Departing Montclair Council Members Share Their Thoughts (WATCH)

MONTCLAIR, NJ — With every changing of the guard, a chance for reflection also takes place. And that held true for the Montclair Township Council when it saw a seismic shift last week.

Montclair’s municipal government got a big shake-up after this year’s election, with the entire town council being replaced. Mayor Renee Baskerville and the new council members – Susan Shin Andersen and Carmel Loughman (at-large seats), Erik D'Amato (First Ward), Eileen Birmingham (Second Ward), Rahum Williams (Third Ward), and Aminah Toler (Fourth Ward) – officially started their new positions on July 1. See Related: Baskerville Picks Up Torch In Montclair, New Council Sworn In (VIDEO)

The town has now bid farewell to former mayor Sean Spiller and former council members Roger Terry and Bob Russo (at-large), William Hurlock (1st Ward), Robin Schlager (2nd Ward), Lori Price Abrams (3rd Ward), and David Cummings (4th Ward).

Russo was the only incumbent to run for re-election this year, losing a narrow race to Shin Andersen and Loughman. See Related: Russo Concedes Election: ‘Results Didn’t Surprise Me’

Before the new members were sworn in, the departing members of the dais (minus Spiller, who wasn’t present at the meeting) got a chance to reflect on their time on the council and what it taught them as Montclair residents. Watch the videos below (cued to their comments), or view meeting footage online here.

Some comments from the departing council members included:

ROGER TERRY – “I want to thank today's residents for continuing to keep this majestic town a vibrant, wonderful place to live. I hope you will continue to work in the spirit of togetherness for all inhabitants of the community … To the new elected officials: please stay focused, stay strong and positive. Realize that this town has been – and continues to be – one of the premium places to live and work in the country. Jersey politics is a contact sport. You can’t be thin-skinned. You have to put on your shoulder pads and your helmet when you come up here sometimes.”

BOB RUSSO – “Montclair’s future is bright, and I'm proud to have contributed to its current success … My work in education, the environment, the arts, race relations, as well as tax reform, has truly been rewarding over the last four years as your mayor, and over a decade on the council … I'm glad I didn't win. Here's why. I got 4,000 votes almost … I did very well. But I want to be able to spend time on other things. I want to be able to teach at Montclair State [University], go to the movies with my wife, spend time at Asbury Park and Ocean Grove ... So I do have other things to do. But I'm gonna stay involved in government. And I'm telling you right now: the election this November is so important.”

WILLIAM HURLOCK – “I met a lot of people in this position, I am now proud to call many of them my friends, people I would have never met if I had not chosen this particular path … I am truly concerned for the way that we are acting and conducting ourselves, whether it's national, state or local. We can do better – we can do much better … Political differences, once tolerated as a nation, have now become criminalized. Compromise has become a four-letter word. In the end, truth has been sacrificed for political expediency, and to advance the hateful messages, not of the many – of the few.”

ROBIN SCHLAGER – “I'm thankful to have been voice in dealing with major issues that have faced our town over the past two decades. But I'm even more thankful to have been able to help individual constituents in my ward with issues ranging from falling trees to neighborhood flooding and dangerous intersections, just to name a short, small few … I'm pleased to see the progress all over town that I know I have been involved in.”

LORI PRICE ABRAMS – “I have a strong feeling of things being left unfinished, and that’s simply because they are. The end of the term is not the end of the work … there is never enough time and some projects are simply unfinished when it's time to transition. The job is inherently one in which you step into the middle of a running stream. And in the same way, you step out.”

DAVID CUMMINGS – “Counselors, as you take this role, understand there are 40,000 residents in his town. None of them – or the majority of them – do not come up here every Tuesday and complain or call you out, and the reason is because they’re happy. So when you function and think about the ideas that you have to forward, and the legislation that you pass, think about everyone … try your best to think about not what you want, but what’s best for the township.”

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