Author name: Brian Rock

At the August 4 council meeting, the topic of development and affordable housing came up. This prompted the township attorney, Mark Semeraro, to provide an update on the situation in which West Orange now finds itself. That situation is, in a word, precarious. As Semeraro explained, the township failed to pass its affordable housing plan […]

When you walk through your neighborhood in West Orange – whether you’re dropping your kids off at school, jogging down Pleasant Valley Way, or visiting a local business on Main Street – you should feel safe. Yet too many of us have experienced near misses with speeding or distracted drivers. I run every morning, and

I live in St. Cloud near the zoo, and we frequently find ourselves driving up and down Northfield Ave. It’s the gateway to Livingston and points further west, and every time we drive through the traffic light at Pleasant Valley Way I think about how the two areas are effectively cut off from one another.

July is national parks and recreation month – which makes it a perfect time to highlight the parks in West Orange. We are blessed to have many great outdoor spaces in town. There are three major county parks (South Mountain Reservation, the Zoo Complex, and Eagle Rock Reservation), a national park (Thomas Edison), and numerous

For some time now, retirement payouts have been a hot topic at town council meetings. The most controversial of those was Abbott’s accumulated leave worth almost $800,000. But other questions have swirled, causing the Council to quibble over payments as small as $5.36. The Council has the benefit of legal counsel to explain the finer

I live in the St. Cloud area by the zoo. I love running every morning, and I often run on the trails. South Mountain is super convenient to get to. But it is frustratingly hard to get up to Eagle Rock Reservation on foot from my house. To prove that point, I ran the route

In February, it was reported that West Orange’s former Chief of Police, James Abbott, was due to receive a $780k payout for accumulated leave at retirement. This is an obscene amount and it raised questions about how this could happen – and whether there was anything that could be done to avoid paying it. Since

Thank you to everyone that stopped by Llewelynn Parq on Wednesday to officially kick off my campaign for Mayor. It was great to be with friends, family, and supporters, talking about the future of West Orange. And a special thanks to all of the regular folks who happened to be up front at the bar

I’ve run every day since November 2021. I’m often making the loop around the Reservoir, exploring the trails in the Reservation, or taking Pleasant Valley Way up to Verona Park. But this year, I decided to try something new. My goal was to run every street in West Orange. I wanted to break out of

West Orange is a town full of potential. That’s why we chose to make our home here and why I’ve served on the Board of Education for the last five years. But that potential is being squandered – by a lack of leadership and by infighting among our elected officials. It’s time for us to