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People everywhere are asking why the government does what it does, from South Orange, to New Jersey, to the entire nation and all across the globe. In times of great challenge, the status quo is challenged and more people start asking the question ‘Why?’ This is a question that does not get asked enough, because with questioning the status quo comes new ideas and progress. And it has been humbling to be part of that process so directly with the people who live and work in this town and care so deeply about it, as I do.So, thank you for being part of this process. We have much work to do ahead of us, but voicing your support for your next leadership in town is the first step, so get out and VOTE today! Click here to find your polling location. They are open 6am-8pm. If there are any issues that you find at a polling location, you can all us at 973.287.4159. Thank you! Alex

A guest post by Beth Teitel, which was sent out via email yesterday: With the municipal election for Village President only two days away, I want to take a moment out of my Mother's Day festivities to send everyone an email about the election, from a mother's perspective.I’m not writing about Alex simply because he’s my son – but because I am in a unique position to talk about how passionate Alex has been about our town.  While a student at Columbia High School, Alex first got involved in local politics to stand up against a thoughtless idea of a developer the board hired that would have destroyed the vibrant, diverse community of tennis players at the Baird.  Alex refused to accept it when he was told that the proposal (to replace tennis courts with additional parking spaces) was “too far along to stop – it’s a done deal”.  He began attending board meetings, gathered evidence against the proposal and worked with many other residents to make  sure their voices were heard.  Thankfully for the town, the efforts of all the residents were successful, and we still have a wonderful community of tennis players at the Baird, drawn from a...

Before we hit the weekend, I wanted to provide a quick update on the campaign to everyone! We picked up our yard signs today! If you'd like to support me by having one on your lawn, just head over to http://alextorpey.com/volunteer to sign up to have one placed at your house. We'll get in touch to arrange a time when we'll come by to throw it up. And if you'd like to, you can donate $10 to help cover the cost at http://alextorpey.com/donate. After sorting out the lawn signs I headed over to Seton Hall's WSOU 89.5 radio station to record an interview for the show "Leadership," which will air Saturday morning at 9am on 89.5FM and http://wsou.net. I also spent a couple hours this afternoon calling residents and talking to them. Really interesting conversations as always, and I hope everyone will come out to Seton Hall for the only candidate forum and debate. RSVP and find more information here: http://alextorpey.com/candidate_debate_at_seton_hall_unversity. Have a great weekend, talk to you soon! Alex

One of the most common themes in my conversations with the hundreds of residents I've met over the past couple of weeks is that they feel disengaged from our government and our town. Many are even past the point of being frustrated or unhappy, they have simply lost interest with what the Village does because they feel so distant from the decision makers and rarely, if ever, are contacted by the Village for their feedback, ideas or input. And at the very least they feel uninformed about what is going on and what decisions are being made.To see many of our residents and community members feeling so excluded from participation with our government tells me something: That much work needs to be done by our local government to re-engage our residents and get our community invested in the decisions that are made on behalf of them. I think people are tired of seeing developments go up that they had little to no say in. And they are tired of seeing policies enacted that they feel aren't in the best interest of their community, especially without any notice as a resident to get involved and make their voice heard before things...

Monday, April 18th, 2011FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASESOUTH ORANGE MAYORAL CANDIDATE TO SPEAK TO SOCIAL MEDIA’S ROLE IN CAMPAIGNING AND GOVERNMENTTorpey an Invited Speaker at Monthly Meeting of Regional Tech ProfessionalsSouth Orange, NJ – 23-year-old South Orange Village President Candidate Alex Torpey will address over 120 technology professionals at the Hoboken Tech Meet-Up monthly meeting on April 18th at 6:45 PM.  Torpey will be speaking about the role technology and social media can play in today’s government and how these tools are helping to allow him to run a grassroots political campaign in South Orange against a political slate that occupies all of the elected positions in South Orange’s governing body. “The social media platforms that hundreds of millions of people use every day, like Facebook and Twitter, have enormous value outside of interacting with friends and colleagues or sharing photos. These platforms help someone in a position like mine to communicate with large groups and provides tremendous untapped potential for government to engage with the people that it serves,” said Torpey. “We have the opportunity in South Orange to be a model for how connected, innovative and transparent a government can be, and I want to work with my community to...

Had a great weekend that was about as South Orange as it gets! It's been so exciting meeting so many residents over the past week or two, and finally today the weather even cooperated! I spent the morning attending a beautiful Palm Sunday service at the South Orange Vailsburg United Methodist Church and met a bunch of residents (and former teachers!). It was a great service and the issues of social justice and community betterment were almost too topical. Thank you to everyone at SOVUMC for inviting me into your community! Next I ran up to Carter Park to meet and talk to some of the local residents who were working to help clean up the area there as part of their Neighborhood Association. Wish I had taken some photos of the residents, and Seton Hall students, who were working together to take care of their neighborhood, it's a great example of how much energy our community puts into this town. After that, I spent some time speaking with residents in the Glenview Rd. area in Newstead about downtown development, improving our public safety and on how much we need to focus on promoting South Orange as a destination to...

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  |  April 7, 2011 CANDIDATE FOR VILLAGE PRESIDENT SPEAKS TO TOWN-WIDE SAFETY CONCERNS South Orange, NJ - Alex Torpey, a South Orange resident, small business owner and candidate for Village President, released a series of statements today about safety concerns in the Township of South Orange Village including recent ‘flash mobs,’ tainted drinking water and armed robberies.“People move out to this community in large part because they are able to keep a close distance to New York City and to other resources while living in a diverse, safe and enriching environment," said Torpey. "The issue I've been hearing most frequently in my conversations with community members is that business owners, residents and students who contribute to this town are feeling as though their safety is not as guaranteed as they once thought."South Orange has recently been experiencing large groups of young people in the Village’s downtown, a gathering commonly referred to as 'flash mobs' that result in roughly 300 to 500 young people from the surrounding area loitering and causing disturbances downtown. A February flash mob resulted in the assault of a store owner and multiple arrests. Four other police departments responded mutual aid into the town...

Last night, we had out first official meet and greet at a local business. And what better venue to host than Bunny's, who provided some complimentary refreshments to the several dozen people who came out to talk about how we can more proactively address the concerns of our community moving forward. I got to see some familiar faces and meet some residents for the first time. As I mention in my short impromptu speech below, hearing about the stories of residents, students and businesses owners is really the basis for this campaign, and I encourage anyone who wasn't able to make the event last night to check out our upcoming events at some more local business and residents' houses at alextorpey.com/events, or drop me an email or a note on Facebook or Twitter. Here is my short address to community members last night: