The South Orange Village Board of Trustees voted on Monday night to appoint Jeff DuBowy to fill the Trustee seat vacated by Sheena Collum upon her election to Village President.
DuBowy will fill the position through the end of its term — May 2017 — as per current Village Charter. If the Board of Trustees had failed to appoint a Trustee to the seat by the June 22 meeting, the Village would have needed to hold a special election, estimated to cost between $25,000-30,000. Although revisions to the Village Charter would have meant that the BOT could appoint someone through the next election (in this case, November 3), the amended charter has not yet been introduced or approved by the state legislature.
Meanwhile, Trustees lavished praise on DuBowy who has been active in the civic life of South Orange Village for almost 20 years, serving on the board of Main Street South Orange, serving on the SID advisory committee that helped form the South Orange Village Center Alliance, and serving as a Commissioner of the South Orange Parking Authority for 13 years during which time he held such positions as SOPA Assistant Treasurer, Treasurer and Chairman.
DuBowy also once ran for BOT in 2005. His bid was unsuccessful, but he was praised for running a clean campaign.
Village President Sheena Collum also praised DuBowy’s financial background, which she said would be key in shepherding the Village through several current initiatives and challenges such as facilities management.
According to DuBowy’s LinkedIn profile, he has worked as Principal of Viburnum Investments since using various Equity & Option strategies” and also applies “strong quantitative skills in combination with option pricing theory to take advantage of market fluctuations, option volatility and directional stock movements to capitalize on arbitrage opportunities and effectively hedge risk.”
A biography of DuBowy provided by Collum further notes that DuBowy:
- attended Washington University School of Business in St. Louis, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance;
- moved to South Orange in 1992, where he is raising three children (all having attended the South Orange-Maplewood School District) with wife Helen;
- was a member and Equity Option Market Maker on the floor of the American Stock Exchange, where he recruited, trained and supervised market makers to trade firm capital;
- served as Vice President of the Village Club, a social organization formed in 1945 that supported local causes and promoted local civic, educational and cultural events; and
- served on the boards of the Youth Orchestra of Essex County and Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel.
During public discussion on Monday night, Trustee Mark Rosner called DuBowy “a truly great person.” Trustee Steven Schnall praised DuBowy’s “good judgment” and said DuBowy was “independent in his thinking.” Trustee Deborah Davis Ford said she liked DuBowy’s “work ethic” and “his experience.” Trustee Walter Clarke noted, “We are fortunate that we had a number of individuals we could look at” who provided a “good discussion” for Trustees in choosing a replacement for Collum.
Collum said she echoed the comments of the Trustees, adding that DuBowy had “tremendous values and integrity” and that he would “serve with a lot of fire in the belly.”
DuBowy was appointed by a vote of 5-0 (Trustee Howard Levison was absent).
