deer population. Together, we have the opportunity to show leadership to our community with a forward thinking and progressive model which we can be proud of and which teaches our children that killing is not the answer. For the sake of the taxpayers and the deer, I hope real leadership can finally be shown.

STOP in the name of...

Public Safety! Lately, there has been some commentary about the new Stop Sign erecetd at the intersection of Redmond Rd and Harding Drive. I thought it would be worthwhile to share some background on process that was followed to install this stop sign and the justification for this sign.

Earlier this year, a couple residents who live at the intersection approached me (as the chair of the Public Safety Committee) about their concerns about this dangerous intersection which was completely uncontrolled. I took a look firsthand and agreed to place the item on the agenda for discussion at the next regular Public Safety Committee. The residents attended the meeting and explained their concerns. The Police Chief validated there had been 3 accidents at the intersection and the Committee unanimously agreed to recommend the Stop Sign to the full Board of Trustees. The Stop Sign was discussed at our next Conference Agenda meeting and the recommendation was made to create an Ordinance establishing a Stop Sign at the intersection. At two subsequent meetings, the BOT voted to approve the Stop Sign and no residents came to the meetings to speak against (or for) the sign. (However, residents in the homes surrounding the intersection were informed of the Public Hearing and the proposed Stop Sign by leaflets delivered to their homes).

Since the Stop sign has been installed, some people have actually complained about it. However, I find this quite surprising for a number of reasons:

1. If you travel West (up the hill) on Redmond Rd and want to make a left turn onto Harding Drive, you logically MUST stop in order to confirm there is no cross traffic on Redmond Rd. However, someone traveling through that intersection who is not familiar with the area might not realize that and could easily blow through the uncontrolled intersection. Installing a Stop sign there is logical and simply communicates to people that the North-South cross traffic has the right of way. (which is consistent with the rest of Harding Dr, as well as Mayhew Drive which runs parallel)
2. Placing a Stop sign at the westbound intersection with Harding Dr, is simply consistent with all other streets that intersect with it (Tillou, Twin Oak and Overhill).
3. Some people have actually complained that stopping "uphill" in dangerous, however, nobody has ever expressed that concern about all the numerous other "uphill" stop signs which already exist throughout the neighborhood. In addition, certainly, anyone who has ever been to a place like San Francisco is quite aware of significantly steeper streets with Stop signs (or traffic lights) on "hills".

As with ANY issue, there are always multiple viewpoints and perspectives. However, with this specific issue, I think that adding control to a blind uncontrolled intersection is a small price to pay and the right thing to do to prevent a potential collision and for the sake of Public Safety. I certainly welcome suggestions on other uncontrolled intersections in the Village that should be looked at similarly.

Goin' Cali

My wife, daughter & I recently returned from a very nice Summer vacation to Southern California. We flew into Orange County and stayed at the beautiful Hyatt Huntington Beach. The hotel is located right across the street from the beach and we even had a great oceanview from our room.

We spent our first day just relaxing by the pool and walking long the beach and into the town of Huntington Beach to watch the surfers. For our next day, we were up early (our bodies still on East Coast time) and got to Disneyland before it even opened. When the park finally did open, they corral everyone on Main Street until the "official" opening time and from there it's literally a sprint to the first ride to take advantage of the short lines. We had a great time & managed to cover the entire park in a day (thanks to Fastpass!). We had been to DisneyWorld many times and found Disneyland to be quite comparable with a few minor differences (Disneyland has the Matterhorn Bobsleds and Indiana Jones ride, plus Cinderella castle is MUCH smaller). Otherwise it is classic Disney, including the expensive food, screaming babies and complete exhaustion you feel at the end of the day!

Our next day, we travelled up to Los Angeles and explored around Hollywood, Beverly Hills and the infamous Rodeo Drive. We ended the day out in Santa Monica to explore the infamous pier and Third St Promenade.

The next day, we travelled down to Carlsbad, CA to enjoy Legoland. I wasn't sure what to expect with this part as I had read mixed reviews, but it turned out to be alot of fun a great place for my six-year old daughter where she even got to go on a roller coaster for the very first time - and loved it!

The following day was back to "Disney" by starting the day at California Adventure, a Disney park which is directly across the plaza from Disneyland. We had also heard mixed reviews of the park, but all in all we enjoyed it. It seems to be a slight hybrid of Epcot & Disney/MGM in Florida, with rides like Soarin' and Tower of Terror, in addition to some other more standard amusement park rides. However, the highlight of the park was "Toy Story Mania", which just opened this year in both CA & FL. It's very similar concept to the "Buzz Lightyear" ride at Disney, but here you play numerous virtual arcade games as you go through the ride wearing 3-D glasses. The technology & effects were very cool!

Our last day was spent back at the hotel, relaxing by the pool and enjoying the California sun before flying back to NJ and getting back to reality of work and school. Now, the job begins of identifying and planning for our next Summer destination!

Go Joe Go!

We woke up this morning to confirmation that Barack Obama has chosen Joe Biden as his runningmate. This is a GREAT choice! It had been rumored for a few days that this was coming and I am very excited to see it become a reality. I have always thought that Joe Biden was a very intelligent and thoughtful person who has alot of interesting ideas. I've always been surprised that his previous Presidential campaigns went no where, so I am glad that he is finally getting the recognition he deserves. Great choice!

Public Information and Transparency

In the July 31 News-Record there was an Editorial entitled “Knowledge is Safety”. In that Editorial it stated:

“The village would be well served if prepared information on serious crimes was posted on their official Web site or communicated through an official spokesperson, as the public has as much right to know about developing stories as local media outlets which receive detailed press releases within a matter of hours following reported crimes.”

As the Chair of the South Orange Public Safety Committee as well as one of the liaisons to the Public Information and Marketing Committee, I cannot agree more - Public Safety goes hand in hand with Public Information. In fact, the Public Safety Committee has already been discussing this exact topic over the past several meetings. As a result, the South Orange Police Chief is now working with the IT Manager to develop a process to be able to rapidly document and disseminate information about serious crimes via the Village website. This process should be live within the next few weeks.

In the past, reports of criminal incidents were often posted by people on Maplewood Online but often times some or all of the facts were misstated. Having an official place for the Village to share the facts about serious crimes is an important step in making residents aware of situations that impact them while also helping to control the rumor mill and ensure the FACTS are made available to the Public.

When I ran for office, one of the main issues I discussed was transparency in government and sharing of public information, which I felt was not readily apparent with the prior administration. This is one of the big reasons I devote much time to sharing my opinions here on this blog, responding to inquiries on Maplewood Online as well as responding to the many emails, phone calls or instant messages I receive from residents. Not everyone has the time to watch our meetings or come to our workshops and we have limited outlets that report real news in town. I serve as a Trustee FOR the residents of this town with no personal agenda other than to do what I think is in the best interests of the residents. I learned early on that you cannot ever make everyone happy. However, recently a resident shared the following with me, which I found to be incredibly inspiring and humbling:

A true politician is Someone who sees beyond the obvious. Someone who looks for ways not just to benefit one segment of his constituents, but tries to benefit all constituents. Someone who looks at an issue with a vision of what it means not just today but in the future. Someone who sees that compromise is not a weakness but a skill. Someone who actually understands all the facts of a problem. Someone that actually cares about the outcome of their decisions.

While certainly nobody is perfect and everybody brings their own perspective to every issue, as long as people are having a professional, respectful, open and transparent dialog about issues it can only help us build a stronger community. To that end, I think it is imperative that we continue to innovate in the ways that the Village communicates to the residents to ensure that residents are given the information to be properly informed. At the new Public Information and Marketing Committee, we are starting to discuss what has worked well and what needs to be improved and I am confident that we are going to continue to raise the bar on government transparency and public information for the betterment of South Orange. As always, I welcome your suggestions.

The highway's jammed with Broken Heroes...

After a MASSIVE traffic jam caused by an overturned tanker truck, we finally made it to the Meadowlands last night for the Bruce Springsteen concert after more than 2 hours. I was afraid we would miss the opening of the show (which normally starts around 8:30pm), but with so many people impacted, the start of the show was delayed until 9:30pm and we made it to our seats with time to spare. Concerts in the stadium are usually horrible because you spend the evening watching video screens. Fortunately, we had great seats on the floor in the 2nd row directly behind the "pit" (General Admission pen right in front of the stage). Ironically, we wound up sitting right next to a guy who claimed he was the boyfriend of Bruce's daughter Jessica, which made for some interesting conversation.

By my count, last night was now the 53rd Springsteen show I have seen over the past 24 years (first show was August 12, 1984 in the Meadowlands arena). It's amazing to think that over this time, I have seen shows in eight states (NJ, NY, CT, PA, GA, NC, FL, CA) and in places as small as the Stone Pony and as large as Giants Stadium. Some people have actually asked if I ever get tired of it and I guess it is just one of those things that if you have to ask, you either have never experienced it, or it just can't be explained to you.

As always, it was an awesome night and we had a lot of fun, especially with such highlights as Pretty Flamingo, Incident on 57th St, Jungleland, Jersey Girl and Rosalita!

Unfortunately, getting out of the Meadowlands was another nightmare. Having arrived late, we had parked on the very top level of the new parking deck by the arena. Once we got into our car, we literally could not move an inch for about 45 minutes. Finally, traffic started to flow and we made it home by 2:30am. With all the on-going construction for Xanadu and the new Giants stadium I have a feeling there will be a lot more traffic nightmares to come.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

re·spect /rɪˈspɛkt/
–verb
1. to show regard or consideration for.

For anyone who has watched some of the recent Board of Trustees Meeting, and particularly the meeting on July 28, there seems to be one member of the Board that needs to learn the meaning of respect. This individual shows no regard or consideration for their fellow members by often coming late to meetings and leaving early (and sometimes not showing up at all). This individual shows no regard or consideration for the public by passing notes and whispering side comments during the meetings. This individual shows no regard or consideration for their position by undermining negotiations for the sake of political pandering and finally this individual shows no regard or consideration for individuals who come to the meetings to be heard by often yelling at them and speaking to them in an arrogant, condescending and hostile tone.

I find this behavior abhorrent and completely unacceptable. Some people think they are entitled to respect by their position. However, some people need to learn they need to EARN respect by first having the decency to show respect to others around them.

Across the Board

In previous blog posts, I have made numerous comments about the challenges we have been facing with the budget this year. After many Budget Workshops and much debate, the process is about at an end and we are about to vote to approve the actual budget for the year. It now appears that a budget with a potential tax increase of 13%+ has been cut down to a Municipal Tax increase of around 6.5% or so. There were many factors that led to this outcome, including a combination of reduced services, reduced subsidies to organizations, increased revenue from other sources, skyrocketing energy costs and reductions in perks. Some of the most notable examples were:

- Elimination of 4th of July fireworks (reduced services)

- 10% decrease in funding to Main Street, CCR, CRC and Youthnet (reduced subsidies to organizations)

- Funding of Village Planting Initiative Baskets & Summer Concerts by Eden Gourmet; Extraordinary Aid from the State (increased revenue from other sources)

- Elimination of $12,000 in Stipends to the OEM Deputies, Mandated Health Insurance Premium Contributions by Management personnel (reductions in perks - to be voted on July 28)

- All the while these cuts were being discussed, we faced a $150,000 increase in anticipated energy costs for the remainder of the year.

It was an uphill climb, but I think we did a fair job of scrutinizing the budget in painful detail and making cuts across the board in every department. There were cuts to Police (Crossing Guard outsourcing and/or contract renegotiation), Fire (Executive Officer position), Recreation (Fireworks, delayed pool opening), Public Works (closing recycling center 3 extra days per week)and Administration (OEM Stipends & Health care premium contributions).

Thank you to all the residents and employees that came out to present their opinions.
None of the decisions made were taken lightly and none of the decisions were easy as every single decision has an impact on the residents or employees of the Village. However, in the end, I think the process was fair, transparent and in the best interest of the taxpayers.

Hard to believe it is almost August and in a just a few more months we will have to start the process all over again for 2009!

South Orange Aid

With all the "bad news" surrounding tough financial times, spiraling costs of energy and necessary cutbacks in services, it is nice to finally report some good news - It was just announced that South Orange is the recipient of $600,000 in Extraordinary Aid from the State of NJ for 2008:

http://www.state.nj.us/dca/lgs/muniaid/08_aid/cy08_extraordinary-aid.shtml

This year, it appears we received the largest amount of aid in Essex County and one of the largest amounts in the state.

This aid couldn't have come at a better time, when we were facing around an 8% Municipal increase (actually more when you factor in the planned shift of SOPAC operating expenses to the Capital Budget) even after many significant custs to the budget. Of course, we need to send a big thank you to State Senator Codey and Assemblyman McKeon/Assemblywoman Jasey for fighting for us in Trenton.

We still have a long way to go to manage the large tax burden we all face in South Orange, Essex County and the entire State of NJ...but this is most welcome and appreciated assistance.

Political Aspirations?

Well, I was hoping to delay an announcement of my political plans for quite a while, but unfortunately the secret has just been leaked out by the local media. However, I am shocked and flattered by the groundswell of support that has already arisen.



Happy 4th of July everyone! :)

The Road Ahead

As many of you may know, I started a job with Microsoft this past April. Today, was the last official day of work at Microsoft for our most famous employee - Bill Gates. It really is amazing to think about all the accomplishments of Bill Gates and Microsoft since it was founded in 1975.

I first was introduced to PCs in High School with our Apple II+ computers in the computer lab. However, I quickly was introduced to the initial IBM PC and spent my Summers and evenings after school working at a ComputerLand store teaching DOS to grade school kids. It was this experience that led me to choose to go to college for Computer Science at Georgia Tech. At Georgia Tech, I obtained an incredible education (though sadly most of it is completely worthless in my career today - PASCAL, Assembler, Lisp, APL etc not to mention Calculus, Chemistry and Physics) and a great fondness for technology. As I ventured into the working world, I built my career around software and Microsoft was always at the center of it - from DOS to Windows to Office to Outlook to Internet Explorer.

I always admired Bill Gates and am inspired by what he has accomplished and how he now plans to devote his life to philanthropy and giving back to society about 99% of what he has gained over the past 33 years. I'm still thrilled to be a part of Microsoft, but am saddened by the "loss" of someone who has done such amazing things. I suppose the bright side is that the potential now exists for him to make an even more incredible impact of the world and the road ahead looks bright indeed. Good luck, Bill!

Just the FACTS Ma'am

It's been brought to my attention that (at least) one person has expressed "concern" about the information being posted in this blog. The language and accusations used in that "concern" are so off-base they really do not warrant a response. However, in case there is anyone else that questions the intent of this blog, let me try to be clear:

This is 2008! The Internet has revolutionized the way we communicate and I feel this is a great forum to share my opinions relating to various issues around town. This blog is not sanctioned by the Township of South Orange Village. Any posts in this blog are mine and mine alone (with the exception of "comments" which are added by anyone else who reads this blog). However, any of the opinions I post are based on facts that are PUBLIC INFORMATION. For example, posts regarding items discussed in budget workshop contain the same information that is readily available to any member of the public attending the budget workshop discussion. However, in this blog I have the opportunity to elaborate further on my opinion. I have always welcomed people to post comments on this blog or to send email feedback directly to me.

Trustee Mark Rosner had a similar blog several years ago that I found to be a refreshing take on various issues around town and I have tried to model this blog on the path that he blazed. I think everyone can agree how lucky we all are to have Freedom of Speech under the First Amendment. I find it frightening to find there are people who find issue with this freedom simply because they themselves can't understand exploring it with new technology.

Crossing the Chasm

Lately there has been a lot of talk, political pandering and misinformation about the recent proposal to Outsource the Crossing Guards in South Orange. It is clear this is a very sensitive and complex issue with a lot of emotion involved. In light of ongoing negotiations, it is important to limit some commentary. However, it is also important to ensure that FACTS are being discussed. Many of the following points were made by Village President Newman at Monday's Board of Trustees Meeting and are worth noting:

1. No final decision has yet been reached by the Board of Trustees on how to proceed on this issue

2. IF Outsourcing were to proceed, the same 22 Crossing Guard posts that exist today would continue to exist

3. IF Outsourcing were to proceed, the current Crossing Guards would absolutely have the ability to apply for the jobs, and the Outsourcer would be required to give them consideration.

4. IF Outsourcing were to proceed, it would be with the terms outlined in the RFP issued earlier this year, which includes provisions for background checks, testing the physical ability of the crossing guards (which does NOT happen today) and having Police Officers provide backup (which IS done today) when a Crossing Guard is absent.

5. Currently, the Crossing Guards are part-time employees, working an average of 3.7 hours per day for 180 days per year. These PART-TIME positions are paid a generous hourly wage PLUS fully-paid Healthcare, fully-paid Pensions, paid Vacation days, paid Holidays and paid Sick days. This compensation is simply unsustainable

6. The safety of our residents and our children is of utmost importance to the Board of Trustees

At Monday's Board of Trustees Meeting, some opponents of Outsourcing tried to use fear as an argument against this proposal. Everyone is sensitive to the fact that we are talking about people's jobs. However, using fear is just wrong. This is an issue that can and should be thoroughly debated by a discussion of facts. Spreading misinformation on one side or grandstanding for political gain on the other side simply divides a community instead of trying to productively work together towards a fair solution.

The budget process has been long and painful, but unfortunately a thorough examination of every budget line item was long overdue and we are having to make difficult decisions across many departments, even though it would simply be so much easier to maintain the status quo. However, that was not what we were elected to do. We were elected to do things differently and look at things from a different perspective. I am convinced that if the Crossing Guards are as passionate about their jobs and our children as they emphatically stated Monday night that an equitable solution can be found. I am cautiously optimistic that the ongoing negotiations can be productive. As we were told Monday night by a representative for the Crossing Guards "it's not about the money, they care about the kids". I hope that actions follow those words.

Barak's in the House

After a long and exhausting journey, Barak arrived at our house this morning and will be staying with us for a chunk of the Summer. No...not THAT Barack. Welcome Barak Lilian, a counselor at Stephanie's Summer camp who is here from Israel as part of the "shlichim" program. He will be a counselor for the Ropes course at Gesher Summer Program in Livingston and staying with us until the end of July. This is his first time in the United States and he is very excited to be here. He got a brief tour around South Orange today, including the obligatory trip to Eden Gourmet with Amy. We are happy to be hosting him and hope that everyone who gets a chance to meet him over the coming weeks will give him a warm welcome to South Orange and the USA!

We're all connected

Lately, I've become more and more intrigued by the various Social Networking sites. I've been a user of LinkedIn.com for a very long time, but it seems to have finally gotten quite mainstream over the past few months. When you search for people you know, it's remarkable how many people you recognize from your personal or professional life. I find it to be a great tool to keep up with what people are doing with themselves and their careers. When I was interviewing for a job, I also found it very helpful as a tool to get some insight into the background of the person who would be doing the interviewing. It's always helpful to know your audience!

Most recently, I have finally succumbed to the lure of Facebook. I had previously resisted getting involved because I assumed facebook was more geared towards college-aged students and younger. I was really shocked to learn how many "older" folks like us are out there with Facebook profiles. So, I created a profile, added a few applications and have been enjoying keeping up with friends in a much more informal & casual version of LinkedIn.

I still think each site has it's strengths and can see them co-existing for quite a while. It's clear that marketing has been revolutionized by Social Networking as people are far quicker to trust the recommendation of a friend than by some anonymous commercial they watch on Television. I think we are just seeing the infancy of this phenomenon and it's exciting to see where we are heading. It's amazing to see all the various relationships and connections between people you didn't think had a connection. Eventually, I can see how we will all be connected in some way which has endless possibilities. If nothing else, it'll just be easier to play "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon!"

President Obama!

Wow...after a long hard battle, the Democratic primary season has come to a close and Barack Obama has finally clinched the nomination and is now on his way to become the next President of the United States!

I must say it was one of the most exciting and interesting primary seasons that I ever experienced, but I am glad to see Senator Obama come out ahead. As I said back in February, both Senator Clinton and Senator Obama were well qualified, but I think that a) Senator Obama is the voice of change that we so desperately need right now and b) he simply ran a better campaign.

Now, we move on to the General election campaign against Senator McCain. Personally, I thought Senator McCain portrayed himself well as a moderate back in 2000, but since then he has pandered way too far to the right and the more I learn about him, the less impressed I am. In my mind, he is simply the next in a long line of candidates who felt "their time had come" (like Bob Dole & Walter Mondale) while in reality their best days were already behind them.

The General election should come down to such crystal clear contrasts of age vs. youth, experience vs. change, pro-Iraq war vs. anti-Iraq war, pro-choice vs. anti-choice, that I will find it hard for someone to claim to be "undecided".

Let's hope that Senator Obama makes the right VP choice later this summer to ensure a victory a November. Although many people have suggested Hillary Clinton, I do think that she (and Bill) bring too much baggage to the table that Senator Obama may be much better served with someone with the foreign policy experience, without the baggage. Ironically, 2 outstanding choices - Joe Biden and Wesley Clark don't help with the Electoral College battle, but would be well suited for the job. However, the same was said about Dick Cheney and (unfortunately) we know how that turned out.

In any event, we only have:



left until we can all (hopefully) welcome President Obama!

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.

A Better South Orange

Yesterday, brought a better South Orange in 2 big ways:

First in the morning, was the annual Rahway River clean-up, sponsored by Main Street & the Lion's Club. There was a great turnout, particularly by Seton Hall students. Even Village President Newman was in the river pulling out trash. My daughter, in particular, had a great time being able to walk in the river. After doing it last year, she had been anxiously anticipating having the opportunity again this year. It was a fun event and a big Thank You to everyone for organizing and participating in the event.

Later that evening, was a party to celebrate the imminent opening of Eden Gourmet in South Orange. After years of "Coming Soon", the market is finally scheduled for a "soft opening" on Wednesday (April 30) and a Grand Opening on May 9. The owners of the market held a fantastic party for their friends, family, local merchants and town officials to showcase the amazing space. On the ground floor is a spectacular market with amazing variety of fine foods (as well as essentials such as milk, butter, eggs, paper towels, toilet paper, cereal etc). In addition, there is a smoothie bar, fresh bakery, produce, meat, fish, salad bar and much more.

On the second floor, is a pizza oven along with prepared foods and tables for eating. There are also 2 huge patios (one adjacent to the train tracks and one behind the building. There are also plans coming before the Planning Board to approve a full sit-down restaurant with table service.

On the third floor is a huge space that will be used for events, parties etc. It is clear the owners spared no expense and tried to think of everything to accommodate all tastes. They are also incredibly committed to the community and have been incredibly generous already.

As someone commented to me, the opening of this market will be a huge positive change for South Orange and will only lead to better things. After seeing the amazing transformation from a run-down old Shop Rite to the new Eden Gourmet, I have to agree and hope this is the beginning of many more great things to come. I wish the proprietors of Eden Gourmet much success!

Parking Woes

At the last Board of Trustees Meeting on April 14, an ordinance was passed to limit parking on Meadowbrook Lane to 4-hour parking - effectively banning commuter parking from that location. The origin of this was at the request of some people who felt that commuters who were parking there infringed on the ability of people to park there to use the park.


I voted against this ordinance and feel strongly that this is not the right solution.


At a minimum, the park is virtually unused from November-April - meaning for almost 6 months out of the year, we have prime parking available within walking distance to the train which does not negatively impact anybody. Clearly things get more complicated from April-November, but in reality, even during the warmer months the park (or certainly the parking) is virtually unused until around 4pm when baseball, soccer etc begins. That leaves a very small window (roughly from 4pm-6:30pm, when commuters arrive home) when there are competing interests for the space. (Plus, we can exclude Friday evening when no games are scheduled).


Banning all commuter parking (by imposing a 4 hour limit) year-round for a problem that has a limited window of time, is the wrong solution in my opinion.

Along with other reasons, people move to this community for our proximity to NYC and ease of commute by train. The waiting list for commuter permit parking is up around 700 people currently. Alternative parking sites are being explored to expand the inventory of parking, but that won't happen overnight. In an earlier blog entry I shared my support for higher parking permit fees to encourage people to use the jitney, as well as reducing hoarding of permits and also encouraging people in close proximity to the train to try walking or biking. Again, that won't happen overnight. So, in the meantime, to totally eliminate available parking for 100 cars (currently used by about 65 cars each day) now seems premature until a comprehensive solution is identified. The only result this ordinance will have is to push cars to surrounding residential streets, aggravating those homeowners who will now have cars in front of their home all day.

I've already been contacted by many angry residents (and non-residents) who are negatively impacted by this and I expect we have not heard the last word, yet.

Play Ball!

Another sure sign of Spring is the annual South Orange/Maplewood Baseball Parade. This year, I was honored to join the local elected officials in leading the parade from Columbia High School, down Valley Street and ending at the baseball diamond in Memorial Park. I was so impressed with the amazing turnout and seeing how many of our kids participate in the Baseball program. Hats off to everyone who coordinated the event, as well as to everyone who participated. This is a great example of how our two communities can join together to share a community service, right down to the throwing of the first pitch by both Mayor Pettis and Village President Newman. Let's hope this is the start of much more cooperation and sharing of services to come!

Spring has Sprung

It's a great sign of Spring when we can finally head out after dinner for a bike ride. Even though we had a pretty mild Winter, it still seemed long and there is nothing like the first 70+ degree day! Even better is finishing off that bike ride with some well deserved ice cream.

It's only a matter of time before we all start complaining about the heat and humidity, so let's savor days like this as they seem to be so rare.

Happy Spring!

The axe-man cometh

We are once again in the midst of budget season and after numerous Budget Workshops, we were finally presented with some tangible options for trimming the budget. Initially, we faced a 13% municipal tax increase for the "introduced budget", but the Board agreed to try to attain "only" a 5% increase. To close that gap requires almost $1.5 million in additional revenue and/or cuts.

At the Budget Meeting on March 25, the Board of Trustees agreed to the following: (amount in parentheses is the cost savings/additional revenue in 2008)

Additional Revenue:
- Increase parking ticket fines by $10 (~$109k)

Service/Funding Reductions:
- Cut funding for Main Street, CCR, CRC, Youthnet & SOMACOM by 10% (~$12k)
- Reduce publication of the Gaslight to 6x/year (from 10x/year) (~15k)
- Elimination of July 4th fireworks/evening activities (this had long been discussed over the past several years anyway due to Public Safety concerns) (~$30k)
- Reduce Summer concert budget by $2k
- Reduce holiday decoration budget by $2k
- Reduce lodging costs for League of Municipalities Conference by $2k
- Eliminate Grant Writing Consultant (~$20k)
- Have website articles written in-house (~$12.6k)
- Open pool one week later in June (~$7k)
- Move all Village Hall clerical staff to same floor to improve efficiency (~$46k)
- Encourage health benefits opt out for covered familiy members (~$33k)
- Close Recycling Center on M/W/F
- Privatize Crossing Guards (~$39k)
(Note: This was a preliminary amount which has since been determined to be inaccurate. As of June 16, 2008, NO DECISION has been reached yet on this item)
- Reduce Code Enforcement (~$16k)
- Purchase 3 Police cars (instead of 4) (~$34.5k)

It was also agreed to Capitalize certain engineering expenses, public work expenses and IT expenses, along with the $300,000 SOPAC operating expenses (~$583k). This is an area that I strongly disagree with and feel that it is simply creative accounting which shifts operating expenses to our already excessive debt service that will be paid for over the next 30 years without fixing our tax problem (and in fact, making it worse).

There were also some other suggested reductions that were rejected for now:
- Elimination of leaf pickup (~$91.4k)
- Elimination of Village Aglow (~$4k)
- Elimination of Police detail at SOPAC (~$29k)
- Close the Baird on Sunday and one evening (~$16k)
- Discontinue the Gallery (~$100k)

It is obvious that there will be somebody who will stand up to defend each of the reductions agreed to above. Everyone has there own particular "pet" service that they feel is sacred and cannot be touched. However, we must look at everything and try to make cost-benefit decisions that will impact the least number of residents and bring the greatest savings.
Ironically, after all of the above, it only reduced the budget by $975k, still leaving us with an 8.1% municipal tax increase. So, before everyone starts trying to defend their favorite municipal service above, we STILL need to identify ANOTHER $514k in cuts to bring us in line with a 5% increase.

In my opinion, we MUST start with requiring mandatory healthcare contributions for all staff. A 20% contribution towards their healthcare by ALL staff, would save the Village over $415,000 anually alone. Unfortunately, nothing is easy in Municipal government and a majority of positions are governed by Union contracts which are currently under negotiation and subject to binding arbitration. However, this is an area that MUST be addressed, as fully paid healthcare is nothing more than a relic from an era that no longer exists in the real world. It is time that government joins the real world.

American Idling

This week I had the honor of being invited to an assembly at South Mountain School where the subject was car engine idling.

Girl Scout Troop 250 and the 3rd Grade of South Mountain Elementary School combined their valuable lessons learned this year and put them to good use spearheading an awareness campaign regarding the problem with unnecessary idling. The New Jersey Environmental Federation also worked collaboratively with this program.

The Girl Scouts presented a short skit about the dangers of Global Warming and engine idling to all classes from K-5 and then a number of 3rd grade students read letters out loud to the Governing Bodies of South Orange and Maplewood, as well as the Police Chiefs of both towns. Also at the assembly were Village President Newman, Police Chief Chelel, Township Committeewoman Leventhal and Police Chief Cimino who also spoke to the students to acknowledge our own concerns for the environment and to personally thank the students for their efforts.

I was so incredibly impressed by the awareness these students had of such serious issues that we all face. I congratulate Renee Leviton for pulling this together, as well as the teachers, staff and administration of the school for including such important values in our curriculum.

It amazes me how these students not only knew about the issue at hand, but also had a general understanding of the role that local government can play. I hope these kids continue to stay involved to improve our community as they get older...and maybe some of them will even inspire their parents to get more involved now!

Open All Night

As published in today's News Record and yesterday's Star Ledger, NJ Transit has backed down from their proposed plan to close South Orange Train Station earlier in the day. Initially, the proposal was to close the station at 1PM. That was later renegotiated to close the station at 9:45pm - a position still unacceptable. Closing the station so early would force people taking the train home late from NYC to the stairwells at South Orange Avenue or 2nd Street - both of which are too far from the NJ Transit Lot and SOPAC.

Huge Thank Yous are owed to Village President Newman who immediately took up this issue working directly with NJ Transit to strongly express the Village's concern. The cause was then also taken up by Assemblywoman Jasey and Assembly McKeon who also expressed their concerns to NJ Transit. Finally, Governor Codey got involved and wrote a strongly worded letter to NJ Transit which seemed to have sealed the deal to have the station remain open. Thank you to all for stepping up for South Orange and Thank you to NJ Transit for listening to and agreeing to our appeals.