Thursday, March 14, 2013
Three candidates throw their hats in the ring.
- GOVERNMENT
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Thursday, March 14
The following is a press release from "Village First!" A team of three long term South Orange residents with deep roots in public service filed 717 petitions March 11 for candidacy for the three open seats for Village Trustee. The upcoming election is May 14. Geraldine Mehu, Joseph Kika, and Kelly Mattheiss Sullivan will run on a ticket called “Village First!” Geraldine Mehu, an alumna of Seton Hall University, and South Orange resident for two decades, is married to Eric Moore, a lifelong resident and ranked officer in the South Orange police department. They have a 10 year old daughter, Gabrielle, who is a girl scout. Geraldine works for a major financial services firm in New York City as an Assistant Complex Director. The group is …
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
The governing bodies of Maplewood and South Orange joined the Board of Education to share information and plans for the future.
The Maplewood Township Committee, the South Orange Board of Trustees and the South Orange - Maplewood Board of Education (BOE) shared information on important issues -- including budgets, redevelopment and more -- that impact both towns and the school district at a special workshop on Thursday. Here is a summary of some of what was discussed: Moving BOE Elections to November The group discussed the possibility of moving the BOE elections from April to November. In the past, the Maplewood Township Committee (TC) voted in favor of the move; while the South Orange Board of Trustees declined to take any action and the Board of Education voted against. (BOE President Beth Daugherty explained that SOMSD is unusual in that it is the only school…
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Maplewood, South Orange and the BOE will convene Thursday to discuss schools, budgets.
Elected officials from the Maplewood Township Committee, the South Orange Board of Trustees and the South Orange - Maplewood Board of Education (BOE) will meet for a special workshop on Thursday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. in the district meeting room at 525 Academy St. Agenda items include the discussion of potentially moving the BOE elections to November, and how the move would affect the role of the Board of School Estimate; upcoming capital and redevelopment plans for both towns; budget previews; an update on residency issues and the district's reregistration process (and how the district works with the administrations of both towns on the issue), and emergency management. The agenda is attached to this article as a PDF. The meeting is open to…
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Village President says he, administrator and clerk will decide what is discussed at meetings.
South Orange Trustees are upset their items aren’t getting onto the village agenda and asked the Village President to clarify the policy. The issue came up at a Board of Trustees meeting on Monday. After Trustee Howard Levinson raised the issue, Village President Alex Torpey replied that an agenda request must be submitted via online form to the Village Clerk or Village Administrator – and the three of them meet together to choose what will be discussed during the next meeting. The online form is new, according to Torpey. One of its advantages over email is that it discourages lengthy email discussion of issues better suited to the public arena. Torpey said trustees are notified if their agenda request has been turned down or referred to a…
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Trustees raise guest pass limit for residents; will explore reciprocity with Maplewood.
At Monday's meeting of the South Orange Board of Trustees, South Mountain School parents asked -- once again -- for access to the South Orange pool. In response, the Board of Trustees granted South Orange families more guest passes, effective immediately, so residents can bring Maplewood friends to the pool. It was not the response the parents had hoped for. “I’m extremely disappointed with the direction this project has taken,” said Lisa Fellen, South Mountain parent. South Mountain School has a student body that is roughly 90 percent South Orange residents, and about ten percent Maplewood residents. South Mountain parents who are Maplewood residents note that the summer can be "difficult" for their children, who aren't able to socialize …
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Board meeting offers up a few surprises.
The South Orange Board of Trustees passed the 2012 budget tonight by a vote of 4-1. Trustee Goldberg voted no; Trustee Gould was absent. The tax levy increase comes to 1.75%, which translates into a tax increase on the average assessed home ($460,274) of $83.34. "I think this is about as good as we can expect," said Village Administrator Barry Lewis. He noted what he termed the "trend" of the Village controlling tax increases in last few years, following several years where they went up sharply. He attributed that to a combination of sharing services with Maplewood, the use of outsourcing and other cost-saving methods. Lewis said the Village hoped to continue to bring more tax stability to residents in future years. During the public …
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
The agencies will receive funding for 2012, contingent upon service agreements
South Orange trustees will vote on the budget, available here, on May 14. That budget includes reduced spending on the two non-profit organizations that South Orange and Maplewood fund jointly, a decision made Monday after weeks of uncertainty. Both the Community Coalition on Race (CCR) and YouthNet will see their funding from South Orange cut by 20 percent. YouthNet is slated to receive $12,000, and CCR is slated to receive $18,000. The funding is contingent upon receiving service agreements, or contracts, from both agencies that are agreeable to the Village. YouthNet has indicated that they are moving away from municipal funding from both Maplewood and South Orange. However, non-profit funding remains a hot-button topic – pro and …
Daa'iyah Bilal
1:46 pm on Sunday, April 28, 2013
Daa'iyah Bilal When are we as American citizens going to start seeing people in their character and not in the rumors that are said about them,who owns the earth anyway? more ›