Blog

Last week I spoke about local government innovation as part of a civic innovation series for Emergency Local Government Leaders. Check it out below!  

I sat down with NJTV to look back on some lessons learned and challenges from the last four years, as well as look ahead at what's next! Check it out below:  

It was my distinct honor and pleasure on Monday night to swear-in Sheena Collum, South Orange's first female Village President - and second youngest. Her service on the Board and as a volunteer in town has been considerable, is the reason I supported her two years for trustee and again this time around for Village President.       More: http://villagegreennj.com/towns/government/torpey-era-ends-south-orange/ http://villagegreennj.com/towns/government/collum-sworn-49th-first-woman-south-orange-village-president/  

It was my distinct honor and pleasure on Monday night to swear-in Sheena Collum, South Orange's first female Village President - and second youngest. Her service on the Board and as a volunteer in town has been considerable, is the reason I supported her two years for trustee and again this time around for Village President.       More: http://villagegreennj.com/towns/government/torpey-era-ends-south-orange/ http://villagegreennj.com/towns/government/collum-sworn-49th-first-woman-south-orange-village-president/  

Yesterday, South Orange elected its first female Village President ever (And second youngest!).  I was proud to support Sheena Collum for Trustee in 2013 along with Steve Schnall and Walter Clarke and again for Village President in 2015. It's not every day you get to vote for the person who will be assuming your elected position, but in this case, I couldn't have been happier to do it! South Orange will be lucky to have her in the position of Village President, and it's just one more example of the South Orange community being open-minded and coming out to the polls to vote for who they think will genuinely lead the town in the best direction. We've made an enormous amount of progress in South Orange, and it will surely continue under her leadership. http://villagegreennj.com/towns/government/collum-elected-first-female-south-orange-village-president/

Some change is coming to South Orange and I wanted to make sure you knew about a couple big things next week: As you may have heard, Monday night I will be presiding over my last Board of Trustees meeting as Village President in South Orange. Over 100 meetings later (with a 100% attendance record at our twice-monthly Monday night meetings - my teachers at CHS would be proud!) I will bang the gavel in South Orange for the last time on Monday. The meeting agenda is short, and we’ll have a brief ceremony and some brief speechifying, of course, before retiring to Above Restaurant and Bar to toast to this incredible community we live in and to all of those who have made it that way. We’ve made so much progress, and none of it would be possible without so many people, and so many of you. (If you want a recap of where we’ve come in the last few years, check out the 2015 State Of The Village.) The Board meeting begins at 8pm, and there will an opportunity for comments as well, or just hang out with us before we adjourn and move to Above around 9-9:30pm. But...

On Friday, technology advocates, trainers and local government innovators converged on the White House for the first-ever White House Tech Meetup to talk about technology’s role in innovation and economic growth. Joined by the White House CTO Megan Smith, the White House Deputy CTO, The White House Office of Technology and Science Policy and Meetup Co-founder and CEO Scott Heiferman, around 100 technologists spent the day covering a wide-range of topics that were all focused on the social good and economic development that can come from smart, organized technology advocacy. "Home is where your startup is." - @NJTech. Great reminder on the power of community building. #WHMeetup — U.S. Digital Service (@USDS) April 17, 2015 The morning began with comments from Heiferman, Smith and the Director of the National Economic Council Jeffrey Zients, talking mainly about the important role that tech-sector growth has in building the national economy, discussing the White House’s “TechHire” initiative, among others. All emphasized the power that those in the room yield to make a difference, as Heiferman often came back to the point, “You are creating opportunity.” Tech Meetups and the Organizers behind them change lives every day. Check out their powerful stories: https://t.co/Z95o8qzVkV #WHMeetup...

Vic DeLuca, Maplewood Mayor co-signed the below letter I wrote, which was sent to the Essex County Freeholders as a follow up to my request that the recently implemented tuition credit program Middlesex County implemented for volunteer EMTs and Firefighters be considered in Essex. Read the full letter below: April 14th 2015   To the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders:   College tuition costs are rising. Since 1978, average college tuition costs have risen by 1,120%, outpacing food costs and even healthcare. A 2014 report from Bloomberg showed that tuition costs actually rose four times faster than the Consumer Price Index. 70% of students borrow money for college, and the average borrower will take on $33,000 of debt, adding up to a total student loan debt in the United States of $1.2 trillion as of last year.   And yet, even in difficult economic times with college and other critical costs rising so quickly, there are many men and women who continue to volunteer their time, hundreds and thousands of hours a year, risking their own safety to help others as volunteer Emergency Medical Technicians and volunteer firefighters. In South Orange, the all-volunteer rescue squad contributed over 17,000 hours last...