Maplewood/In the Mayor's hands.

Upscale New Jersey developers are hardly a dime a dozen. In fact, you can probably count on one hand the commercial/residential developers who are interested in managing the reconstruction of the soon to be former Post Office building. Truth be told, most high end developers would prefer a larger job in let's say Jersey City or Hoboken where thanks to easy to deal with local governments, new buildings go up faster than a Mariano Rivera 1,2,3 ninth inning.  

As a result, Maplewood Mayor De Luca has an issue. Maplewood needs to reassure a chosen upscale developer that it will have the full cooperation of the township during the remediation, tear down and construction process. If these developers with a record of success get the sense that there's a local population of residents who will attempt to flex muscle, perhaps even delay construction or at least run up costs; they won't just walk, they'll run. It's not worth the headache. 

At no time do these high end developers want to be a participant in a town hall type conversation or debate in regards to style or substance. They also don't want their good name dragged through the mud by the local population who will in all likelihood find numerous reasons to vent since major construction in a busy commercial district tends to anger people. 

Keeping all of this in mind, Mayor De Luca has so far handled the P.O. site like a pro. Despite claims that he hasn't been transparent; I'm going to disagree. He is telling us all that he can while making sure that the future developer understands that he will be dealing with the Mayor, not the local population. So important for this job and I am pleased that Mr. De Luca understands this.

I'm also tipping my cap to Mayor De Luca for creating an interesting distraction with the purchase of the Woman's Club. The township paid well below market value which is good but it also paid for some healthy debate among the local population. As a result, the Mayor formed a Task Committee led by Vice Mayor Kathleen Leventhal to assess the future of the site. Ms. Leventhal has in turn asked local citizens to be active in offering suggestions in regards to the use of the building. Notice, the people haven't been asked to do the same for the Post Office. Those suggestions and eventual decisions will be made by Town Hall, not the taxpayers. 

Truthfully, I believe the Mayor would eventually like to see the dilapidated WC torn down because it really serves no purpose especially if in the end it's going to cost millions to repair just to be used as some type of community gathering hall.

However, even if it is torn down that won't be for at least a few more years, long after the P.O site has been re-constructed. Until then, the township may as well let the people debate the WC while the Mayor works quietly with the post office site developer.