KEEPING OUR KIDS SAFE
Many thanks to the parents of Redwood Elementary School for bringing their safety concerns to me. For years, students have faced dangerous streets at drop-off and pick-up time. Our community suffered a tragedy with the loss of a young boy right in front of Redwood School as a result of unsafe parking practices. We should never experience that again.
I led an effort to improve safety on Redwood and Woodland Avenues. With the cooperation of the township engineer, new signs were ordered and installed, Principal Jackson’s staff created flyers to inform the parents, and our police are now on the streets to ensure compliance. Going forward, I would like to make sure every school has the signage and support they need.
EXECUTIVE SALARIES EXTRAVAGANCE CONTINUES
West Orange is $170 million in debt, but my colleagues on the council continue to authorize excessive contracts.
Case in point, the Council (except me) voted to pay the new Police Chief nearly $300,000 annually for a township with 98 police officers. The Chief of Police in Jersey City with 822 police officers is paid $234,816. Newark’s Chief of Police receives a salary of $269,300 and has a police force of 1,120 police officers. With the Council’s vote, the West Orange Police Chief is paid more than the Police Commissioner of New York City ($290,000), with a police force of 33,000. A township of 50,000 with a police chief earning more than counterparts in neighboring cities is beyond excessive, and it isn’t keeping West Orange residents safer.
Despite Councilman Krakoviak‘s seven-minute speech against the salary and the process, he and every other Councilmember, but me, voted FOR another corporate-sized salary.
BUDGET: LATE AGAIN … AND WORRISOME SPENDING INCREASES
For the 2025 budget, while I appreciated the support that I received from the other members of the Town Council, full disclosure, I was the one who identified every single opportunity for cuts to the McCartney budget. That saved West Orange taxpayers nearly $3.5 million without affecting programming or staffing. This took a lot of meetings and time and I am grateful for the other Councilmembers and staff slogging through it to present the leanest budget in years. I am also thankful for the tough reductions advocated by our hands-on Citizen’s Budget Advisory Board and look forward to working with this committed group of citizens.
In 2026, once again, Mayor McCartney submitted her budget to the Town Council very late and with a nearly 7% increase on spending. What will that bloated budget cost West Orange property owners, if adopted by the Council? The average West Orange resident will see an increase in property taxes of $312 PLUS tax hikes expected from the school board.
Monday, April 27th budget hearings begin. The budget will be available online. Express your concerns to members of the Council or Advisory Board and stay informed. The goal is to ensure wise spending and a limited tax increase.
McCARTNEY DIRECTS APPOINTEE TO PLAY HIDE AND SEEK WITH YOUR MONEY
In our form of representative government, the department directors spend appropriated funds, but it is the Council that has the power of the purse. To properly carry out my fiduciary duty as a member of the West Orange Council, I requested invoices for spending items on the Mayor’s 40-page, bi-monthly expense report. Mayor McCartney agreed to make them available until she arbitrarily and without explanation elected not to.
Ironically, this reversal came during Sunshine Week, when government transparency is supposed to be emphasized. Her appointee, Business Administrator Peter Smeraldo, sent me an email, “Please note that providing backups was an extended courtesy,” and said copies or photos of the invoices were not allowed without permission.
OUTRAGEOUS! This isn’t a courtesy. It is our fiduciary duty. These bills are public record. Instead, Mr. Smeraldo advised that I could only see the bills at arranged times under supervision of one of the busiest employees in town. This is administrative obstructionism, designed to limit oversight.
Despite the attempted obstruction, I identified a $600 late fee that has since been reversed, 30 unused phone lines with seven phones now disconnected (saving over $2300 this year) and possible double billing in an attorney’s fees. My 2025 review of cell phone bills has already saved the township $60,000.
GRANT MISMANAGEMENT VIOLATES COMMITMENTS
It is enough that Mayor McCartney has her appointee shield spending from scrutiny. Now her administration is mismanaging grant funding for specific projects.
OSPAC: A $1 million federal grant meant for improving OSPAC’s stage and sound was largely diverted to nearby road work, leaving the Council to fund the venue’s needs. Despite objections about rising debt, the entire Council (except me) approved a $238,000 bond, borrowing money (at a hefty interest rate) to fund an upgrade that was supposed to be covered by the free grant!
A week later, Mayor McCartney announced that the OSPAC amphitheater developer also committed $100,000 for OSPAC programming. But with the facility in need of upgrades, why couldn’t part of that money pay for the sound and stage instead of borrowing more money to put us further into the hole?
VECCHIO GARDEN GRANT: A QUARTER OF A MILLION DOLLAR BAIT AND SWITCH
Here’s the bait: in 2021, a senior master gardener was called over the weekend to urgently craft a grant to support the Vecchio Garden located in the rear section of Degnan Park next to the Katz Center. As it was during COVID, she included one piece of outdoor fitness equipment for seniors no longer entering gyms. A $250,000 Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant was awarded and celebrated with a photo op with then-Councilwoman McCartney, but the promised improvements never came. Even requested tree pruning turned into tree removal, leaving gardeners in the sun.
Here’s the switch: in 2025, seniors learned the grant request had been redirected from the garden to a recreation site without their knowledge. Instead of water, beds, fencing, tables, and a shed, they will get almost nothing while Degnan Park, already suffering from drainage issues, will get costly fitness equipment on environmentally unsafe artificial turf. After years of delay, the gardeners were recently told their basic garden needs would have to be funded elsewhere, meaning your tax dollars.
FREEDOM FROM FEAR
Some on the Council feel that West Orange is an island with no connection to things that go on beyond our township limits. But the reality is that our country and our community is facing a crisis. ICE agents have detained our residents, conducted dangerous car chases through our streets, and left families afraid to venture out of their homes. With the urging of residents, I proposed that we introduce a resolution creating ICE-free zones on municipal properties to allow our residents safe access to our town’s services. Our civil society is at risk and this affects all of us. I hope you’ll support me as the Council debates this.
Thank you for staying engaged. I love hearing back from you. Please stay in touch with your concerns and keep the feedback coming.
Best regards,
Joyce
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