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This is the text of my column that appeared in the most recent issue of the News Record. “Tea Time with the Village President” Doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, but this is nonetheless a great opportunity to keep folks updated and informed about what is going on in South Orange. In addition to this column, which will appear in the last issue of each month of the News Record, I am keeping a blog on my website and Patch, doing video updates after the Board Meetings, looking into restarting an update show on SOMAtv in addition to micro-updates on Twitter and Facebook and office hours every Tuesday 4:30-6:30pm (to start). This builds off of the already great set of resources that are available to residents by watching the full meetings on southorange.org or on TV, or reading the minutes of any of the meetings, which are posted on the website (which will be going through a total redesign very soon). “How’s it been so far,” you ask?

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Today is the first farmers' market of the summer in downtown South Orange. Every Wednesday from 2-7pm check out the offerings from local farms off of Sloan Street! Thanks to Main Street for oganizing this and many other events!

Hey everyone - View the video below for the June 27th 2011 Regular Meeting of the South Orange Board of Trustees. Visit southorange.org for the minutes and the full video of the meetings! Download the audio file here to listen to the update or take it with you!

Hey everyone, had a full evening of meetings last night, and below you'll find a quick video update of the Board of Trustees Special and Conference Agenda Meetings. To find more details of the discussions: View the full video visit: http://www.southorange.org/videoViewer.asp View the agenda or minutes visit: http://southorange.gotdns.org/weblink7/

As an auditorium filled with people began typing, tweeting, blogging, Facebooking, texting and sharing, you knew it was the start of another Personal Democracy Forum. The conference is so heavily live-tweeted, that this year the hashtag (which is used on Twitter to signify the topic of a given tweet) #pdf11, became a nationally trending topic - in other words it was one of the top 10 keywords in the United States for part of the first day. And for good reason... Speakers at this year's conference at NYU's Skirball Center included US Senator Kristen Gillibrand, Congressman Jason Chaffetz, White House Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra, Craigslist founder Craig Newmark, Egypt pro-democracy activist Alaa Abd Al Fattah, Beth Noveck, former White House Chief Technology Officer, and Dan Sinker, professor and @MayorEmmanuel creator (a full list of speakers here). Topics ranged from creating participatory budgeting at the federal government, opening voting data, protecting internet user's privacy, revolutionizing journalism, supporting democracy in Egypt and Tunisia with new media and connecting resources to those around the world most in need. I don't want to dive into all the talks because not only were there too many to list here (though here is a list),...

Hey everyone - I would like to wish everyone a Happy Memorial Day and give you a little update on what I've been working on over the past couple weeks and what is to come. I say this in the video, but I'll repeat it here - It's important to take at the least a moment today to reflect on the sacrifices many have made for us to have what we have today. This morning someone said to me that the best summation they heard was "For many, this weekend is not just about BBQs." Please take a look at the video below and let me know if you have any questions! You can always find me on Facebook, Twitter, email or stop by Village Hall! (I'll be announcing formal office hours as soon as I figure out an office!)

Below is my quick summary of the May 23rd 2011 Regular meeting of the Board of Trustees. This is just an overview so definitely visit southorange.org for the minutes or to watch the full video of the meeting!

Thank you South Orange for choosing me to be your next Village President and thank you to the volunteers and supporters who made it happen! This is deeply exciting and humbling to have this opportunity. Since Tuesday, I have been trying to respond to the hundreds of emails and phone calls about the election from people who are just as excited as I am about the progress that will be made in the next four years. There will be more information added to the site soon. This is going to be an exciting time for South Orange and an exciting time for government! Alex