In November, South Orange Mayor Sheena Collum was inducted into the Mayors Hall of Fame at the 2025 New Jersey State League of Municipalities Annual Conference having reached her 10th year as mayor — the threshold for induction.
Collum was first sworn in in 2015 as the 49th person — and first woman — to lead South Orange. She has served continuously since then, winning reelection by a landslide in 2019 and running unopposed in 2023, making her the longest-serving woman mayor in Essex County. Unlike in neighboring Maplewood, the Mayor of South Orange is directly elected by voters.
In 2022, Collum received the Outstanding Women in Government Award from the League of Municipalities, and this past year, she was selected by Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop as his choice for Lt. Governor in the gubernatorial election.
“Special thanks to my colleagues and friends from South Orange and Maplewood for joining me,” wrote Collum in a Facebook post.
Pictured from left to right: Councilwoman-Elect Patricia Canning, Maplewood Committeewoman Deb Engel, South Orange Administrator Julie Doran, Tax Assessor Ellen Foye Malgieri, Maplewood Mayor Nancy Adams, Maplewood Committeewoman-Elect Jane Collins-Colding, South Orange Mayor Sheena Collum, South Orange Councilwoman Summer Jones, South Orange Councilman Steve Schnall, South Orange Councilwoman-Elect Hannah Zollman, South Orange Clerk Ojetti Davis, and South Orange Tax Collector Irma Weir.
