Environmental Advocates Rate West Orange Council On Key Votes

WEST ORANGE, NJ — An advocacy group in West Orange has released a “report card” that rates town council members on several local votes that took place last year.

Our Green West Orange posted its 2021 Town Council Report Card last week, noting that an A-grade is for a vote “in the public interest,” while an F-grade equals a vote “not in the public interest.” See it here.

The group assigned the town’s five council members the following grades:

• Cindy Matute-Brown – D
• Susan McCartney – D
• Michelle Casalino – D
• Tammy Williams – D
• Bill Rutherford – C

The group offered the following statement about the effort:

“Our Green West Orange’s mission is to keep our town safe, green, and affordable. But real estate and other business interests have influenced our elected officials and changed the nature of our town. As a result, any one of us could find ourselves on the wrong side of a rock landslide or flood, like the 45 families at the Ron-Jolyn apartments at 275 Northfield Avenue who lost their homes. Or without proper shade trees. Or sitting in interminable traffic on Main Street, or Prospect Avenue, or Northfield Avenue. Or facing skyrocketing tax rates. We believe that our town has become less safe, less affordable and less green in the past year. The Our Green West Orange 2021 Report Card reflects significant votes on areas of concern to us. We recognize that our officials are involved in other township activities, but it is their votes as council members that matter the most.”

Courtesy of Our Green West Orange by erickiefer on Scribd

‘DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES, DIFFERENT RESULTS’

Council member Susan McCartney, gave Patch a response to the group’s critique as the town council liaison to the West Orange Environmental Commission (WOEC) and Planning Board.

“I realize how fervently we all want to see and feel immediate action and environmental change,” McCartney said, noting that “different perspectives produce different results.”

“From an environmental point of view, I believe the WOEC, administration and council have taken strides to accept and accomplish steps toward change,” McCartney said. “Of course, there is so much more work that needs to be done.”

McCartney offered a list of some local projects that are underway, presentations and amendments that are being considered, and ordinances that have already been adopted:

• the Geoscape presentation on solar carports for the municipal lots and the WOHS parking lots
• the EV charging station presentations & ultimately the adopted EV installation ordinance
• the purchase of the 94.5 acre subdivision of Crestmont Country Club for preservation
• the resolution to conduct a geo-technical study of the Northfield area
• the Mayor's letter to the State on slope stabilization
• the adoption of an updated Stormwater Management ordinance
• the NJ Association of Landscapers meeting on the pros and cons of gas-powered leaf blowers
• the amendments to the Tree ordinance
• the amendments currently being made to the steep slope ordinance
• the single-use plastic bag campaign with NJ Clean Communities and the Health Department
• the partnership with Second Chance Toys for the town-wide collection of plastic toys to donate & recycle for reuse rather than discard in landfills
• the WOEC Heritage Tree campaign
• the annual Earth Hour Launch
• the Artificial Floating Island Water Quality project with the WOHS Green Team
• the Sustainable Jersey grant application for bio-retention systems at 5 public schools - Liberty, Roosevelt, Kelly, Washington Street and Redwood
• the recently introduced NJSDC Green Business Registry

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com

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