MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The township announced last week that current Assistant Business Administrator Sonia Alves-Viveiros will be taking over as the township’s next business administrator. Appointed May 1, Alves-Viveiros will officially begin as business administrator June 1. She has been working in Maplewood for the last two years, and will be taking over for Joseph Manning, who will retire at the end of May. Manning has been Maplewood’s business administrator since 2005.
“It’s been pretty seamless, I’m here already so a lot of what I’ve been doing I’m familiar with,” Alves-Viveiros said in an April 30 phone interview with the News-Record. “It’ll be easy to step into.”
This was one of the reasons Mayor Vic DeLuca said Alves-Viveiros stood out from the other five candidates interviewed for the position.
“She’s familiar with the system, and the transition will be easier,” DeLuca said in an interview with the News-Record on April 30. “She showed that she could take on some changes and we liked how she presented her ideas for the future.”
One aspect of the job Alves-Viveiros wants to focus on is capital planning; she said an important part of building this year’s budget was prioritizing road and infrastructure improvements.
“One of the things I wanted to highlight is capital planning for the township,” Alves-Viveiros said. “I think we need more work there. We certainly have high taxes, so we wanted to make sure our spending was prioritized. Roads were something we needed for this year.”
Before arriving in Maplewood, Alves-Viveiros served as deputy city clerk in Summit, and then as assistant municipal clerk and human resources assistant in Bernards Township. While there are similarities between Maplewood and her previous posts, Alves-Viveiros said there are also big differences between those municipalities.
“The culture and needs are different,” she said. “Roads and parking and things like that are generally the same. But demographically they’re all very different.”
Maplewood is a much more diverse town than both Summit and Bernards, according to Alves-Viveiros.
“They’re very different,” she said. “I’ve liked my experience in each, but it teaches you where you want to be. Maplewood is exactly the type of town I want to be around. People are open minded and educated and know how they want to raise their kids, which is definitely something I relate to.”
DeLuca said the town also chose Alves-Viveiros to take over as business administrator for the ideas that she has brought to Maplewood.
“Sonia was the person we wanted to work with,” he said. “She talked about servicing the people of the town and brought a new vision to it.”
Going forward, Alves-Viveiros wants to bring her vision for Maplewood to life.
“I certainly want to be here for the long haul and accomplish what I set out to do,” she said.
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