South Orange BOT election
The irony is that DDF voted in FAVOR of the SID (SOVCA) before Sheena was even on the BOT.
mayhewdrive said:
The irony is that DDF voted in FAVOR of the SID (SOVCA) before Sheena was even on the BOT.
mayhewdrive, let's not let facts get in the way here. 
I don't know how anyone could watch the 4/24 candidate forum and vote against Sheena. Forget about DDF. I don't care if Obama, Bernie, or P. Buttigieg were debating against her, Sheena would have crushed them.
edited to correct date.
annielou said:
Has anyone bothered to find out what motivates the backlash against Sheena?
It seems clear that at least a fair amount of it is motivated by money from Joey D and the Essex County Machine.
I went to Bunny's a few times when we moved here and I was totally underwhelmed. Haven't been back in years. That said, if I did still eat there, I would probably stop.
Klinker said:
I went to Bunny's a few times when we moved here and I was totally underwhelmed. Haven't been back in years. That said, if I did still eat there, I would probably stop.
I know of two other establishments in SO to which I have applied that philosophy.
There is one thing which stood out to me in the Village Green article with Sheena's response to the accusations about the fire department merger.
She mentioned that the township paid out over $500K in overtime in one year. That's a lot for the town to pay out, and it looks like an onerous expense. The merger, according to her, would help lower that cost
If you look at it from the firefighters' point of view that's potentially $500K of income they'd be losing. I don't know what it boils down to for an individual firefighter, but imagine if everyone where you worked was figuring out how to save the company money by cutting $10K from your salary?
I think Sheena is doing what she has to for the best of the town, but if you want to understand the firefighters' motivation try and think about what that money means to them. I think the tactics have been underhanded but there's an emotional root to this story that I think shouldn't be ignored.
mrincredible said:
There is one thing which stood out to me in the Village Green article with Sheena's response to the accusations about the fire department merger.
She mentioned that the township paid out over $500K in overtime in one year. That's a lot for the town to pay out, and it looks like an onerous expense. The merger, according to her, would help lower that cost
If you look at it from the firefighters' point of view that's potentially $500K of income they'd be losing. I don't know what it boils down to for an individual firefighter, but imagine if everyone where you worked was figuring out how to save the company money by cutting $10K from your salary?
I think Sheena is doing what she has to for the best of the town, but if you want to understand the firefighters' motivation try and think about what that money means to them. I think the tactics have been underhanded but there's an emotional root to this story that I think shouldn't be ignored.
Yes, it us clear from reading the report that the inefficiency in the department has led to tremendous overtime. By combining departments and rotating staff much overtime can be eliminated. But the flip side is that we have not been paying for advanced training for our guys, and this would let us. We have been starving the department for years.
I just got the new DDF mailer and it focuses on the property tax issue between South Orange and Maplewood. Just as the mailer before on the Fire Department this is large, dramatic and specific to one issue. If you have no information on the topic it just might convince you to vote that ticket.
If you are not very involved in our local politics, getting one mailing which sounds like your house will go up in flames and another telling you that you are being overtaxed, just might get you to the polls.
I'm very unhappy about the tone of this election. With our current political atmosphere on the national stage, I was looking forward to some nice friendly local competition but this is just unpleasant.
mrincredible said:
There is one thing which stood out to me in the Village Green article with Sheena's response to the accusations about the fire department merger.
She mentioned that the township paid out over $500K in overtime in one year. That's a lot for the town to pay out, and it looks like an onerous expense. The merger, according to her, would help lower that cost
If you look at it from the firefighters' point of view that's potentially $500K of income they'd be losing. I don't know what it boils down to for an individual firefighter, but imagine if everyone where you worked was figuring out how to save the company money by cutting $10K from your salary?
I think Sheena is doing what she has to for the best of the town, but if you want to understand the firefighters' motivation try and think about what that money means to them. I think the tactics have been underhanded but there's an emotional root to this story that I think shouldn't be ignored.
The study said that both South Orange and Maplewood are understaffed. So the solution is a) spend money to hire additional firefighters, b) continue to pay overtime, or c) merge the fire departments to gain more efficiency.
A poster on Facebook says that the firefighters don't want to work overtime: they want to be home with their families. The poster supports DDF - actually, it's more that the poster opposes Sheena and the merger. They want South Orange to hire more firefighters.
It seems to me that what is being proposed here is similar to what happened in 2016 when Sheena and the police union reached agreement on new scheduling. By changing the hours of the shifts, a savings of $500,000 a year in reduced overtime was achieved.
Cramer, part of what I read said that the staffs of both departments were relatively small, so if someone was sick or on leave it was difficult to cover without overtime. By combining there is more flexibility to move people between assignments on a day to day basis without short staffing any station or incurring overtime.
There are reports of out-of-town firefighters knocking on doors in South Orange to campaign.
Steve Lenox, of Lenox Consulting, is a consultant for NJ FMBA. It is my understanding that he is involved in this election. Some of the pieces in Tapinto look as if Lenox was involved with them.
"Lenox Consulting is proud work with the New Jersey FMBA, as well with Locals across the state, including in Hamilton, helping them strategically deliver key messages to residents, lawmakers and the media in the communities they serve."
http://www.lenoxconsulting.com/fmba-not-just-fighting-fires/
cramer said:
Steve Lenox, of Lenox Consulting, is a consultant for for NJ FMBA. It is my understanding that he is involved in this election. Some of pieces in Tapinto look as if Lenox was involved with them.
http://www.lenoxconsulting.com/fmba-not-just-fighting-fires/
They all love a good sale.....
Lenox also appears to own a TapInto franchise. Go figure.
https://www.tapinto.net/towns/paterson/articles/steve-lenox-franchises-tapinto-paterson
Morganna said:
Morganna said:Wonders never cease, 2 weeks after posting the above, the liquidation sale was today. Was it even 2 years into the 7 year lease?
He came to a SOMA for Animals public meeting when we were discussing backing People for Animals to take over the old JAC. Then he brought Run Jump Lift to temporarily rent the building when at a Town Hall meeting I was told that no temp use could be made of the space. But he got his way. PFA who was helping the town was never even told despite letting the town know they would be putting in a bid as soon as the RFP was out.
When it finally came out all of the gym members came down to lobby for keeping him in.
So will the old Jersey Animal Coalition building at 298 Walton be empty again?
Contrary to what Leslie Gilman said to you in the pet group on Facebook, Mr. Zuckerman was very involved in Run, Jump, Lift's acquisition of the JAC space. I vividly remember Malcolm publicly thanking Mr. Zuckerman for his assistance in facilitating this acquisition. Ms. Collum also acknowledged SOVCA's involvement at the same meeting:
MasterP said:
Lenox also appears to own a TapInto franchise. Go figure.
https://www.tapinto.net/towns/paterson/articles/steve-lenox-franchises-tapinto-paterson
That probably explains why Tapinto SOMA has been a constant source of PR for DDF and publishes opinion pieces that try to smear Sheena. I expect more of the same.
cramer said:
That probably explains why Tapinto SOMA has been a constant source of PR for DDF.
MBM at VG is a stenographer for SC & BZ. Never is there a deep dive into any of the press releases given to MBM at VG. The only way to get an announcement into the VG is to pay for advertising. Unfortunately, we don't have any investigative free press that actually looks into the facts. SOVCA has given lots of ad dollars to VG so they get favorable "reporting."
As an example, there are numerous questions from our neighbors as to whether or not BZ was forced out of his position. If MBM looked into what had actually transpired instead of cutting and pasting a press release, she would have found the truth.
cramer said:
shelag67 sounds like one of the Bunny's crowd.
I'm not illiterate.
shelag67 said:
MBM at VG is a stenographer for SC & BZ. Never is there a deep dive into any of the press releases given to MBM at VG. The only way to get an announcement into the VG is to pay for advertising. Unfortunately, we don't have any investigative free press that actually looks into the facts. SOVCA has given lots of ad dollars to VG so they get favorable "reporting."
As an example, there are numerous questions from our neighbors as to whether or not BZ was forced out of his position. If MBM looked into what had actually transpired instead of cutting and pasting a press release, she would have found the truth.
Shame on you! Mary and Village Green provide a much needed service to the community performing actual journalism. TAP just posted a hit-job on Sheena that was posted by the FD Union as “news”, but which happened to be the exact same way it was posted in the “NJ Globe”, an un-heard of site from Bridgegate felon, David Wildstein.
Steve Lenox owns more than the Tapinto Paterson franchise - "a growing network of TAPinto hyperlocal news sites." Definitely TAPinto SOMA, which explains a lot. And look at the shout-out to the NJ FMBA.
"As always- proud to host with NW Financial Group, LLC and Publiticsand bring some new attention TAPinto Paterson, TAPinto Bayonne, and the growing network of TAPinto hyperlocal news sites!
And thank you to John Hund of the NJ FMBA for the pics!
https://www.facebook.com/LenoxConsulting/
Lenox is based in Essex Co.
TAPinto, the NJ FMBA and Joe D. This is what Sheena is up against.
OhHenry said:
Lenox seems to own the Patterson and Bayonne TapInto franchises - but who is "FMS Enews LLC," the owner of the South Orange franchise?
From my hunting, it seems to be Fred Smith, a local resident who, according to LinkedIn, brought 15 years of experience running a clothing store when he bought the franchise. Like other similar businesses, it takes paid press releases and has some basic reporting.
This is a tangled web! I found this article about South Orange/Maplewood TapInto franchiser, Fred Smith (who seems to live in the same apartment complex as Sheena, though I could be wrong about that).
In this article, there is this exchange:
"Q. Is TAPinto full time for you or do you still work outside of the journalism world?
TAPinto is my only business activity, although I spend a significant amount of time doing charitable work. I am also a member of the South Orange and Maplewood Chambers of Commerce."
Does SOMA TapInto owner Fred Smith have a personal interest in the Chamber of Commerce, thus being at odds with SOVCA? Further, note that the interview is authored by "staff" but published by the Patterson franchise, with a photo of Steve Lenox atop the page.
cramer said:
annielou said:I think most of the opposition from Bunny's and Elaine Harris is because of the formation of the South Orange Village Center Alliance (SOVCA.) For years, there had been a turf war between the Chamber of Commerce, headed by Elaine Harris and the owners of Bunnys, and Downtown Main Street. Bunny's and Elaine Harris always felt that the Chamber should be the only party involved in the downtown. Then when Sheena was elected a trustee, she was a big supporter of a downtown special improvement district (SID.) Bunny's and Elaine Harris were big objectors to the SID. SOVCA was formed, over their objections, and has been a gigantic success (and the owner of Bunnys is on the board of SOVCA.) Other than that, plus Calabrese's grudge agianst Sheena, I don't know what motivates the backlash against Sheena. But I guess that's enough.
Has anyone bothered to find out what motivates the backlash against Sheena?
While I may not agree with everything this BOT does, I am at least comfortable with her competence and outreach to constituents. What has happened in the past to raise the ire of those in town who so vehemently oppose her?
Maybe shelag67 is Fred Smith, since shelag67 bad-mouthed Village Green.
joy said:
Here's the link to the videoOnce the Village Green has had a chance to note the time codes for questions - you'll be able to go to specific parts. If you're not a VG supporter - please do consider doing so - they provide a very valuable service.
At the 1:49 mark on this video, Deborah states "I manage the Legislative branch of governance for the County". With no disrespect to her job, she is the Clerk of the Essex County Freeholders, which as I understand, is the County equivalent of what Village Clerk, Kevin Harris, does today, or which Robin Kline did previously. Those positions do not "manage the legislative branch" - they work FOR the legislative branch to write the agenda, prepare minutes and handle other administrative duties. I don't understand why she is overstating her role and can't imagine "her" Freeholders would appreciate being perceived as being managed by the Clerk.
In addition, since the primary responsibility of a Clerk is to take minutes, I wonder why the Legal and Personnel committee, which has been Chaired by DDF for her 12 years on the BOT, appears to have minutes for only 65 meetings! The committee is supposed to meet monthly, meaning there should be minutes for 144 meetings over 12 years.
Even if you assume a couple meetings a year are cancelled due to holidays or vacations, we should expect to have minutes for 120 meetings of the Legal and Personnel Committee. I can only find minutes for 65 meetings in 12 years! (54%)
I was glad to see that all of the candidates who spoke on development say that it was something that could mitigate tax increases. Matt Wonski said that new downtown development was "necessary" to offset taxes, pointing out that it would be possible to give PILOT money to the school system. Bob Zuckerman spoke at length to make the same point about development stabilizing taxes. Bob Zuckerman also talked about new development's potential to help downtown retail and restaurants, calling the residents of new developments "walking wallets." Zuckerman also pointed out that very few school-aged children live in transit-oriented development.
shelag67 said:
Contrary to what Leslie Gilman said to you in the pet group on Facebook, Mr. Zuckerman was very involved in Run, Jump, Lift's acquisition of the JAC space. I vividly remember Malcolm publicly thanking Mr. Zuckerman for his assistance in facilitating this acquisition. Ms. Collum also acknowledged SOVCA's involvement at the same meeting:
https://villagegreennj.com/business/run-jump-lift-wins-temporary-lease-former-jac-shelter-south-orange/
Thank you. That's as I remembered it but wanted to be sure.
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I think most of the opposition from Bunny's and Elaine Harris is because of the formation of the South Orange Village Center Alliance (SOVCA.) For years, there had been a turf war between the Chamber of Commerce, headed by Elaine Harris and the owners of Bunnys, and Downtown Main Street. Bunny's and Elaine Harris always felt that the Chamber should be the only party involved in the downtown. Then when Sheena was elected a trustee, she was a big supporter of a downtown special improvement district (SID.) Bunny's and Elaine Harris were big objectors to the SID. SOVCA was formed, over their objections, and has been a gigantic success (and the owner of Bunnys is on the board of SOVCA.) Other than that, plus Calabrese's grudge agianst Sheena, I don't know what motivates the backlash against Sheena. But I guess that's enough.