IRVINGTON, NJ — East Ward Councilman Paul Inman isn’t up for re-election until 2020, but during the Irvington Joint Block Association Coalition’s annual Christmas and Kwanzaa Brunch in Mt. Herman Church on Nesbit Terrace on Saturday, Dec. 15, he said it’s never too early to start making plans for the future, and that includes his New Year’s resolution.
“I’m concerned with holding the whole administration accountable with making sure that the East Ward is clean and that our residents feel safe,” said Inman on Saturday, Dec. 15. “I’m really going to be holding the administration accountable, to make sure that is taking place. A lot of our residents, they see some changes, but some aren’t to their expectations. So we’re going to work with the administration, hold them accountable and see if they get those things done.”
Despite his rhetoric, Inman did not hesitate to give Mayor Tony Vauss’ administration kudos for doing some things right in 2018. He said he’s still waiting, however, to see what happens with some of the long-standing economic, development, redevelopment and quality-of-life issues in his ward that he brought to their attention last year.
“The administration finally met me out in the East Ward. The business administrator met with me and we’re working to get those issues resolved,” he said.
With that in mind, Inman said he’s looking forward to a banner year of cooperation with the Vauss administration, with him working on behalf of his East Ward constituents.
“We’re not going to go away,” said Inman. “We were elected by the people to be their cheerleader, to raise their concerns. We’re going to continue working to do that.”
Vauss could not be reached for a comment about Inman’s stated 2019 New Year resolution by press time this week.
“The residents of the East Ward don’t feel safe. They are afraid to sit on their porch or walk to the corner store knowing this I couldn’t support that resolution. I would like to see more police in the East Ward,” said Inman on Thursday, Oct. 11. “On Oct. 1, I had a community meeting in the East Ward and residents said they didn’t feel safe and wanted to see more police presence in the East Ward.”
According to Inman, there were several violent incidents in town in 2018, highlighting that Irvington isn’t as safe as some people would like to believe. And he said ongoing issues with code enforcement, property upkeep and maintenance at several locations in the ward also lead him to question just how clean the township is.
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