Dear Neighbors,
This edition of the Rudin Report: A 17-year victory for Pillot Place residents, costly Township mistakes, questions about taxpayer spending, and why accountability matters. Read the latest and please forward it to a friend and invite them to sign up.
GOOD NEWS FIRST: PILLOT PLACE FINALLY GETS PERMIT PARKING
Last year, longtime Pillot Place resident and an award-winning Redwood Schoolteacher Joy Burnett came to a Council meeting displaying $1,400 in parking tickets (now totaling over $2,000) for parking on her own street where she owns a home and pays taxes. When I learned she had spent 17 years asking the Township for permit parking, I started advocating for her and her community.
For too long, Joy and her neighbors have endured the daily frustration of trying to park on their own streets because Seton Hall Prep students filled the available spaces, despite the fact that “The Prep” has off-site parking and a shuttle bus. Students parked throughout the Alphabet Streets, including Pillot, Quinby, Riggs, and Swain, because the streets above the neighborhood had received permit parking years earlier, a measure denied to the streets below Rollinson Ave.
On July 21, the Council finally got one street right. We rejected Mayor McCartney’s proposal for a “pilot” and unanimously approved permanent permit parking for Pillot Place on first reading. The remaining Alphabet Streets will now be addressed one by one.
This is a victory for Joy and her neighbors. It never should have taken 17 years.
The question remains: Why did Mayor McCartney and the current council members who served through some, if not most, of those nearly two decades ignore this problem for so long? And when will the rest of the Alphabet Streets finally get relief?
WHEN SIGNS BECOME SYMBOLS
Eleanor Frank enjoys walking her dog around Crystal Lake. During one of her walks, she noticed something curious about the renovations near the Oscar Schindler Amphitheater. There were eight interpretive signs around the lake, and every single one highlighted the same species of tree: the Red Maple.
That repetition piqued my curiosity. The signs did not look cheap. After digging through a large contractor bill for the OSPAC amphitheater project, I found the cost: $2,500 per sign or $20,000 in total. One of the signs I found was right in front of a white fence, not a tree in sight.
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WATCHING YOUR WALLET
Would you pay a household bill with no explanation of what you were buying? Most people wouldn’t. That’s why I once again asked my colleagues to delay paying Township bills that contained no documentation.
One medical invoice sought payment of $7,750 but only provided the vendor’s job description, not a single service that was rendered.
Every member of the Council voted to look the other way. Rather than insisting on basic documentation before spending taxpayer money, they ridiculed my insistence on accountability, as if requesting documentation was the problem, not the Township’s insufficient checks and balances. Maybe this laissez-faire attitude helps explain why we are $170 million in debt!
MAYOR SUSAN McCARTNEY’S $123,874 HIRE
At the May 5 budget hearing, Mayor McCartney requested $120,000 to hire a Deputy Director of Planning. The Council rejected that request by a 3-2 vote.
Despite that vote, I discovered that the Mayor had hired a Deputy Director anyway. The salary is $123,874, not including benefits, exceeding even the amount the Council rejected.
West Orange’s government operates under the Faulkner Act, where the Town Council controls appropriations. How, then, can the Mayor create and pay for a position that the Council declined to fund? Is this mayoral overreach, or is the administration planning on shifting money between budget lines to pay for a position that was never approved?
This issue came to light because I asked these questions. Residents deserve clear answers about whether proper procedures were followed and whether any laws, ordinances, or budget requirements were violated.
A PERSONAL MESSAGE
The last two weeks have reinforced why I am running for Mayor: to bring accountability to Town Hall, strengthen fiscal oversight, and ensure residents have a voice in the decisions that affect their daily lives.
Responsive local governments should not take 17 years to implement a solution to a problem brought by residents.
This is the work I am doing now, asking tough questions, advocating for residents, and fighting for transparency. From the office of Mayor, I can do it more effectively.
Town government works best when leaders collaborate. The Mayor’s failure to meet with the Town Council about her priorities and goals, even a single time, has resulted in a lack of shared vision and a government that is not working effectively for residents.
That is why I am running for Mayor: to restore accountability, transparency, and to lead a government that listens.
If you’d like to join my team of volunteers, please respond to this email and help me spread the word. I need your vote and welcome your support. As always, feel free to send me your thoughts and feedback.
Best regards,
Joyce
For more information about my campaign for mayor, visit: joycerudinformayor.com
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