Latest Blog Posts
Valley and Third Street Redevelopment Plan
This is one of the most exciting projets in recent history of the Village. Along with the new Gateway project on South Orange Avenue, this will bring in much-needed dense residential, commercial space and structured parking, all while generating over a half million dollars a year in revenue to the Village, and providing the Rescue Squad with a new and upgraded facility. Check out the powerpoint below to learn a little more about the project. (some of the details in the presentation will change as the project moves along)
I support marriage equality
South Orange has long been a supporter of marriage equality, performing one of the, if not the first domestic partnership in New Jersey. Just adding my voice to many others in support of marriage equality! We have passed many resolutions in South Orange advocating for this, and will continue to do so until our laws are changed and equal rights are given to everyone.
The Alternative Press - South Orange's Torpey Tells SHU Students Social Media Are 'Game Changer'
I spoke to an interested group of engaged Seton Hall students in Professor Kyle Heim's class "Social Media in Journalism and Public Relations" Monday night - check out the article from The Alternative Press.
South Orange Sets New Standard in Budget Transparency & Open Government in New Jersey
We announced an extremely innovative and exciting online budget transparency tool this week. Click below to check it out! Read the press release below.
South Orange launches most accessible municipal budget in New Jersey
Cloud-Based Delphi Transparency Enables South Orange to Engage Residents By Inviting Them to Explore the Village’s Financial Data, Village hopes to set a new standard in NJ
South Orange, NJ – The Township of South Orange Village and Delphi Solutions, a Silicon Valley software startup, today announced the deployment of a revolutionary tool that visualizes South Orange’s financial data. South Orange now is able to provide its employees and citizens with an unprecedented ability to access, understand, and analyze the $32 million municipal budget. The tool can be accessed athttp://southorange.org/OpenBudget or by clicking below.
“With Delphi’s Transparency tool, our citizens can see where their money is going with the click of a button,” said President Torpey, a nationally recognized advocate and lecturer in the field of open government & technology. After his election in 2011, Torpey drew attention being sworn in as the youngest mayor in New Jersey and later by open government advocates for a number of initiatives, most notably a transparency initiative releasing South Orange’s entire budget in a downloadable, machine-readable spreadsheet in 2012.
“One of our goals is to build more trust between government and citizens, and make what we do more accessible so that more people can get interested and involved. Using this new tool is one more step we’re taking as one of New Jersey’s most accessible and transparent municipal governments to encourage more participatory and inclusive governing.”
“This tool is not only great for citizens to learn about our budget, but its ease of use may actually help improve how we do internal budgeting, leading to cost savings down the road.” Said Barry Lewis, South Orange’s Village Administrator.
"President Torpey and Administrator Lewis are leading lights in the transparency movement,” says Zachary Bookman, Co-founder and CEO of Mountain View-based Delphi. "By making its financial data transparent for its citizens, South Orange is building trust in the community, engaging citizens, saving staff time, and showing off the power of twenty-first century technology as applied to government finance.”
South Orange already makes available nearly ten years of meeting videos online, as well as 35 years of public meeting minutes, and all of the latest agendas, resolutions, and ordinances directly on the website. South Orange also actively uses Facebook and Twitter, utilizes unique issue-based workgroups comprised of both residents and village officials, are redesigning their website with a number of innovative accessibility features, and investing in cutting-edge IT upgrades. President Torpey also instituted several new procedures in governing body meetings, such as public comment periods both before and after action is taken and the Village is currently exploring accepting Open Public Records Act requests online using open-source software platforms.
Regarding the open budget platform, President Torpey noted: “This is one more step we have taken, building on a history of transparent governance, in South Orange to be the model open government in New Jersey. I think it’s safe to say that this is the most accessible municipal budget in the state. Hopefully there will be more just like it soon, and I hope we in South Orange can be a resource for any municipal government interested in embracing these kinds of accessible tools and that we can all learn from eachother's best practices and help each other innovate and better connect with our citizens.”
You can view the current format municipal budgets are typically made available in here:http://www.southorange.org/budget/2010/2010MunicipalBudgetforAdoption09-20-2010.pdf
View the new budget tool at: http://southorange.org/OpenBudget
About Delphi
Based in Silicon Valley and backed by leading venture firms, entrepreneurs, and computer scientists, Delphi Solutions offers a cloud-hosted, software-as-a-service platform to host government financial data so governments can access their financial data, analyze it, and share it with citizens. Learn more at delphi.us
About South Orange
South Orange is one of New Jersey’s premier transit-oriented suburban/urban towns, with several historic housing districts, a vibrant downtown, tremendous local art/culture and home to the South Orange Performing Arts Center and Seton Hall University. South Orange’s government is a state-wide leader in open government and transparency. Learn more at southorange.org.
From the Village: South Orange is moving to the cloud
Check out the update I co-wrote with Trustee Howard Levison on new technology solutions the Village is rolling out, including a new website, Google Apps, new emergency notifications systems, upgraded IT infrastructure and more!
From the Village: Village President Alex Torpey discusses technology, inclusiveness and budgets in 2013 annual address
I delivered the second annual State Of The Village address Monday night. Thanks to everyone who braved the weather to come out and be part of it. And if you missed it make sure to watch the video below!
South Orange, NJ – Monday, March 18, 2013, Village President Alex Torpey gave his second annual 2013 State of the Village address to a room full of residents, employees, community leaders and local organizations, giving a recap of the past years accomplishment and plans for the future.
Among the initiatives mentioned, President Torpey highlighted a budget tool launching this week, putting all of the Village's budget data in an easy to read, visual format, that allows anyone to view and compare budget lines not just for this year, but going back to 2008. President Torpey noted that this was one of many open government initiatives the Village has undertaken and that with the launch of this tool, "Without a doubt, this is the most transparent municipal budget in the state of New Jersey."
President Torpey commended Village employees for their performance, two most recent examples being the recent delivery of a grant-funded $735,000 fire truck at only a $35,000 cost to South Orange taxpayers, and the over 5,000 hours public works employees spent cleaning up from Hurricane Sandy. He also discussed the Village's plan to institute best practices rarely seen in government, such as instituting a merit pay system that would reward high performing employees.
Economic development was discussed in depth, citing the many ribbon cuttings for new businesses last year and the recently launched South Orange Village Center Alliance, which is helping continue to spur business recruitment and economic development downtown, bringing in a larger commercial rateable base. Key downtown redevelopments include the upcoming groundbreaking for The Gateway apartments being built on the former Beifus site and the Third and Valley Redevelopment Project.
Torpey also noted the increasing use of several technology implementations, from license plate readers for the police department to online collaboration tools, such as Basecamp, which the recently launched Public Information & Marketing Committee uses to keep track of its projects allowing residents to participate in working on its initiatives from anywhere. That committee is responsible for the recent launch of an official South Orange Facebook page.
Torpey also noted another year of crime reduction in the Village and praised the police department for their work and the two officers that were recently promoted.
Throughout the address President Torpey noted the teamwork and collaboration required for all of the successes the village has seen, from advocating with NJ Transit to controlling rising government costs, and took a special moment at the end of the address to ask the three trustees who were in attendance - Deborah Davis Ford, Howard Levison and Mark Rosner - as well as all of the village employees and volunteers present to stand and thanked them, noting that "Our government isn't just about one person... it's about all of us working together towards common goals."
To watch the full address click the video link:
You can also read the summary of the address in the latest Gaslight by clicking below:
NJ Transit schedule updates for South Orange and more
Yesterday, NJ Transit announced that they are adjusting four Midtown Direct trains to reduce travel time for commuters to get to the South Orange station in the wake of schedule changes that negatively impacted the schedule last October.
Read The Village's press release from yesterday by clicking below:
We've had a lot of people work with us - we couldn't have made it happen alone. From our state legislators, to county officials, to my fellow mayors in West Orange and Livingston, trustees and officials here in town, and of course the thousands of commuters who were impacted by this change and voiced their frustration directly to NJ Transit and to us.
This is a big step, and we look forward to working with residents through our NJ Transit Advisory Committee to continue to work with NJ Transit to make improvements to the commuter experience in South Orange, such as continuing to improve the schedules, crowding and overall commute, making improvements Main Station on Sloan Street, working with NJ Transit on Transit Oriented Development projects and continued support of our jitney service.
In other news:
- The 2013 State Of The Village is Monday, the 18th at 8pm in Village Hall. RSVP by emailing me back. Hope to see you there!
- There will be an informational meeting with Village officials and the NJ Department of Environmental Protection at 7:30pm on Tuesday the 19th in Village Hall to directly address any questions any community members may have regarding EOWC or the water supply. The video will be posted online after
- Mark your calendars for South Orange River Day, which is May 5th from 11am-4pm. Learn more: http://southorange.org/notices.asp?guid=93524cde
- Check out the most recent edition of the Gaslight Newsletter for more news and information!
Board Approves Scotland Road Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Plan
After much deliberations, many neighborhood meetings and a rising concern among residents regarding issues of speeding and pedestrian safety on Scotland Road, I put together the following plan, under consultation with village administration and staff as well as the South Orange Transportation Advisory Committee.
This plan encompasses a number of short and long-term goals that will make a significant impact on the safety of the road. This is the first formal action the Board has taken to address these concerns, and I thank the five trustees (It passed 5-1) who voted for it. Read the full plan below:
