1. 2012 State of the Village
G OV IN 2012: D OING MORE WITH LESS
By Vi!age President Alex Torpey
Budget. In 2012 the expectations overhaul the website, in addition to Dear fellow residents,
are high and the budgets are tight. For expanded equipment/training for
years South Orange has been a e m e r g e n c y r e s p o n d e r s . We a r e Looking back on this past year,
responsible steward, keeping tax planning to add online tools to our I can hardly believe how much has
increases low, while maintaining website that will allow residents to file happened. I graduated Columbia
s e r v i c e s t h a t h e l p m a ke o u r complaints & request services, apply High School in 2005, not knowing
community the amazing kind of place for permits instantly online and even that I would come back home after
to live that it is. This year, we via an app on your mobile phone. college in 2009 and run for office
introduced a budget that reduced Public Safety. The 2011 crime only two years later; not even run
appropriations by over $1 million, statistics reflect a 10% decrease in for office, but actually win! And I
without layoffs or service cuts, with S o u t h O r a n g e v e r s u s i n 2 0 1 0. am deeply honored to be able to
our tax levy well below the state- Neighborhood Watch is working and serve my hometown in this capacity.
mandated 2% cap. active resident involvement is on the It has been truly amazing to
We have reformatted our budget r i s e . T h e S o u t h O r a n g e Po l i c e work together to better South
process and made all the information Department appreciates this Orange’s future with people that I
available online in a spreadsheet so important citizen involvement & grew up with, while getting to know
anyone can crunch the numbers. The credits many arrests to the proactivity many more people who have worked
expectations are high, but we’re of our neighborhood watch members. for years on South Orange’s behalf.
definitely up to the challenge. Learn In 2011, the Police and Fire
I have been privileged to get to
more at: southorange.org/budget. Departments, Rescue Squad, and SHU
know many of you, and I hope to
Technology. Being cost-effective held an active shooter drill in
meet more of you in the coming
isn’t just about being well organized; coordination with county and state
years. On behalf of the Trustees and
it’s about using the best technology a g e n c i e s . We a r e co m m i t te d to
staff here, I would like to personally
platforms available. We’re hoping to providing training opportunities on
thank our residents, business owners
move towards Gmail instead of in- cutting-edge public safety methods
and students for your involvement
house exchange servers, which will and practices, i n t e r- a g e n c y
and support. Your talents,
save us money, save staff time and cooperative exercises, and the
knowledge and commitment are
allow us take advantage of online expansion of our Community
vital to our success.
collaboration tools. In the Clerk’s Emergency Response Team. (CERT)
office, we are exploring using tablets/ We are expanding the use of Growing up in South Orange, I
laptops for all trustees, keeping all security cameras & Automatic License have witnessed the progress we have
agendas, minutes and documents P l a te Re a d e r s ( A L P R s ) . T h e s e made and seen the Village flourish.
digital, which will lower costs and important, cost-effective tools greatly I look forward to many more years
improve our productivity. We have assist our officers in preventing and of continued growth and prosperity
applied for a grant for our Office of solving crimes. in our community and I know that,
Emergency Management, which will, Our police department continues as good as South Orange is today;
if we get it, enable us to purchase to be ahead of the curve in their use of the best is yet to come.#
advanced web software that will allow social media and now e-ticketing,
us to have better access to alert tools
during an emergency, allow quicker
which reduces paper use, reduces costs
(without increase number of tickets Alex
access to placing emergency written), and improves efficiency.
notifications online and completely #

2. Communication. Since assuming office, I have information management systems that will provide
committed to making sure communication is a top unprecedented access to public documents.
priority for the Village. In addition to frequent email Personally, I have been involved in state-wide
updates, blog posts, social media interactions (especially discussions aimed at improving the Open Public Meeting/
during last year’s storms) and video updates, we have been Record Acts; paving the way for more open government
generating more content for the website - in fact, we have in New Jersey with South Orange poised as a leader of the
increased website visits by almost 30%. The official South digital government transparency movement.
Orange Twitter has been re-activated to assist in updates Sustainability. South Orange continues to be a
and emergency notifications, with many more social leader in green government, from our project of installing
media outreach strategies currently being explored. solar panels at the DPW facility, to purchasing hybrid
My office hours in Village Hall have been a great police vehicles, to winning a grant for Electric Vehicle
success, and I have truly enjoyed the many conversations charging stations, to being an award-winning walkable
I’ve had with community members, & encourage downtown where owning a car is not even necessary. Our
everyone to stop by. jitney’s are biodiesel, our residents do things like create
We are re-structuring our Board of Trustees meetings www.southorangeenvironment.org and we have routinely
to allow community groups to present and increase public won awards from Sustainable Jersey for green initiatives.
input, as well as looking for web-based solutions to Governance & Management. I have been working
improve communication and provide virtual community closely with the trustees and our dedicated village staff to
dialog and suggestion spaces. review and improve internal procedures in the daily
But we can always do better. And I welcome operations of the Village. Although not always the most
feedback and suggestions as to how we can continue to exciting or visible work, proper internal organization is
better engage with residents and bring them into the critical. Formalizing procedures and policies and
governance process. improving use of technology will ensure the most cost-
Transparency. I believe most of you are aware of effective and productive use of our amazing municipal
my commitment to open government, and I am fortunate staff to deliver the high-quality services that is vital to the
to be able to continue to build upon South Orange’s past quality of living and character of living in South Orange.
leadership in this field, including strict anti pay-to-play
laws, live online meetings, and online availability of public These are only a few highlights of our
documents. But we continue to innovate. Meeting progress. Visit southorange.org/SOTV to
formats have been updated and we will be implementing learn more and watch the entire address!
CAPITAL PROJECTS AND REDEVELOPMENT
Village Hall “Beifus” site (S.O. Commons) South Orange Public Library. On
track of a buildings planning project funded
Planned for 2012-2014, the restoration This vacant lot, too long an eyesore in the in part by a grant from the Garden State
and renovation of Village Hall, our largest core downtown, is on track for mixed Historic Preservation Trust Fund to
capital project, will save hundreds of use development in 2012, including 57 renovate the Connett building and expand
thousands in repairs and utility costs and apartments and retail space. The Planning the library’s offering of services.
not just provide a functional government Board granted final site plan approval and
center but also preserve this beautiful & another new downtown landmark is Fire Truck. A $700,000 grant was
historic iconic Village landmark. coming soon! procured to purchase a new ladder truck
at only an approx. $35k cost to taxpayers.
IT/Networks. As part of the Village
Rahway River Improvements Third Street and Valley Hall renovation, we are investing in
Building on years of improvements to the This Village owned property, currently a creating a state of the art fiber optic
Rahway River Project, we have continued commuter parking lot and Rescue Squad network between all of our municipal
to improve and beautify our river site, is being studied for redevelopment as buildings.
corridor, securing millions in grants from apartments, retail and a parking garage to Sloan St. We are working to improve
the state and federal government. serve commuters and shoppers. This traffic flow, parking, way finding, drop-off
would bring in a large new ratable and and pedestrian access on Sloan St. as a vital
improved parking into our downtown. component to downtown revitalization.
WAYS FOR YOU TO LEARN MORE & GET INVOLVED
We are always looking for volunteers to help with specific projects, especially related
to the downtown, public information and public safety. Information is available at
southorange.org, you can email me at atorpey@southorange.org, follow twitter.com/
SouthOrangeNJ or stop by my office hours every Tuesday at 3:30! You can also keep
updated by following me at facebook.com/alextorpey and twitter.com/alextorpey.