Maplewood Mayor Vic DeLuca
The following address was made by Maplewood Mayor Victor DeLuca an the annual Township Reorganization meeting on January 1, 2015 at Maplewood Town Hall.
Happy New Year!
Thank you to my colleagues for electing me as Mayor for my tenth year. I’ve enjoyed working with you in a collegial and cooperative manner and am proud of all that we have accomplished. I look forward to another year of progress.
As to the current State of Maplewood: We had a very good year, are in great shape, and have an outstanding future ahead of us.
In my first State of the Township Address in 2001, I said 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.” So far we’ve been successful. Stories about Maplewood in numerous publications, including the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, talk about new residents being “welcomed with open arms,” that we are “an amazing community of people,” and how “everybody feels comfortable living here.”
The Maplewood brand remains as strong as ever and our reputation throughout the state is very positive. The beauty of our community, the diversity of our people and the easy access to New York City keeps us as one of the most sought after locations in which to live, work and invest.
Let’s look at home sales for the first 11 months of 2014. The average sales price was up more than five percent from 2013, to $521,000. Homes sold above asking prices and the average number of days on the market fell to 44, down nearly 18 percent from 2013.
The good news is home prices were up and the even better news is crime was down. We had a drop of 16.5 percent in major crimes in 2014. Every major crime category decreased, including robbery, assault, burglary, larceny and auto theft. And the crime clearance rate was up to 30 percent from 25. I want to thank Chief Robert Cimino and all the members of the police force for their work in suppressing crime and keeping our families and property safe.
Last year, the Township Committee authorized additional overtime hours to keep more police officers on the street. We also budgeted for two new police officers to bring the department up to 62 uniformed members. And we instituted a plan to keep a cadet in the academy on a regular basis to immediately fill vacancies created by retirements.
President Obama has called for communities and law enforcement agencies to work more closely together to break down tensions and rebuild trust. Here in Maplewood we’ve taken steps to strengthen the police department’s capacity to positively interact with all members of our community.
We’ve diversified our police force with more people of color and women, and we’ve instituted sensitivity training so our officers are culturally competent in dealing with a diverse population.
Chief Cimino met quarterly with neighborhood leaders through the Maplewood Community Action Program. The Youth Aid Bureau sponsored engagement activities with our youth to develop lasting relationships. And I am happy to announce the launch of the Clergy Alliance Program, through which the Chief will meet throughout the year with religious leaders to receive feedback on community concerns and discuss public safety matters. The first meeting of the Clergy Alliance is coming up and we are excited about its possibilities.
April 2nd – June 5th – September 18th – October 17th – November 5th
On April 2, the Maplewood Memorial Library wrapped up its Centennial Year with the first annual Maplewood Ideas Festival, designed to celebrate the talent and creativity in our community. The week long event attracted hundreds to hear from authors, journalists, artists and filmmakers. “Conversations” is this year’s Festival theme and it will include internationally acclaimed architects, an Academy Award winning costume designer and Marc Morial, former New Orleans Mayor who is now President of the National Urban League and a Maplewood resident. The Ideas Festival will run from March 18 through April 2.
And talking about ideas, on June 5, the utterly bad idea to build a flood control dam in South Mountain Reservation was unanimously voted down by the Mayors Council on the Rahway River Watershed, of which I am a member. While I was lobbying other mayors on the inside, “No Dam” advocates, under the leadership of former Mayor Fred Profeta, were organizing opposition on the outside by gathering thousands of names on petitions and meeting with elected officials to press their case. In the end, the Mayors Council agreed to scratch the proposal and focus on a more environmentally and economically sustainable plan centered on the Orange Reservoir. This was a huge win for the Reservation and for Maplewood.
Another proposal was scratched on September 18. That’s when we learned the developer selected for the post office redevelopment project was withdrawing. Honestly, it was quite a shock but we picked up the pieces and interviewed four additional developers. We now are working with JMF Properties to move the project forward. In February, the retail portion of the post office will move to new quarters at 195 Maplewood Avenue. We’ve established 20-minute parking in front of the building to allow postal customers to come and go. By the spring we expect JMF to demolish the current post office building and start construction on a new building with 23 apartments and 9,000 square feet of retail space.
Speaking of demolition, the Township’s purchase of the Woman’s Club two years ago saved this building for use by the community. Now called The Woodland, the first major event was the October 17 Rent Party with over 200 people in attendance. Since then there have been fundraisers, concerts, vaudeville acts, weddings and other events. We’ve made improvements to both the upstairs Parlor and the first floor Great Hall. And we fixed up the parking lot, creating more parking for Maplewood Village shoppers. In addition, the Township Committee designated the building as a local historic site. There’s more to come in 2015, including what I hope will be a major contribution to the building from a local contractor.
We received another contribution from a group of residents concerned about our failed approach to dealing with feral cats. On November 5, we approved a Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate and Return Program. It started out with two or three people coming to our meetings and challenging us to do better. And to be honest, there was little support on the Township Committee to undertake a TNR program. But those two or three people, and then five or six people, and then ten or twelve people made their points and today we have Furry Hearts Rescue, a very impressive volunteer organization, leading up the effort. Thanks for your vision and your perseverance.
Nearly 20 years ago we had another vision, changing Springfield Avenue for the better. It has been a challenging journey, with ups and downs, excitement and disappointment. But we have not changed our belief in the importance of the Springfield Avenue area to the future of Maplewood. This year we paved the western portion of the Avenue and it looks great. We will be installing new lighted crosswalk signs that pedestrians can activate with a push button. Next year we will finish the paving job on the eastern portion.
And speaking about the eastern end of the Avenue, we are excited that Avalon Bay, a national real estate development company, will construct a 235 unit apartment building at the former Public Service Gas Facility at Boyden Avenue. Across the street, the Maplewood Diner is being renovated and plans are to open another eating facility there. And later this month I hope to announce a major retail development on the southern side of the Avenue at the corner of Chancellor.
Other economic development news includes the spring opening of a new CVS on Valley Street, a mixed retail and apartment building to be finished at the corner of Burnett and Springfield, and the planned opening of both mom and pop and national retail stores along Springfield Avenue.
We have big plans for the Irvington Avenue shopping district. We’ve been working with a consortium of planners, Rutgers educators and representatives from neighboring towns to rethink this important area on our northeastern border. One thing we plan to do is to rebrand the district, tentatively calling it Maplewood Corners. You’ll hear more about this in the upcoming months and we invite your participation.
One measure of a community’s strength is how it comes together in a time of crisis. In past years weather related events have tested our resolve. Last year, on a quiet Friday morning in May, we had another type of catastrophe in our downtown. A construction accident in the basement of a building trapped a construction worker. Police officers were on the scene immediately and used their bare hands to dig out the rubble trying to free Guo Tai Chen. Firefighters took over the rescue job but in the end Mr. Chen’s injuries were too severe and he passed away.
When word spread about the accident, merchants and residents offered to help. The Maplewood Village Alliance took the lead and collected $13,300 in contributions to pay for Mr. Chen’s funeral and to provide assistance to his wife and two children. Another $1,200 was collected to help tide over Village employees displaced by the accident. I attended Mr. Chen’s wake and can tell you his family was very appreciative of the Maplewood community’s generosity.
Much more has happened in 2014. We approved 25 ordinances and voted on 240 resolutions. We also:
• Held the third Wellness Fair and the seventh Green Day Festival
• Celebrated the 20th year of the operation of the farmers market
• Established two new special needs programs: Be Well and Thrive Exercise and a Soccer Clinic
• Renovated the bathrooms at the Maplewood Pool
• Upgraded Brook Path with new plantings and pedestrian lights
• Expanded the jitney service with a new route
• Installed traffic calming measures on 44th Street, Salter Place and Burnett Street, and Valley Street; and
• Signed people up for the Affordable Health Care Act.
You all already know what our major challenge is in 2015 – property taxes. Over the past four years, the Township Committee has worked hard to keep spending down and to limit tax increases. It is always a balance between the services our residents expect to receive and the tax bills they get to pay for those services. We will continue to make tough decisions on any spending that is proposed and remain sensitive to the already high property tax burden on our residents.
Our budget meetings begin on Saturday, January 10. And in an effort to increase community input, this year we will be accepting email questions and comments about the budget in real time.
That’s right. You can watch the budget meetings live on TV and send us an email with your questions or comments. With this Stay At Home Civic Engagement Initiative, you won’t even have to change out of your pajamas.
Civic engagement is critical and making sure all people in our community are connected to civic life is an on-going priority. We are one community and it is important that no matter where you live in town you feel respected and listened to. Last year we made a particular effort to reach the non-English and foreign born population in town. We will continue to do so in 2015.
Additionally, the Township Committee will expand its monthly Talk to the Township Committee sessions to include Jacoby Street, Irvington Avenue and DeHart Park. These new sites will be in addition to our regular locations in Maplewood Village, Springfield Avenue and the Recycling Center at Public Works. During the three hour Talk to the Township Committee sessions on the third Saturday of each month, we set up a sidewalk table to share information and hear about concerns and questions from residents. Stop by and say hello.
Volunteerism has been a hallmark of life in Maplewood. We thank each of you for taking time from your personal lives to contribute to civil society. There are national trends though to which we need to pay attention. According to the new report, “Volunteering and Civic Life in America,” in 2013, slightly more than 36 percent of American adults were involved in school, civic, recreational, religious, or other type of organizations, a nearly three percent drop compared with 2011. This is not a healthy direction for our society. Our challenge is to continue to recruit and nurture new volunteers who can shape and influence the community in which their families live.
All the work I’ve talked about needs a team. We have a great one with leadership from Township Administrator Joseph Manning. I also want to thank Cesar Correra, Assistant Administrator; Elizabeth Fritzen, Township Clerk; and Roger Desiderio, Township Attorney. They are our go to people and make the Township Committee’s work all the more productive.
We welcome two new department heads, Chief Financial Officer Juan Uribe and Public Works Director Calvin Bell.
And one more thank you to Eric Burbank, recently retired head of the DPW.
I want to recognize our department heads and Township employees who do a terrific job in serving the people of Maplewood. Would all of you please stand so we can properly thank you?
I am excited about the future of Maplewood. I hope you are too.
Thank you very much.
