Village President Candidates Squared Off at SHU

Touching on issues from parking to public safety, South Orange Village President candidates Janine Bauer and Alex Torpey staked out their positions in a debate last night with Bauer touting her work as a current trustee while Torpey advocated for change and more open government.

The event at Seton Hall University’s Jubilee Hall also featured Howard Levison, Deborah Davis Ford, and Mark Rosner, all trustee incumbents who are running unopposed on the ticket with Bauer.

The trustees are running for another four-year term while Bauer and Torpey are vying for the village president seat of four years that is currently held by Douglas Newman, who chose not to run again.

Attracting around 50 to 60 people, the debate was sponsored by the Village Liaisons and the League of Women Voters.

Michelle Bobrow, state vice president of the state League of Women Voters, moderated the debate, which started off with the trustees. They had three minutes to recite an opening statement and one minute to respond to several questions chosen by the sponsors and the audience at the event.

During their short discussion, the trustees brought up their accomplishments in the last several years and what they hoped to do in the next term.

Levison talked about the energy and environmental initiatives that were done under his watch. He brought up the famous gas lamps of South Orange and the pilot program that shuts them off during the daylight hours, thus reducing gas consumption and emissions.

Ford touted the village administration’s program of developing and evaluating employees.

“People are our greatest resources,” she said.

She said the village made sure employees were valued and helped improve their skills.

“So you can get a better return on taxes,” she said.

Rosner said while they have done much public safety, more needs to be done. He said he would like more bike patrols around the downtown area again.

For the debate with the village president candidates, the format was the same as the trustees except Bauer and Torpey were given two minutes to respond to questions.

In her opening statement, Bauer brought up her experience as a trustee, an assistant prosecutor in Trenton for three years, and her knowledge of the budget process.

“I have the experience and knowledge to guide us to a successful future,” she said. “I can hit the ground running.”

She said her top priority as village president would be is to reduce the tax burden.

Torpey, 23, conceded that the Bauer may have experience, but he’s bringing a fresh slant to the role of village president if elected.

“I am not running for village president to replace the experience and perspectives that trustees bring to the table. I am running for village president to bring something different, a new perspective,” he said.

Their answers on some of the debate questions follows:

Public safety and reducing crime stats:

Torpey said the village needed to provide focused bike and foot patrols, increase lighting in dark areas and expand neighborhood watch programs.

“We need to look at surveillance cameras in town,” said Torpey, who cautioned though that the cameras should be done “in the right way” so that people’s rights are not infringed.

He also advocated for police officers to do electronic reporting and relying less on doing paperwork, thus freeing them to patrol the streets.

Bauer said the village police officers already do a good job of patrols and have focused on trouble spots.

“They patrol a fixed area over and over again,” she said.

Crime is down overall as well as burglaries, she said.

Improving Irvington Avenue:

Bauer said she would hire personnel who would attract businesses to the area, which some residents and business owners fear is in a state of decline.

Torpey countered that the village needs to focus on safety first before tackling ways to improve the area.

Parking in downtown South Orange:

Torpey said more needs to be done because he said, “Coming to downtown is a risk. If you come to downtown, you are likely to get a traffic ticket.”

Bauer said, yes, parking is still problem. The downtown area is being held back, she said, by the historically small footprint stores and not enough parking.

“We will incorporate more parking in identified areas,” she said.”We are working with New Jersey Transit.”

On preserving historic buildings in the village:

Both candidates were in favor of a historic preservation commission.

Bauer said she would apply for state and federal grants to repair historical buildings. Torpey, who serves on the library board, touted the group’s wiki site on historical structures around town.

Which departments would be candidates for shared services:

Bauer said she thought all department could be candidates for shared services, particularly recreation, health, and code enforcement. She also said regionalized fire and police departments may be the “next step.”

Torpey said while it makes sense to have share service on firefighting, he thought that it may not apply to the police department because of the officers’ familiarity with the village and its residents.

“We have to talk carefully when we talk about shared services in the police department,” said Torpey, who referred to their on the ground intelligence.

On improving the relationship between Seton Hall students and the village:

Torpey said while he thinks students have been reaching out to the village, he doesn’t see it from the village, particularly because of ordinances that have alienated the students.
He also touched on the problem of student housing with some students living in crowded houses in residential areas. He said there should be development plans downtown that would attract a younger crowd.

Bauer countered Torpey’s assertion and said she thought the town has been welcoming to students. And in terms of development, Bauer said she would welcome any developer who would build that kind of housing.

On increasing transparency in government:

Bauer said she would have clearer agendas, shorter meetings, and fewer executive sessions.

Torpey countered Bauer, saying, “Shorter meetings are great but why didn't we do that four years ago?”

Torpey went on to list transparency measures: list the attendance and voting record of each elected officials on the village website, digitize documents, hold an online forum that would not be anonymous, have open office hours for the village president, and Torpey would record a five minute video summary for residents following each trustee meeting.

He said these measures would be done at no cost.

On village expenses and what circumstances would force the village to exceed the two percent cap:

Torpey said the village needs to take a serious look at its expenses and see if they are different ways of doing things in order to reduce expenses. He also said he would try not to exceed the two percent cap.

Bauer said she doesn’t see any reason to exceed the two percent cap.

“It won’t happen on my watch,” she said.

In terms of the budget, she said they need to make the process more open and send out surveys to residents on their needs.

“I think expenses and revenue are well balanced, but we are facing big
budget gap next year, tough decision will be made,” she said.

Closing statements:

Torpey said voters should choose him because he is bringing new energy and perspective to a government that needs a fresh start.

“We have an opportunity on May 10 to change the way our local government operates. It's about thinking outside of the box,” he said. “We have energy and passion to do what we want to. But our local government can do so much more.”

“People disengaged from local government,” he said. “I don't think that's particular to
South Orange. People are questioning role of government in our lives.”

“Please join me in rethinking leadership,” he said.

Bauer said voters should pick her because she’s a sure thing because of her many years of public service and knowledge of government.

“Where are you going to put your investment in,” she said. “I have lived here for last 18 years. I paid my taxes. I raised my children here.”

There are many thorny questions on how to deal with the property tax burden and its causes - thus the village needs experienced people at the helm, she said.

“We have to tackle that with people who have a track record,” she said, also referring to her Pure Progress running mates. “We have the experience to do the job.”

Audience questions:

The later part of the forum dealt with questions from the audience in the auditorium and involved the trustee candidates as well.

They discussed development, transportation, the relationship between Seton Hall and the village, but also water quality concerns in light of the state Department of Environmental Protection issuing a non-compliance notice to the East Orange Water Commission (EOWC), the supplier and operator of South Orange’s water supply.

“We lost control over the water quality,” Torpey said, accusing the trustee board of ignoring the problem. “We have a situation where we don’t control our own water supply.”

Bauer said the last thing the village has done is ignore the problem. Bauer cited her experience as an environmental lawyer and said she will not rest as president until the problem is cleared up.

Editor Marcia Worth contributed to this report.