WEST ORANGE, NJ — West Orange residents have a big choice to make at the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 8, choosing among four candidates for the next mayor. Current Mayor Robert Parisi is not running for reelection, leaving four challengers to vie for the spot; they are former Councilman Joe Krakoviak, Councilwoman Cindy Matute-Brown, Council President Susan McCartney and Councilman Bill Rutherford. The mayoral term is for four years.
Krakoviak, who has lived in West Orange for 19 years, served on the township council for 10 years. He has formerly worked as a financial journalist, writing articles for USA Today and The Wall Street Journal. He then moved to corporate and agency public relations and communications. In addition to his public service, Krakoviak has served as a coach for youth sports, a member of Our Green West Orange, and former treasurer and director of Friends of the West Orange Public Library.
When asked what he thinks the top issue is in West Orange, Krakoviak unsurprisingly turned to finances.
“We are in a terrible financial situation and must take strong, immediate action to begin climbing back to financial stability,” Krakoviak said, adding that the council “voted to borrow $113 million in the last three years, boosting our outstanding debt by 77 percent to $142 million. This was after they voted to raise municipal property taxes 8.3 percent in 2019. I was the only one to vote against that,” he added, criticizing the tax revenue lost through 30-year tax abatements and the council’s designation of the entire town as an area in need of rehabilitation.
His plan is to “cut way back on borrowing until we get this runaway train under control and look to cancel borrowing authorizations that haven’t been borrowed on”; cut costs without cutting services; “consider selling assets we borrowed to acquire,” excepting open space but including Rock Spring Golf Club; expand competitive bidding; work with employees to find more efficiencies; “stop budget planning to a 2-percent tax increase each year”; and revive the budget advisory committee.
Matute-Brown, a 22-year resident of West Orange, has served on the council since 2018. She has served on the steering committee of Essex Rising, a group dedicated to progressive action in local and federal government. Professionally, she worked in charter schools in Jersey City, where she organized a teachers union that is still going strong today. Today, she works for the New Jersey Education Association as associate director in the human and civil rights, equity and governance division.
“I believe that the top issue in West Orange today is our over-reliance on property taxes to finance the budgets of three government entities: the municipal budget, the school budget and our portion of Essex County’s budget,” Matute-Brown said. “Several factors have led us to this point, but the result is that, any time we see costs increase from any one of these government bodies, the municipal government has very few options to address cost increases. We either have to cut spending elsewhere by reducing services to residents, or we increase property taxes. As a result of decades in this situation, the burden on our homeowners is too much to bear.
“I have a plan that will allow us ultimately to better control upward pressure on property taxes, will result in improved property values and will begin to move us away from our near-exclusive reliance on property taxes,” she continued. “We need to focus on three things: advocating for increased state funding for schools, development of revenue streams, and a smart, cohesive development plan. Each of these things we can control, but only if we are proactive and have the right leadership in place.”
McCartney, who has lived in West Orange for nearly 20 years, has served five terms — 20 years — on the township council. She owns a local business, First Mountain Preschool, which is now celebrating its 25th anniversary, and has served as an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University and Montclair State University. As a local business owner, McCartney has been a member of the West Orange Chamber of Commerce board of directors for 25 years.
“As a council member, I have worked with the administration to secure over $40 million in grant award revenue that offsets the municipal budget by providing funding for our townwide jitney shuttle service, paving, road work, traffic and pedestrian safety improvements; upgrades to our parks, municipal facilities, equipment and training; and most recently the Senior Livability Initiative funding award to expand our senior citizen programing.”
McCartney currently serves as town council liaison to the West Orange Planning Board, WO Environmental Commission, WO Arts Council, Senior Citizen Housing Association and Friends of Thomas Edison National Historical Park board of trustees; and volunteers with the WO Police Department’s Operation HOPE and with the Office of Emergency Management/Community Emergency Response Team.
“The overarching issue is and always has been our property taxes. Though West Orange has experienced the lowest tax increase in Essex County over the past 12 years, this rate is still unsustainable,” McCartney said. “Our biggest expenditures are salaries, health benefits and pensions. As mayor, I will restructure our planning, zoning and building departments and create a strategic economic development office with funds already appropriated in the 2021 budget to brand and market our township to attract commercial ratables to offset our property taxes.”
Rutherford, who has lived in West Orange since 2001, has served on the council for two years. As the pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Orange for the past 11 years, Rutherford has advocated for the LGBTQ community, marriage equality, legalization of cannabis for adult use, rights for those who suffer from food insecurity and housing insecurity, and solutions to the causes of violence and crime. He has more than 20 years of experience working in the financial services sector as a financial adviser and entrepreneur.
“West Orange is at a crossroads. As such, there’s not just one issue that takes priority, but several issues, all interconnected, that require us to take a comprehensive approach to problem-solving,” Rutherford said. “The top issue, as expressed to me from the thousands of contacts I’ve made during this campaign, is property taxes. Not just the level of taxes — most people agree they’re too high — but equally important are two other tax-related issues: Why are they so high and where does the money go? Residents are crying out for more transparency in local government. They want to know why taxes go up every year but school performance rankings don’t reflect it. They want to know where their tax dollars are going and what we’re doing to address the long-term trends that continue to push them higher.”
In addition to increasing transparency and opportunities for feedback, Rutherford said he will “stop giving our taxes away to residential developers that don’t need them”; “limit residential development,” specifically by enacting a moratorium on developing along steep slopes in town and “appointing a planning board that shares my vision for maintaining our small town feel”; and focusing on commercial development, specifically by taking advantage of all Main Street, the Arts District, the South Valley corridor, Pleasantdale and the zoo have to offer.
While crime rates have been consistently decreasing in West Orange in recent years, violent crime remains a top concern among residents, as do the prevalent Essex County crimes of stolen catalytic converters and packages.
“West Orange has been a safe town for such a long time, which makes the recent headlines over the past year regarding violent crime more jarring and alarming. I am painfully aware that issues like crime need to be addressed directly and aggressively if we are to keep them from growing and taking root in our community,” Rutherford said, explaining that the first step is to invest in more police officers and better police technology. “Second, we know the causes of crime, especially violence, are related to presence and allocation of resources. The safest communities are not just the ones with the most police, they are also the ones with the most resources available for children, families and the financially less fortunate. We have plenty of programming in town, but it’s not affordable for everyone, and it’s not well communicated. Those issues are solvable and can be addressed immediately.”
McCartney commended West Orange police for their training, work ethic and implementation of programs such as the partnership with the Mental Health Association, Operation HOPE and Take Me Home.
“With 11 public schools in town, housing thousands of children, teachers and administrators, I commend the Board of Education for their proactive stance on safety in our schools. According to the Stonegate Consulting firm director, there is an outstanding relationship between the WOBOE, the township and police department,” McCartney said, pointing to recent, coveted public safety grants that West Orange has received. “As mayor, I believe that if the oath of teaching is to provide a good education for all, then we must ensure that our students, teachers, parents, administrators and community feel safe in an environment to learn. I most certainly will support police initiatives and recommendations that work to protect our officers, employees, residents, students and teachers.”
Matute-Brown pointed out that West Orange police do “an exemplary job, day in and day out,” and that data shows crime in West Orange low compared to other towns with similar composition.
“That said, we have had some quite alarming instances in recent months. The murder on Watson Avenue that occurred in September is incredibly upsetting, sad and disturbing. I am grateful that our police were on the scene quickly, and I am hopeful that the incident appears to have been an isolated one, but our municipal government needs to engage with residents in that area to better understand the community’s concerns,” Matute-Brown said. “From my conversations with residents in that area, I know that they may feel neglected by the municipal government, and I think we need to build community connections between residents and our municipal officers.”
She encourages having more diversity in the town’s government, continued anti-bias training for all municipal employees and hiring more police officers, as the police department is currently understaffed.
“One disturbing nationwide trend that has shown itself in West Orange is a rise in antisemitic hate crime. We have had local instances in West Orange and surrounding towns of swastikas graffitied around synagogues or temples. Thankfully, the perpetrators in these instances have been apprehended and addressed, but our community has to be aware of rising antisemitism and the grave threat it brings,” she said. “We have to recognize that national issues impact us here in West Orange, and we have to remain vigilant for the safety and security of all of our residents. We have to address antisemitism, racism, homophobia and all forms of hate and bias that keep us from living up to our full potential. … Prioritizing these things allows us to confront and address all forms of hate and crime.”
In addition to increasing staffing, Krakoviak wants to ensure the township is doing all it can to recruit new officers and retain the officers it currently has.
“We’ve had seven shootings in the last seven months, according to the police. One shooting involved a police officer. A 21-year-old was murdered a few weeks ago,” Krakoviak said. “We need to hire more police, (and) give them the training, technology and other tools to do their jobs better. We need to use cameras on the borders and interstate ramps to fight property crime and regain our reputation as tough on crime from out of town. We need to repair the terrible relationship between the police and mayor that appears to be the cause of much of the problem with effectiveness. We need to revisit retirement health benefits that the last contract gave away for higher wages that is now making it harder to recruit. We need to immediately eliminate the vaccination mandate that caused the loss of jobs for many police — and firefighters — and settle the litigation to give impacted employees back pay and bring them back.”
Election Day is Nov. 8.
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