DE LUCA STATE OF THE TOWNSHIP

Mayor Vic De Luca, appointed and sworn in to his third straight term as mayor today, listed his accomplishments, but also took shots at cuts in his annual address.


We present it below in full:

STATE OF THE TOWNSHIP ADDRESS

MAYOR VICTOR DE LUCA

January 1, 2011

Happy New Year to everyone here and watching at home.

I want to offer my congratulations to Marlon. This is the first day of the 1,096 days in your first term. Take a deep breath and get ready to serve this great community. You will find that it will be both an honor and a privilege.

Thank you to Lester Lewis-Powder for your service over the past three years. Today you join a distinguished list of former Township Committee members, whose efforts have made Maplewood a better place to live and raise a family.

And to my colleagues, I thank you for your support of me as the Mayor in 2011. For the past two years, we have worked collegially and cooperatively and have accomplished a great deal. Together we will take on the challenges that stand before us.

You know, I’m just happy to be standing here, in fact standing anywhere. Fifteen weeks ago I was on the operating table having major surgery to remove a tumor on my pancreas. I don’t have time to tell you all the thoughts that raced through my mind before I found out the tumor was benign.

I was one of the lucky ones. Nevertheless, going through this I gained a clearer sense of life and the importance of living it to its fullest. You ask yourself what’s important – your family, your friends, your values, your religion or spiritual beliefs, maybe even your job. 

For me and I am sure for my colleagues, all of those are important as is serving as a member of the Maplewood Township Committee. I found a quote from Craig McDonald, Director of Texans for Public Justice, that really sums this up well. He said, “The highest calling in a democracy is citizenship. It’s being active as citizens who make political change and dedicate themselves to making the country a better place, to make the world a better place.”

I think we – the Township Committee, Township employees and the hundreds of volunteers in our community – are making Maplewood a better place and by extension, positively impacting our country and the world. And because of our collective efforts the state of the Township of Maplewood as we enter 2011 is great.

Ten years ago during my 2001 State of the Township Address, I said that Maplewood “must remain as an attractive community, with a sound housing stock and viable neighborhoods throughout; a town where a sense of community is strong and diversity and inclusivity are valued.” I am happy to say that we have done just that, keeping Maplewood as a desirable community.

And even in these difficult economic times, families are moving into Maplewood. From January through November of this year, 226 homes were sold with an average sale price of $493,000. Homes were on the market for an average of only two months and sold for about 97 percent of the asking price.

In October, Kathy, Jerry and I were on Springfield Avenue during one of our Talk to the Township Committee Saturday morning sessions. A long time resident came by to share a few opinions and we asked him how people respond when they find out he lives in Maplewood. He said the responses include: “a beautiful town;” “a good school system;” “wonderful downtown;” “nice parks;” “a great community;” and of course “high property taxes.” We asked him how he feels about those comments and he said he’s proud to live in Maplewood, to have raised his children here, and to see the positive changes that have occurred.

We have built a respected and valuable brand of community and that’s why Maplewood receives the recognition that it does. These honors include the 2002 designation as one of the best places to live in America and the 2010 listing by New Jersey Monthly as one of the top 100 towns in the state. Thank you for the role you played in making our town the great place it is today.

So in 2010, we did a few things. The playing fields at DeHart Park were completely redone with natural grass and a new walking path with lighting was installed. We renovated the shelter house in Maplecrest Park, upgraded the roller hockey rink at DeHart Park and rebuilt the basketball courts in Memorial Park.

Traffic calming measures were put in place on streets near the high school and around Tuscan School. We did a complete repaving of Burnett Avenue from the Union border to Springfield Avenue. And we installed sidewalks and curbs and new paving on Williams Street and Elsmore Terrace.

A new roof was put on the main library building and an elevator and lift were installed to allow access to all library floors by those with limited mobility. The library’s Board of Trustees successfully undertook a number of grassroots fund raising campaigns and they established a library foundation to help raise funds going forward.

The fourth annual Green Day was held in October, attracting thousands to the all day festival in Memorial Park. The Township continued its path setting roles on environmental sustainability and in December, Fred Profeta, our Deputy Mayor for the Environment, received the Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award for Environmental Leadership.

We initiated a campaign to make sure everyone was counted in the 2010 Census. Maplewood had a 79% mail return rate, which was five percent higher than the 2000 Census. It was also higher than the 74% return rate for the nation and for New Jersey, the 65% rate for Essex County and the 78% return2 for South Orange. And while in a competitive vein, I am proud to report that the Maplewood Township Committee was the winner of the foul shooting contest against the South Orange Village Board of Trustees.

You may have heard that we did a revaluation. With the help of a citizen’s advisory committee, we sponsored four public meetings and did a television show to explain the ins and outs of the revaluation process. Appraisal Systems Inc. did a very good job and throughout January they will continue to meet with residents to go over their assessments.

Last year we went electronic, using the Internet and our website to exchange information with the public. We moved the Maplewood Leaflet from a print document to an electronic one and we are now communicating with hundreds of residents on our e-mail list. And under the leadership of Mr. Ryan, we designed a new and more user friendly website that will debut later this month.

Residents of the Jacoby Street area adjacent to Seth Boyden School raised crime related concerns with us. Our response was to put together an unprecedented inter-department plan to tackle safety, health and property maintenance problems in a unified manner. We held a leadership meeting of residents in July, an informational street fair in September, and two community meetings in the fall. The results have been a significant drop in police incidences, resolution of property maintenance violations, and the establishment of block watch groups. Our message remains loud and clear – All of Maplewood neighborhoods are important and part of one community. And no one, in town or outside of town, will be allowed to destroy the quality of life for our residents. I want to recognize our prosecutor, Annette DePalma, for her leadership of this campaign.

Just over eight years ago, October 30, 2002, I signed a contract with the New Jersey Department of Transportation giving Maplewood jurisdiction of Springfield Avenue. This allowed us to install new sidewalks, pedestrian scale lighting and traffic calming bump outs. This year, we awarded the final contract for the last stretch of the Avenue’s streetscape. By next summer we will have the entire two mile length of the roadway completed. As we did in 2002, we will have a parade down the Avenue, with a marching band, to celebrate this achievement.

What was once a dividing line between sections of town, Springfield Avenue is now part of the economic and community development landscape for Maplewood. Shortly construction will begin on the Walgreens that will rise at the corner of Burnett and Springfield Avenues. In addition, the Township Committee just approved a redeveloper’s agreement with the Daibes group to build a food establishment with five apartments above on the corner opposite Walgreens, the site of the former Shell Station. A 7-Eleven was approved for the former Jiffy Lube site next to the Hilton Branch of the library. And we are in discussions with other prospective property and business owners about other opportunities along the Avenue.

We also made improvements to the Irvington Avenue shopping district. Last spring a new 7-Eleven was opened at a former gas station at Parker Avenue. We worked with the County of Essex to plant 25 new trees along Irvington Avenue and we began to work on unifying the merchants around other improvement initiatives.

Maplewood Village continues with its vibrancy. We are fortunate that vacancies don’t last long on Maplewood Avenue. In 2011 there will be two new restaurants opening up and the Township Committee, working with the Village Alliance, just instituted a new merchant parking plan that should help open parking spots for shoppers. In the new year we will be making plans for the 2013 move of the post office from the current location to another site in town. Our vision is to construct a multi-use building on that site with retail on the first floor and residential on the floors above. Plans are to retain a post office service in Maplewood Village.

Also on the economic development front are a 124 unit apartment building at the former Universal Chain factory site on Burnett Avenue, a 33 unit luxury rental building at the former police station site on Dunnell Road and a housing development at the former Maplewood Building Specialties off Boyden Avenue. Additionally, we are working with the new owner of the Woman’s Club to make sure we can do whatever is possible to preserve that historic building.

There has been a lot of talk by our Trenton leaders about the need for municipalities to share services. Well Maplewood is in the forefront of that too.

On Monday, we start operating the Maplewood and South Orange Shared Municipal Court and Violations Bureau at the Maplewood Police and Court Building on Springfield Avenue. The combined entity will handle about 40,000 filings, making it one of the largest courts/violations bureaus among Essex County’s suburban towns.  This shared service will save South Orange the cost of constructing a new courtroom and will benefit Maplewood with over $140,000 in new revenue, the equivalent of adding an $11 million ratable. It also will bring hundreds more potential shoppers to Springfield Avenue each week.

Our additional shared service agreements with South Orange include coordination of animal control services and a contract for Maplewood’s DPW mechanics to maintain South Orange municipal vehicles. In 2011 we hope to negotiate shared code enforcement and recreation and cultural affairs services with South Orange, and establish a Maplewood & South Orange merged fire department.

I want to recognize Ms. Leventhal’s leadership in the area of shared services and welcome Mr. Brownlee’s input during the next year.

Arts and culture remain a critical part of our community. One goal for 2011 is to have better coordination between arts and economic development. Another is to establish links with nearby communities that also value the arts. This year I intend to reach out to the mayors in Millburn, South Orange, West Orange, Orange and Montclair to discuss the idea of creating a “Cultural Corridor” through the six towns. I see cooperative promotion and advertising, fund raising, and the sharing of services as possible outcomes of these meetings.

Two years ago the Township Committee took very difficult steps to control the budget and bring our expenses in line with our revenues. In 2009 we laid off over 25 employees, more than ten percent of the workforce, and instituted 12 furlough days for all employees other than police officers and fire fighters. In 2010 we held the line on non-personnel budget items and capital projects, and again instituted 12 furlough days. We also worked closely with the police and fire chiefs and DPW director to hold the line on overtime costs. I am happy to report that their efforts have paid off and want to thank them for their leadership.

Because of the measures taken by the Township Committee, we are in a better place to handle the 2011 budget. With double digit health benefit and pension increases, it will be a struggle to meet the two percent property tax cap but that is our goal. We begin discussing the budget in this room at 9:00am next Saturday for anyone who would like to join us.

The property tax remains a huge problem for municipalities like Maplewood, which is fully developed and more than 90 percent residential properties. I disagree with Governor Christie’s decision not to reinstitute the higher income tax rate on those making more than a half million dollars a year and with his cuts in school and municipal aid. And I am disappointed that neither the Governor nor the Legislature is proposing structural changes to our tax system to make it less reliant on the property tax. I fear we will see more cuts to our school and municipal aid in 2011 and the continuation of blaming local officials for a situation over which they have little control. I and my colleagues will be your advocates down in Trenton working with the League of Municipalities, the NJ Conference of Mayors and our state representatives.

And while I am talking about blaming, I hope the Governor will stop targeting public employees as the problem. Public employees were out there from Sunday afternoon through Monday night plowing the snow off our streets. Public employees risk their lives to fight fires or respond to police and other emergencies. Public employees teach our children the skills they need to become the next generation of leaders. Public employees provide flu shots and other health and medical services to our residents. Public employees drive our jitney riders to and from the train station each morning and night.

And for the past two years in Maplewood, public employees have given up four percent of their annual salaries because of the furloughs.  They deserve our thanks for the work they do. Under the leadership of Joseph Manning, our Township Administrator, our government is working well. I also want to recognize the special contributions of Liz Fritzen, Township Clerk, and Roger Desiderio, Township Attorney. Would all our department heads and employees please stand and be recognized.

Today we start a new year, one full of promise and opportunity. I’m excited about our prospects. The partnership we have built among local government, our residents, and the business community will continue to positively shape the Township’s character and future. Together we can and will handle the challenges that lie before us.

Stay involved, get active, join the effort to make Maplewood an even better place to live and raise a family. Let’s leave here today committed to doing that little extra that will improve someone’s life and the community in which we live.

Thank you very much.