WATCH: West Orange Mayor Gives 'State Of Township' Address For 2024

WEST ORANGE, NJ — West Orange Mayor Susan McCartney recently presented the annual State of the Township address, touching on issues such as development, emergency response, finance and cannabis.

McCartney gave her speech at the West Orange Chamber of Commerce’s 2024 community breakfast event, which was held at the Wilshire Grand Hotel on Feb. 15.

McCartney – the director of First Mountain Preschool on Pleasant Valley Way – became the town’s first female mayor after her election in 2022.

Some of the mayor’s comments included:

DEVELOPMENT – “Immediately upon becoming mayor last year, we faced … major crossroads in personnel, [and] also in our economic landscape with the closing of The Manor, the unpredictable future of Mayfair Farms, the Essex Equestrian Center, Executive Drive Rock Spring Golf Club, the new library and the anticipation of the Target at the Kmart Whole Foods Plaza. That was just in one year.”

FIRE/EMS – “The fire and EMS crews continued to be the second busiest in Essex County behind Newark. At full staffing the fire department is comprised of 88 firefighters and officers in five locations ... In a year's time, the fire department responded to 7,580 calls for service and conducted 1,254 fire inspections. All of our business owners here today can attest to being part of those statistics.”

POLICE – “More good news continues to pour out of the police department, with Police Chief Jim Abbott increased training on top of their already-accredited CALEA system. The police department has increased its commitment to defensive tactics training over the past few years. And the results are apparent in the fact that no subjects were injured during command review … In the past few years, the West Orange Police Department has hired 18 new police officers from the Civil Service list and local recruiting efforts: five females and 30 males. All officers receive 16 hours of resiliency mental health training.”

HOME/BUSINESS INVESTMENT – “People are investing in their homes and their businesses. According to business official Tom Biondi, home and business improvement per permits generated $225,000 in January alone. That revenue projected for 2024 will generate over $1 million to support our tax base.”

TAX COLLECTION – “The entire finance department cheered last spring when Kathy Longo was sworn in as the tax collector. Under Kathy's leadership, the department continues to maintain a 99% tax collection rate.”

CANNABIS – “We have approved yet-pending cannabis dispensaries: The Library of New Jersey, Dogwood Green, West Orange Wellness, Pure Natural Vibes – along with the pending application for a cultivation facility.”

Watch McCartney’s full State of the Township address below (video is cued to her speech).

Send local news tips and correction requests to [email protected]. Learn more about advertising on Patch here. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site. Don’t forget to visit the Patch West Orange Facebook page.