Essex Freeholders Pay Tribute To Councilor Renee Baskerville

The Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders, in collaboration with the Office of the Essex County Surrogate, held its Annual African-American History Month Celebration on Wednesday, Feb. 22.

The theme of the event was “Recognizing Excellence”, and in that context this year’s outstanding honorees were: the Honorable Renee E. Baskerville, M.D., Montclair Township Councilor; Lyndon Brown of Newark; Newark Chief of Police Sheilah A. Coley; Delores Cushnie and John B. Houston of the Cushnie-Houston Funeral Home of East Orange; and the late Kenneth Travitt of Newark, who was represented by his wife, Olivia Travitt.

The members of the Essex County Board of Freeholders are: Freeholder President Blonnie R. Watson of Newark, Freeholder Vice President Patricia Sebold of Livingston, Freeholder D. Bilal Beasley of Irvington, Freeholder Rolando Bobadilla of Newark, Freeholder Carol Y. Clark of East Orange, Freeholder Brendan W. Gill of Montclair, Freeholder Rufus I. Johnson of Newark, Freeholder Leonard M. Luciano of West Caldwell, and Freeholder Donald M. Payne, Jr., of Newark. The Essex County Surrogate is Theodore N. Stephens, II, of Montclair.

The Honorable Renee E. Baskerville, M.D., of Montclair, is a Pediatrician and the 4th Ward Councilor for the Township of Montclair. She attended the Montclair Public Schools, earned her B.S. degree from Oberlin College, and her Medical Degree from the New Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry. Dr. Baskerville began her medical career as a Pediatric Resident at UMDNJ-United Presbyterian Children’s Hospital, worked for the Newark Community Health Centers for 8 years, served as Director of Pediatrics at the Newark Multi-Medical Plaza Comprehensive Care health facility, for the Newark Mini-Surgi site, and then as a private practitioner. She has also served as the pediatrician for The Leaguers Head Start facility, served on the Board of Directors as the Health Advisor for Newark Head Start, on the boards of the Montclair and Orange Head Start programs and Newark Babyland Nurseries, as school physician for East Orange Campus High School, and is currently employed by the East Orange Public Schools Early Childhood Division. 

Dr. Baskerville also served on the Montclair Board of Education, including as its Vice President, and was elected to her first term on the Montclair Municipal Council in 2008 as Fourth Ward Councilor. She is a civil rights and social justice champion who speaks out against local and state voter suppression initiatives, to eliminate the “crime” of Driving While Black, and to facilitate peace and reconciliation among the gangs in Montclair by identifying healthy employment, entrepreneurship and other productive alternatives to gang activities. Dr. Baskerville has been the recipient of many awards and citations for her community service and leadership, and strives to find ways to provide quality, comprehensive health care to vulnerable populations with special medical needs.