South Orange officially a village

South Orange is a village again.

South Orange Village was the original name of the town when it was established in 1869.

It was changed to Township of South Orange Village in 1970 to qualify for federal funding that was then restricted to townships. That rule no longer exists so the Trustees wanted to change it back to the original name.

South Orange had asked the state to make changes to its charter, which lays out how South Orange is governed, and recently received that approval. During a meeting earlier this month, the township’s governing body approved and adopted the revised charter that the state had authorized.

The revised charter also impacts the titles of elected officials. Village President Sheena Collum will now be Mayor Sheena Collum. South Orange can also consolidate elections.

“We can move nonpartisan elections from May to November,” Collum said, “and incorporate gender inclusive language across the charter.”

“He,” “she,” and “they” pronouns will be used to reflect the inclusive nature of the positions within the government being occupied by masculine, feminine and nonbinary individuals.

South Orange will no longer be governed by a Board of Trustees but by a council. Elected as trustees, Bobby Brown, Jennifer Greenberg, Karne Hartshorn Hilton, Bill Haskins, Summer Jones and Olivia Lewis-Chang are now council members.

“From a functional perspective, our governing body is often confused with nonprofit boards,” Collum said. “Even today, dozens of other community members share the same titles as the officers of our municipal corporation. These titles are antiquated and don’t reflect the more broadly accepted and universally applied titles associated with the roles of a municipal governing body. As continuous advocates for our residents, any disadvantage harms fulfilling our duties. From a practical standpoint, numerous documents from the State of New Jersey are currently prefilled with titles that don’t reflect the accurate titles specified by our existing charter. Therefore, we continue to certify documentation with incorrect titles.”

For additional information on South Orange, visit: https://www.southorange.org/.

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