TOWN WATCH
NEWARK – The Municipal Council, for the want of answers to a nearly $3 million question, had postponed its Sept. 5 vote on the $914.5 million Calendar Year 2024 Municipal Budget to at least Sept. 18. There may meanwhile be a meeting between Newark Public Library administrators and city officials.
The council unanimously approved at-large councilman and budget committee chairman Carlos Gonzalez’s resolution to table adoption that Thursday night until they can get some answers from Mayor Ras Baraka’s Administration, NPL and AFSCME Union Local No. 2298.
“I believe that everybody believes that the library should get some (additional) funding,” said Gonzalez on the motion. “Based on that and the uncertainty we have, I moved that the adoption of the budget be postponed until we get that information and maybe have to adjust the budget.”
Newark, like most New Jersey municipalities, are required by the state to fund their public libraries to a formulated minimum. The budget currently calls for a $10.91 million minimum pledge – as it was in 2023.
AFSCME members, who held a demonstration before the meeting, and several public speakers who urged for an increase. They are asking for a $2.5 million increase on the administration’s pledge instead of the administration’s original proposed hike.
Local 2298 President and New Jersey Room Librarian Beth Zak-Cohen said that inflation shrank NPL’s budget and the city’s pledge 48 percent, despite flat budget allocations, since 2007. Half of library staffers in the Metropolitan New York Region do not make the $28 an hour needed to live in a city like Newark. A $2.5 million increase would help the main library and its seven branches’ infrastructure, improve employees’ quality of life and have all of its branches reopen to Main Library hours.
NPL, since 2007, has had to “temporarily close” two of its branches due to budget cuts, sell off a third and close a fourth for “structural issues.” Some long standing librarians have left for other area libraries.
City Attorney Eric Pennington asked if NPL will be making its interim CFO Sharron Little permanent so she could keep an overall eye on the district’s finances. Pennington asked why NPL did not have a $4.5 million capital outlay from 2021 and suggested that the district should do more fundraising from corporations.
NPL Director Christian Zabriskie, who came aboard in July 2023, said Little needs the Library Board of Trustees’ approval to become permanent. $2.2 million is being spent on Main Library capital projects while others approved by his predecessor have been canceled, “because the library is not moving in that direction.”
IRVINGTON – A township man remains in critical condition in Newark’s University Hospital since his being struck by a hit-and-run driver in Union Aug. 29. The Union County Prosecutor’s Office and Union Township Police Department have since been searching for his striker.
The 34-year-old Irvington man, who is otherwise unidentified, was found lying across Stuyvesant Avenue near Pleasant Parkway at about 8:43 p.m. that Thursday. Hollywood Memorial Park forms a T intersection with Stuyvesant and Pleasant.
A surveillance recording, since aired on News 12 New Jersey, showed the man walking across the avenue when he was struck by a southbound dark colored Ford F-150 pickup truck with an extended cab. The truck and its driver continued towards Oakland Avenue.
Witness Robert Lee said he had heard a noise, went out to the street, found the victim and called police. UPD detoured traffic, including NJTransit’s No. 94 buses, around the accident scene.
The tape and Lee described the Ford as having New Jersey license plates, no pickup bed cover and a chrome front bumper. That bumper and hood should have impact damage.
Witnesses are asked to contact UPD Traffic Investigator Marco Novoa-Rios at mnovoarios@uniontownship.com or via dispatch at (908) 851-5000.
EAST ORANGE – The Sept. 18 special general election to fill the remainder of the late Rep. Donald M. Payne’s 10th Congressional District term is going on now here, in five other Local Talk towns whole or in part plus three “West Essex” towns, the central part of Hudson County’s Jersey City and eight Union County towns until 8 p.m. that Tuesday.
Democrat LaMonica McIver of Newark, Republican Carmen Bucco of Nutley, “All in One” independent Russell Jenkins of Maplewood and “Making Real Progress” Rayfield Morton of Orange are seeking the majority of votes from CD 10’s 18 towns in three counties to complete Payne’s term on Capitol Hill until Jan. 3. McIver and Bucco are to at least compete for what could have been Payne’s seventh full two-year term Nov. 5.
Early voting polling stations have been set up here in East Orange City Hall’s lobby, as well as lobbies at the Irvington Municipal Building, West Orange’s South Mountain Codey Arena and Newark’s Weequahic and West Side Park community centers and Essex County Complex Parking Garage since Sept. 7. They are to be open daily 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. through Sept. 16. More voting machines will be open 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. on Sept. 18.
The Essex County Clerk-Election Division and the Board of Elections are allowing Vote By Mail Ballots via the postal service so long as they get postmarked on or by 8 p.m. Sept. 18. County election officials, given Sept. 18’s proximity, prefer VBMBs be placed in designated drop boxes.
East Orange has its drop box in front of City Hall, Irvington’s before the public library and Orange’s City Hall. West Orange has one each at the Codey Arena and Municipal Building as does Montclair; Montclair State University Lot No. 8 and its municipal building. Newark has four drop boxes: City Hall-Green Street side, the county hall of records, Rutgers at 225 University Ave and NJIT at 184 Central Ave.
First-time voters may be asked to show proof of identification. Those who have VBMBs but want to personally vote at polling stations may need to bring the ballots and may have to fill out a provisional ballot.
Details and most questions may be answered at essexclerk.com or on its app. The 4 p.m. Sept. 10 first-time registration deadline has passed.
ORANGE – Tributes to Orange Police Department Sgt Dennis J. Vega have been recorded on the tribute page that Camino del Sol Funeral Home and Cremation Center, of Sun City West, Ariz., had opened on Sept. 6.
Vega, 65, who was a part of OPD’s motorcycle unit, died in Sun City West on Aug. 31.
Dennis John Vega, who was born in Orange June 2, 1959, was a city native until his retirement out west in 2005. Vega, Orange High School Class of 1978, found his outlet to serve his family, friends, neighbors and the community by joining “Orange’s Finest” in 1980.
Vega, during his 25 years on the force, was in the Motor Unit and the Police Honor Guard. Although he had received various commendations and was promoted from patrolman to sergeant, his greatest accomplishment was in balancing his work life with the life of his family, including his wife, three children and grandson.
“Dennis was thorough and detailed and was part of my inner circle when I was police director,” said Don Wactor. “He was instrumental in helping me update our rules and regulations and was the go-to guy when there were issues with the new (2000) police building. He was the most trustworthy person you could know, and you could always count on him to get the job done.”
“We met in the Third Grade, and we became fast friends, from altar boys to Boy Scouts, through high school,” said fellow former police director David Uricoli. “He was trustworthy, honest and a good man.”
Vega was documented in the first two episodes of Fox Television’s “Cops” series in 1991. That footage includes the exterior and interior of the long-demolished Father Rasi projects.
Three siblings are also among Vega’s survivors. Camino del Sol has nor announced further memorials as of press time.
WEST ORANGE – Sample township ballots for the Nov. 5 municipal election were posted Aug. 27 for six candidates – but with Council President Rev. William “Bill” Rutherford’s name absent.
Rutherford said that he was informed by Township Clerk Karen Carnevale Aug. 27 that a note was sent to him on Aug. 23. He was not able to read it due to his Sunday services and attending a Saturday funeral, until Aug. 26.
It was then he had learned that his petition signatures were found “fatally deficient” and his entry for council re-election was denied. Notice came too late for correction, curing or redress.
Rutherford, like the other six petitioning candidates, needed at least 395 signatures on his petition to make Nov. 5’s ballot on or by Aug. 22 with Aug. 26 for any curing or amendments.
The second-term councilman said he had filed petitions with 434 signatures by Aug. 8 but was later told by Carnevale that some were “deficient” and 36 signatures were needed. He submitted another 31 petitions, for 455 overall, on Aug. 22. The clerk said that he needed to finish the criminal background form – which he delivered at 4:04 p.m. Aug. 26.
Carnevale said on Aug. 23, that he needed four signatures to reach the minimum. He submitted seven more on Aug. 26 and said that at least 18 petitions should never have been disqualified.
Rutherford has filed a civil suit, including an injunction to restore his name to the Nov. 5 ballot, on Sept. 3. Carnevale, who said that the matter is in the hands of township lawyers, issued this statement:
“It’s unclear under the (state) statute whether a candidate can cure a defect in a signature. That issue is moot since Mr. Rutherford did not attempt to cure any ‘curable’ signatures. The only actions taken by Mr. Rutherford were to produce new signatures, which is indisputably prohibited by statute and was communicated to him multiple times.”
SOUTH ORANGE / MAPLEWOOD – South Orange Village has completed one town hall meeting on the Nov. 5 water infrastructure ballot question done with two more to hold as of press time.
The next meeting is set for Sept. 25 at 7 p.m. and, like the Sept. 11 first session, will be virtual. Its internet link is to be provided by the village’s web site.
A final, in-person is set for Oct 9, 7 p.m. at the newly renovated Baird Community Center, 5 Mead St., Third Floor.
At issue is the village selling its water department infrastructure to New Jersey American Water for $19.7 million – with Nov. 5 voters’ approval. The pending agreement on the public question referendum includes NJAW offering $50 million to replace any lead service lines it finds in South Orange.
NJAW, which also supplies water to Maplewood and Irvington, has been South Orange’s water supplier since Jan. 1, 2018. That water supply agreement included the utility to manage and maintain the South Orange Water Department water mains, service lines and meters – including billing.
The regional water utility has been posting online ads asking villagers to vote “Yes” Nov. 5. NJAW is promoting “Modernize the Water System & Ensure Predictable Rates.”
NJAW, however, has been given state Board of Public Utilities’ permission on Sept. 4 to raise systemwide water rates on Sept. 15. The average home’s water bill, by NJAW calculation, that is fed 5,642 gallons a month through a five-eighths-of-an-inch diameter meter pipe will go up about $5.33 per month. Details are found at amwater.com.
BLOOMFIELD / MONTCLAIR – Last rites for William C. Johnson, 76, included an Aug.20 visitation at Bloomfield’s O’Boyle Funeral home and an Aug. 21 funeral at Redeemer Montclair Church. Johnson, who inspired Danny Thomas to start St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, died on Aug. 15.
William Carl Johnson, who was born in Chicago Nov. 18, 1947, moved here in 1960. He did not let his practically lifelong blindness keep him from working as a hospital X-ray developer or marrying his wife, Nancy – who was also blind – in 1991.
It was when “Little Billy Johnson” met actor Danny Thomas in Peoria (Ill.) State Hospital in 1959 that caught the public eye. Johnson shouted out to Thomas during a hospital assembly and handed the actor an envelope with 75 cents he had saved from his candy and gum money.
Johnson was a premature baby with cerebral palsy who became blind and partially deaf due to excessive oxygen pumped into his incubator. His mother gave him up to a train of foster homes and state facilities the first 11 years of his life.
Thomas, upon receiving Jonson’s 75 cents, vowed that the donation will be the cornerstone for the 1962 St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. The Johnsons were flown to the hospital to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
Wife Nancy and sisters Alice Johnson and Elaine Evans are among his survivors. Memorial donations are to go to St. Jude Children’s Hospital.
BELLEVILLE – The Belleville Public Schools district has been looking for a private health benefits insurance carrier since Aug. 19 – when its Board of Education Trustees voted to leave the State Health Benefits Program.
SHBP, like the New Jersey Joint Insurance Fund, Energy Aggregation Fund and the state Cooperative Purchasing Program, operate that public agencies will save more money if they join a joint program instead of buying from a vendor or service by themselves.
SHBP, however, appears to not be working as planned. to BPS and some other agencies. The governing SHB Commission recently found itself recommending an 11 percent increase for the State Employee Group and 14.5 percent for the Local Education Health Program. This is on top of last year’s 20 percent increase.
HSBC said that increased emergency room visits and hikes in pharmaceutical medicine had been driving the rate boosts. The commission said that it had failed to factor in a higher than anticipated inflation rate this year.
The commission’s hikes came after collective bargaining agreements had been reached by government agencies and their unions – much to both parties’ consternation.
While some agencies are mulling whether to leave SHPB, Belleville’s educators stepped forward. BPS employees have not gone bare; they are covered by SHBP until a new carrier is found.
NUTLEY – Township Commissioners and its corporate counsel debated during its Aug. 16 meeting on whether one of Nutley’s advisory boards is subject to the state’s open public meetings and records acts.
The matter was brought up when it was learned that Nutley’s Economic Development Advisory Board held a meeting earlier this summer that was closed to Nutley’s business owners and the public – the very constituents the EDAB was created to help.
Township Attorney Genitempo said that Friday afternoon that the said board was not covered by OPMA or OPRA.
Walter L. Luers, Esq. countered that OMPA and OPRA does apply to the EDAB, stating: “because it was established by resolution by Nutley; that makes it an ‘instrumentality’ of Nutley.”
The EDAB, according to Nutley’s township website, publishes “Retail Minded” magazine for independent business owners – as of 2016. The volunteer board’s schedule and contact were not immediately available.
