Swan Song for Trustees Jennings, Moore-Abrams
After four years on the Board of Trustees, Stacey Jennings and Terriann Moore-Abrams were seated for their final meeting on Monday night.
Stacey Jennings and Terriann Moore-Abrams attended their last Board of Trustee meeting as members of the body on Monday night, having come to the end of their four-year terms and with neither seeking re-election.
The new Trustees—the ultimate winners of Tuesday's municipal election in which six candidates split between the Pure Progress and Vision Action Balance tickets will contend for three seats—will be sworn in at a reorganization meeting scheduled for next Monday at 8 p.m.
"I might not always agree with each and every one of you, but certainly there's been a respect level," said Moore-Abrams.
"I hope that this Board becomes and remains transparent and does things in a fair manner," said Jennings, who's a chair of the Essex County Democratic Committee. "I was not always happy with the things that [the Board] did, but I voiced it when I wasn't."
Michael Goldberg also gave a brief valedictory comment, since Monday night's meeting will be his last if he fails to win re-election.
"I want to thank everyone for the opportunity to serve the community," he said.
Jennings and Moore-Abrams are the only Trustees to not have made public endorsements in Tuesday's election, though their colleagues on the Board—Mark Rosner, Deborah Davis Ford and Howard Levison—and Village President Douglas Newman have endorsed Michael Goldberg and his Pure Progress running mates. Though Jennings declined to make an official endorsement—citing potential conflicts with her Democratic Committee position—she's been photographed at a Vision Action Balance campaign event and was reportedly at Sloan Street on Tuesday morning encouraging commuters to vote for Line A.
"My concern is that we're representing South Orange," said Jennings after the public portion of the meeting, adding that she's concerned about the Board reflecting the Village's ethnic and geographic diversity.
While Moore-Abrams declined to run for another term on the Board of Trustees, she's seeking election as the Essex County Register in November and changed her registration from Democrat to Republican earlier this spring.
When considering her run for Register, Moore-Abrams cited experience working in county government—she's a section chief in the Essex County Counsel's office—and characterized her decision to switch parties as a "personal choice" made commonplace by the example of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other political figures.
Moore-Abrams—the lone Republican in the race—will face off against the winner of a June 2 Democratic primary on Election Day in November.