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Dear Neighbors,
ON DEALS AND DEVELOPMENTS
In April 2022, then-Councilmembers Susan McCartney and Tammy Williams voted to sell our downtown library to developer Joe Alpert for $1 million without an appraisal or open bid in order to build senior housing. This deal cost West Orange a valuable library location. The so-called “free” new library, hidden behind the ShopRite at Essex Green in an outdated office building, has already burdened taxpayers with millions of dollars in additional renovations, with additional millions needed.
Then, on August 7, 2026, the Council voted 4-1 to transfer another Township-owned property at 18 Central Avenue to the same developer. Again, there was no appraisal and no open bid. The cherry on top of this massive giveaway of public property? A 30-year tax break for the developer. I opposed this tainted and unfair deal.
Before the vote, I requested that Councilmember Tammy Williams recuse herself because she had recently accepted a $1,000 campaign contribution from the developer. She declined. New Jersey’s Local Government Ethics Law prohibits a local official from acting on a matter where direct or indirect financial or personal involvement might reasonably be expected to impair the official’s objectivity or independence of judgment.
WHAT HAPPENED TO 18 CENTRAL AVENUE?
West Orange Township acquired the contaminated 18 Central Avenue property through a tax foreclosure in 2016. In 2017, Mayor Parisi gave the Alpert Group the right to purchase the property for $1.5 million, with the price later reduced through credits for costs paid by the developer to clean up the property. Then-Councilmembers Susan McCartney and Joe Krakoviak voted for that one-sided deal that benefited the developer, not the taxpayers.
Then, in 2021, the Council approved an even sweeter deal for the developer, a PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) for the 94-unit development, allowing the developer to make negotiated payments instead of paying ordinary property taxes. Then-Councilmembers Susan McCartney and Tammy Williams voted YES.
When properties pay less in conventional property taxes, the tax burden can shift to other taxpayers.
410 MAIN STREET: RESIDENTS FOUGHT. THE PLANNING BOARD SAID NO.
In June 2024, a developer proposed a three-story, 12-unit apartment building at 410 Main Street in the downtown Heights area. Residents fought it, citing concerns about size, parking and traffic. More than 170 residents signed a petition against this project. After seven hearings, the Planning Board rejected the project on December 11, 2024.
Then, West Orange failed to file its Affordable Housing Plan by the June 30, 2025 deadline, exposing our Township to “builder’s-remedy lawsuits.” Under West Orange’s form of government, the Mayor is responsible for developing and submitting the plan. Susan McCartney failed to do her job.
The developer of 410 Main Street subsequently sued West Orange following the Planning Board’s rejection. On August 18, 2026, four members of the Township Council, including Joe Krakoviak and Tammy Williams, voted to settle the lawsuit, allowing the project to move forward. I was the only no vote.
The Council could have continued litigating the case or sought stronger protections for the neighborhood through negotiations. Instead, it approved a settlement allowing the project to proceed.
Residents said no. The Planning Board said no. The developer sued, and the neighborhood is now paying the price. West Orange Park Drive Loop residents should never have been put in this position in the first place.
WHY ARE YOUR SEWER BILLS SO HIGH AND WHY IS THE TOWNSHIP BORROWING MORE MONEY?
In 2023, then-Council President Tammy Williams signed a resolution shifting sewer fees to a bedroom-based formula, based on the premise that homes with more bedrooms would use the sewer system more. The rate was set at $550 for a five-bedroom home, with a $50 charge or credit for each bedroom above or below five. This made no sense to many of our senior residents, who may live alone in homes once occupied by many family members.
In July 2023, Mayor McCartney claimed that the new fees would fully fund the Township’s sewer system, including treatment, maintenance, repairs, improvements and the amortized cost of construction.
However, at the August 18, 2026, Town Council meeting, Mayor McCartney requested a $3 million bond for 2026 Sewer Capital Acquisitions. This raises a serious question: If sewer fees were intended to fully fund the sewer system, why is the Township now borrowing another $3 million?
With West Orange already carrying $170 million in debt, I could not support borrowing another $3 million without a clear accounting of where the approximately $9 million collected in sewer fees went.
Though he has repeatedly “talked” about our debt, Councilmember Joe Krakoviak voted to approve the additional borrowing. Though her support for a new sewer formula was intended to address our sewer issues, Tammy Williams supported the bedroom-based formula that increased the burden on many homeowners.
There is no doubt that our 110 miles of sewer infrastructure are in need of upgrades. But we need a comprehensive plan to address this, not simply additional fees and borrowing that do not solve the underlying problem.
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