Watch Montclair Mayor’s State Of Township Address For 2023

MONTCLAIR, NJ — Montclair’s mayor touched on issues such as housing, finance, infrastructure and “community values” during the 2023 state of the township address.

On Tuesday, Sean Spiller gave his annual address during the town council meeting. The full text of Spiller’s speech as prepared follows below.

STATE OF THE TOWNSHIP: SEAN SPILLER

My fellow Montclair residents, it is my honor to address you this evening on the state of our township; and especially to be able to do so in-person.

The simple fact that we are able to meet together, face to face, is a true testament to how far we have come since 2020 and I sit here today with a renewed sense of optimism for the future of Montclair.

Montclair continues to move forward. The results of our efforts are clear.

I’m proud to report the state of our township is strong.

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We have built a strong, sustainable foundation for our future. We have strategically managed our finances, invested in our infrastructure, supported our diverse and vibrant communities and stayed true to our community values.

Montclair continues to lead the way. But our work is not done.

We face challenges, but I am confident that together we will overcome them, as we always have.

Together, we will continue to act on the values that define Montclair.

These values make Montclair a destination for people looking for a great place to live. And our values are reflected in all we have to offer - our vibrant downtown, world class arts, diverse culinary scene, improved parks, famous festivals, magnet schools, and unique local businesses, are just some of the reasons people choose Montclair.

There’s something here for everyone.

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And it is a priority to ensure that all those who want to live here, can do so. Affordable housing is a cornerstone of our community values.

We know rising housing costs can diminish the diversity that defines our township. In particular, for our renters, unchecked rising rents could have forced out long-time residents who are an important part of the fabric of Montclair.

That is why I am proud that we crafted a fair and equitable rent control ordinance this past year. It wasn’t easy to get done but it was the right thing to do and well worth the effort.

The Tenants Association of Montclair, along with many resident advocates, worked tirelessly to make this happen. I’m grateful to all involved, who came to the table to reach an agreement that strengthens our community.

Rent control is just one piece of affordability that we must work on to ensure we live up to our values. We continue the push for affordability with our recent work on Accessory Dwelling Units and will continue to seek out and implement ways to keep Montclair homes affordable. .

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I recognize as elected officials, we are responsible for so many of Montclair’s resources. The decisions we make today will continue to impact our community for generations.

This is a responsibility I do not take lightly.

At the core of the resources we must responsibly care for are our finances. Financial sustainability is foundational for everything we want to do. Our decisions have to balance short and long term investments with our bottom line of balancing our books and controlling costs. We must budget guided by our values and priorities.

I am very proud of the work we have done to secure sound financial footing for Montclair. At a time when many municipalities are seeing their debt rise year after year, we have successfully reduced our debt by more than seventy-seven-million dollars.

This reduction has helped us earn a AAA bond rating - the highest and most favorable rating - which translates into savings for Montclair taxpayers and allows us to continue making meaningful investments in our township.

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Together with my colleagues on the council we are making strategic investments across Montclair.

For example, we are improving the quality and safety of our roads and walkways for our drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians.

We have substantially increased the pace of road paving and installation of new curbing across the town. Since I have been an elected official in Montclair, we have paved seventy-one of the eighty-three miles of road throughout town, more than eighty-five percent, and we’re keeping paving as a priority.

We installed new stop signs at key intersections to improve traffic flow and promote pedestrian safety.

And working together with residents and transit advocates, we ratified the creation of Montclair’s first ever dedicated bicycle lane.

This year, we’re going to continue making our local roads safer for our cyclists and pedestrians.

Even one traffic fatality is one too many.

In order to reduce and ultimately eliminate accidents, we are evaluating Vision Zero as a program for our community. I, along with members of council, recently met with county officials and advocates, including Debra Kagan, who was so instrumental in securing the Essex Hudson Greenway project, to discuss the potential of this program.

We are grateful for the collaboration with County Executive Joe DiVincenzo and Commissioner Brendan Gill who have been instrumental partners in these efforts to improve traffic safety on county roads.

We will continue to look at additional measures to protect the walkability of our town, prioritizing the safety of those walking and biking, and creating equitable mobility for motorists and those using public transportation. And I want to thank all of you who raise areas of concern, and contribute to our efforts.

In addition to our traffic calming measures, we responded to the need for more parking.

The newly opened midtown deck, with 300 additional spaces, has already increased parking capacity with access for all residents.

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Many of these projects are visible for all to see, but sometimes infrastructure improvements happen deep underground and out of sight.

For example, critical improvements in our water infrastructure has been a necessary priority. More than once in the last year Montclair has been at risk of experiencing water loss.

In these cases, our township staff including our Utilities Department, Department of Emergency Management, Department of Public Works, and the Montclair Fire Department worked together to keep our water flowing. And I thank them all for their tremendous efforts.

In October, throughout the crisis caused by the water main break in Nutley, I spoke with Governor Murphy regularly. The Governor and his staff took every phone call I made and delivered the support we needed to work through the issues. I extend our gratitude to the Governor and his staff.

Most importantly, I want to thank all of you for following the state of emergency. Residents throughout Montclair responded to our call to action and water consumption came down preventing a full loss to the community.

While we avoided the worst case scenario, the water emergency serves as an important reminder that our essential infrastructure must be upgraded and maintained.

We are working with our governing partners at the county, state, and federal levels to leverage additional funding for these much needed improvements.

As part of the fiscal year 2023 federal budget, Montclair is receiving more than two-million-dollars to rehabilitate Rand Well.

This investment, along with many other improvements in our water delivery systems, will help Montclair’s water infrastructure meet the needs of residents today and for decades to come.

I’d like to thank Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill who was instrumental in securing the federal funds for our water project.

Alongside Congressman Payne, Senator Booker and Senator Mendendez, Montclair is fortunate to have a strong federal delegation advocating for the needs of our community in Washington. Their advocacy and support has enabled us to make significant progress across town, including in our parks.

Using federal funds, we’re nearing the completion of upgrades at Nishuane, Edgemont and Essex Parks to enhance accessibility, and provide new, modern equipment and update our pools. And, we now have a skate park at Rand Park, with more to come at that site.

Investing in our outdoor spaces supports the health and wellbeing of our community.

But our work is far from complete. I plan to continue advocating at all levels of government for increased funding for infrastructure.

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Our need is great, but our efforts are greater. And through hard work and diligence we will continue to look forward to the next projects that will benefit residents.

One of those projects is Lackawanna Plaza.

For nearly eight years Lackawanna Plaza has remained virtually vacant, depriving residents of easy access to a quality affordable supermarket among many other lost opportunities.

After several start-and-stop efforts to redevelop the site, Montclair now has an opportunity to realize a new vision for Lackawanna Plaza and meet the needs of our community.

Throughout the process, we are engaging with and listening to the community because your input matters and is impactful.

I want to thank all my colleagues on the council for their hard work on this issue.

We have had a number of community meetings on the project - including ones hosted by Councilor Cummings, and another I hosted with Councilor Yaccobellis, and Councilor Price-Abrams. The discussions have been robust, substantive and cordial.

We continue to listen with care to residents’ concerns and questions at our regular public meetings and those submitted by email.

Taking the time to engage with all interested parties improves the process and final plans. The developer, a Montclair resident, is equally as committed to listening to community input.

I am confident that while we may not be able to do everything everyone wants, in the end, Lackawanna Plaza will provide access to a quality local supermarket, include much needed affordable housing, and be a vibrant hub for our community.

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And as I’m sure we all agree, vibrancy defines Montclair.

The arts are an example of that vibrancy and it was great to see our diverse art scene roaring back after COVID put so much of it on a long intermission.

Our township continues to earn its reputation as the cultural center of New Jersey.

The Montclair Film Festival has blossomed into a world renowned event, attracting some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, shining a spotlight on our township, and bringing customers to our local businesses .

One of my personal favorites, the Montclair JazzFest is the highlight of the summer, bringing together our community with people from across the state and region, for some of the best music anywhere.

Along with our festivals we have programs for our youth - such as JazzKids and classes at Vanguard Theater. We are nurturing the next generation of creativity and artists.

Our creative scene is one that prides itself on being inclusive as well. In 2022 we hosted, for the first time ever, the Montclair Pride Festival. Thank you to Out Montclair and our Council member Peter Yacobellis, for the work to make this event a reality. It was a tremendous success and we are looking forward to this year’s Festival.

And the AAPI celebrations, including during AAPI heritage month and the lunar new year festivities, are destination events for people from across New Jersey.

From local authors, painters, photographers, and musicians, Montclair boasts an arts and entertainment scene that rivals major cities many times our size.

As a municipal government we recognize the value of the arts, and appreciate the rich culture that grows from supporting our artists. We will continue to invest, support and honor our arts as a core part of our community.

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All of this is possible because of our engaged and generous residents along with the hard work of municipal employees. I want to make sure we take a moment to recognize our municipal employees who do so much for us everyday.

The past two years have presented unique challenges in governing at all levels.

Now, as we emerge from the pandemic it is an appropriate time to evaluate and improve our operations.

Last October, I called for a full review of township operations to identify areas where we can be more effective, efficient and responsive to our residents.

As we do that work, let me be clear on one thing.

Public employees and all who represent and serve our community must be held to the highest professional standards that reflect the values of our township. We must provide an environment in which employees can confidentially report any behavior that is not appropriate. We take every single complaint seriously.

That’s why I moved to hire experts to ensure a strong and healthy workplace culture with clear expectations of professional behavior, appropriate training for all employees, and establish better protocols moving forward. I am looking forward to prioritizing Culturupt’s recommendations towards these goals.

As always, we will follow the guidance of our township attorney in order to protect confidentiality and the integrity of independent investigations.

I am confident that together we will live up to our values.

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Montclair residents are never shy about standing up for our values. In our activism we don’t just talk the talk, we also walk the walk.

Our community speaks out on issues of conscience and values whether it’s a local, state, national, or international issue. And for that, I am thankful.

Last year, when the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, we came together in solidarity and protest. We gathered in front of the Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan New Jersey with advocates from across the state to reaffirm our commitment to reproductive freedom and the fundamental right to access abortion care.

And in November we turned out in force, using our votes to voice our values and resoundingly sent our Congressional representatives back to Washington. You all did your part yet again.

Last March, nearly one year ago, when we watched in horror as Vladimir Putin launched an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Montclair came together to stand on the side of Democracy.

We repeatedly have come together to support our Ukrainian communities in New Jersey as they care for their families and loved ones, we have severed our symbolic sister-city relationship with a Russian town and we see our solidarity across town with the Ukraine flag flying proudly.

As we come to the one year mark of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I know you join me in our continued prayers for the people of Ukraine and for peace.

But sadly, we are not just witnesses to hate on the other side of the world. Unfortunately we see hateful acts and injustices across our nation and here at home too.

We have watched in continued horror of the unprovoked beating of Tyre Nichols in Memphis. I know many of us have marched yet again in protest. As we celebrate Black History month, I want to honor the memory of Tyre Nichols, as I do for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and so many others. I am sure you join me in my prayer that we do not have to add any more names to this list.

We must acknowledge that here in Montclair, we are not immune to hate crimes and threats of violence.

In the past few months we have seen antisemitic graffiti scrawled on playground equipment, a statewide threat warning to all synagogues, and just last week at Temple Ner Tamid in the neighboring town of Bloomfield, the terrifying incident of a firebomb thrown at the synagogue in the middle of the night.

It is a relief that no one was physically injured in these attacks but they unquestionably stoke fear and anxiety.

Once again, though, Montclair rises to the moment and shows support for our Jewish neighbors, friends, and family.

Let me be clear: Hate has no home in Montclair. And I am proud to live in a community that lives by those words every single day.

We will continue to work on every front to keep our residents safe: in our homes, our places of worship, and in our community.

Our shared values bring us together.

We embrace our diversity as a strength.

We don’t always have to agree, but,

We face our challenges head on.

And together we do the hard work,

We stand up for what is right,

And together we will be successful.

I want to thank you all for joining in this important work.

It’s my privilege to work alongside you as your Mayor.

Thank you and my God continue to bless Montclair and the United States of America.

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