Westfield Mayor Delivers State Of Town Address

WESTFIELD, NJ — At Tuesday night's Township Council meeting, Westfield Mayor Shelley Brindle gave a State of the Town address, looking back and ahead.

Brindle gave examples of how the town protected its vulnerable residents, budgeted carefully, and planned for redevelopment over 2020. Then, she outlined future goals.

Brindle mentioned a few highlights of what the town accomplished:

• Continued popular events even amid coronavirus precautions, such as Alt AddamsFest and Drive-Thru Santa
• Found ways to get residents help, such as redirecting school resource officers to serve as Community Resource Officers to reach out to seniors and residents in need, contacting seniors via weekly wellness calls, and giving nightly coronavirus updates.
• Regarding development: "Recently designating Streetworks Development LLC as the developer for their Lord & Taylor properties and the train station parking lots, we culminated a public planning process that began almost three years ago to establish an overdue, long-term vision for Westfield. Their designation marks the beginning of a new public and actionable phase in our planning.
• Reduced the town budget by 1.32 percent in anticipation of pandemic-related revenue declines, maintained a $7 million budget surplus and AAA bond rating, and received $833,000 in grants the town pursued
• Continued to prioritize the fight for better service and peak one-seat rides on the Raritan Valley NJ Transit line
• Planted approximately 500 trees
• Established a Public Arts Commission, resulting in two new murals funded through grants and donations, and successful first public art installation, which raised $24,000 through public art auction to fund future art exhibits.
• More accomplishments are here.

What of the future?

"Our top priority in 2021, without question, is to continue to ensure the health and welfare of our employees, residents, and businesses," Brindle said. "As the vaccine rolls out ... we will begin to gradually reclaim normalcy. My position remains that we, as a forward-looking community, need to be ready to capitalize on our post-pandemic future through the groundwork we have laid over the last few years." (Read more: Union County COVID Vaccine Appointments Begin)

She noted the sudden changes in the past year: "Remote work, remote school, Zoom meetings, social distancing, masking up, business shutdowns, stay at home orders, curbside pickup, online ordering, online everything ... If we weren’t sure who we were then, we certainly know now. Resilient. Compassionate. Innovative. Resourceful. Adaptive. Selfless."

She said, "Many experts believe that COVID accelerated innovation in a number of areas by ten years, which we have all personally experienced in some way. We now have the opportunity to harness this collective spirit of innovation to work towards reimagining a new future for our downtown."

Brindle also thanked personnel who had to perform extra tasks as they helped weather the pandemic, including, among many, Town Clerk Tara Rowley, who helped keep Town Hall running, Police Chief Chris Battiloro, Fire Chief Tony Tiller, Town Planner Don Sammet, DPW Director Greg O'Neil, Health Director Megan Avallone, Public Information Officer Kim Forde who served as a liason, and other volunteers and officials.

To read the full address, click here.

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