DE LUCA NOTE URGES ATTENDANCE AT BUILDING MEETING

This from mayor Vic De Luca today:

The Township has been active in Building One New Jersey to promote our standing in the state and nationally as a diverse, inclusive and sustainable first suburb. I hope you will attend the next meeting at7:00pm on Thursday, May 30th in West Orange.

Maplewood has applied for a grant from Together North Jersey and a good showing at this meeting from our town will be a real plus. There will be plenty of time during the meeting to provide your thoughts and ideas. Please let me know if you are able to attend.

Thanks.

Vic

Building One New Jersey

Dear Friend,

You are invited to participate in an important policy briefing and discussion about the future of our region on Thursday, May 30, 2013 from 7 PM to 9 PM at the Wilshire Grand Hotel, 350 Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange, NJ, 07052.

A partial list of confirmed attendees includes: Speaker Sheila Oliver, Assemblyman Tom Giblin, Assemblywoman Mila Jasey, Freeholder Brendan Gill, Mayor Anzaldi of Clifton, Mayor Robert Jackson of Montclair, Mayor Vic DeLuca of Maplewood, Mayor Alex Torpey of South Orange, Councilpersons Renee Jackson and Bob Russo of Montclair, and Board of Education Members Sandra Mordecai, Shane Berger, Norman Rosenblum and Elisabeth Ginsburg of West Orange, Bloomfield, Montclair and Glen Ridge.

Recently, our region received a $5 million Sustainable Communities Initiative grant from HUD to create a “Regional Plan for Sustainable Development” to promote stable and inclusive communities and an environmentally sustainable region. The purpose of this plan is to influence the direction of billions of state and federal dollars that are needed and expected to be invested in housing, water and transportation infrastructure over the next decade.

The entity created to fulfill this grant is called TOGETHER North Jersey (TNJ) housed at the Voorhees Transportation Center of theBloustein School at Rutgers University. Building One New Jersey (BONJ) is a major partner in this initiative and is helping organize a series of conversations across our region.

As you know, New Jersey’s older communities and towns are vital, diverse and at the heart of the American Dream - towns like Bloomfield, South Orange, Montclair, West Orange, Maplewood, Clifton, and Belleville. Yet we face huge challenges from a slow economic recovery and the absence of federal and state policies that support communities like ours. Over the past year, through BONJ, a group of local elected officials and citizens from our area has been discussing ways to work together to make sure our collective voices are heard in Trenton and Washington in order to build a better future for our towns.

This event and the TNJ program is an opportunity for us to build support for policies to help towns like ours. The phrase “stable and inclusive communities and an environmentally sustainable region” means different things to different people. We believe it means investing infrastructure dollars in diverse, inclusive and transit friendly communities like ours while promoting regional cooperation and a better balance of housing to bring working families within reach of good jobs, schools and transportation.

We have a tremendous opportunity to shape the future of northern New Jersey but we need to be at the table. To confirm your attendance or if you have any questions please contact Jerry Fried at jerryfriedhome@gmail.com or 862-596-3492.

We look forward to your participation.

Sincerely,

Mayor Vic De Luca, Maplewood
Mayor Alex Torpey, South Orange
Mayor Robert Jackson, Montclair
Councilwoman Sue McCartney, West Orange
Jerry Fried, former Mayor of Montclair
Jon Carnegie, Voorhees Transportation Center of the Bloustein School of Rutgers University