South Orange is Now on Facebook!

On Monday night, March 11, 2013, the Village launched a Facebook page as part of a strategic plan to utilize more internet based tools and social media to help communicate, inform and engage with residents, business owners, students and visitors.

The page, which is located at: facebook.com/SouthOrangeVillage was a project of the newly re-created Public Information & Marketing Committee, a group comprised of volunteer residents, community partners and Village officials working to help South Orange research and implement new media and communication policies and initiatives.

The Facebook page, in the interim, will also serve as an additional source for the Village to distribute information to the public.  Village officials are studying best practices on the use of Facebook and other social media or online solutions to engage our residents in discussions and solicit requests, feedback and suggestions. At present, these practices and policies have to be created to comply with the state's antiquated statutes regarding open public meetings and public records, which were enacted before the internet existed. Village President Alex Torpey noted that he and other local officials around the state  have been actively lobbying the State legislature to revise these archaic laws to address and facilitate the broader use of social media by local government. Until the legislation is changed, South Orange  remains committed to using the Facebook page and other social media tools to help get important information out to the community to the greatest extend permitted by current law, and have setup a general inquiry address at info@southorange.org to take municipal questions anyone may have.

The new Facebook page compliments the Village's recently re-activated Twitter account, at http://twitter.com/SouthOrangeNJ, the Village website (currently undergoing a start from scratch redesign) at http://southorange.org and the email/voice/text notification system at http://southorange.org/alerts as ways to keep the public informed and updated.  Officials also wanted to remind residents that the website houses all of the agendas, minutes, resolutions, ordinances and videos of all of the Board of Trustees meetings, and that signing up for alerts with your email, home and cell phones are the best ways to stay updated during emergencies.

The members of the Public Information & Marketing Committee will continue to work on a number of exciting projects, including helping the Village research policies for the use of these tools, helping to manage and improve the social media presence, update the Village's branding and more.

The Village wishes to recognize and extend its sincere appreciation to  the Public Information and Marketing Committee members:

• Michael Baldwin, resident
• Marie Somers, resident
• Liz Mccarthy, resident
• Cynthia Passanante , resident
• Robert Mattliano, resident
• Adam Loehner, Seton Hall University
• Paul Roth, South Orange/Maplewood School District
• Celine Herrero, South Orange business owner
• Scott Sullivan, South Orange Performing Arts Center
• Howard Levsion, Trustee Liaison
• Alex Torpey, Village President (Interim Chair)
• Barry Lewis, Village Administrator