Three candidates are running for two seats in the Democratic primary (June 2) for Maplewood Township Committee: Bike Bus founder Martin Ceperley; current Mayor Vic De Luca, running for his 10th term on the Township Committee; and Planning Board and Hilton Neighborhood Association member John T. Sullivan. Read Village Green’s election guidelines here. Read our election coverage here.
It turns out Swamp Trolley isn’t a bad word. “What the heck is a swamp trolley?” I wondered when I first saw the Martin for Maplewood campaign t-shirts with “Ask me about the Swamp Trolley” across the front. The answer to that question connects an important part of our town’s history with an exciting vision for its future.
The South Orange and Maplewood Street Railway Swamp Line was a three-mile-long electric trolley route that ran between South Orange and West Orange from 1895 to 1927. For five cents, riders could get to work and around town before cars were widely used. One of Martin Ceperley’s campaign ideas is to strengthen our town’s accessible public transport options – for families, seniors, and students – to link our business districts, reduce traffic, ease parking challenges, and help everyone move around safely, sustainably, and independently.
It’s ideas like this, and the energy I see coming out of this campaign, that make it so clear we should expect more from our Township Committee. As I have gotten to know Martin, I have seen that his ideas go far beyond transportation, safety and bike lanes. He has taken the time to learn about the challenges our town faces on affordable housing, development, and immigration policy, and will join the Committee with new ideas, expertise, and perspectives.
Martin will help bring greater transparency to the TC and champion a local government that listens, communicates clearly, and brings more people in. As an advocate for more TC involvement to protect our local families from ICE, I especially appreciate his ideas on making meetings more accessible and inclusive. For these reasons I plan to bullet vote (cast one vote only) for Martin Ceperley for Township Committee – line 3F on your ballot. (For folks not familiar with the deep history of bullet voting as a tried and true way for non-establishment candidates to break through – check out Martin’s website MartinforMaplewood.com – “bullet voting” is also not a bad word!)
Matt Bloom
Maplewood, NJ
