DeLuca Denounces Wednesday's Gun Vote

Maplewood Mayor says Senators who voted against expanded background checks "abandoned" American people.

In reponse to Wednesday's U.S. Senate's defeat of a bill that would have expanded background checks for gun purchases. Maplewood's Mayor Vic DeLuca posted the following message on his Facebook page.  (DeLuca is part of the group Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Read more about his work with that organization here, here and here.) Only in the United States Senate can a majority vote in favor of something and still lose. Today’s amendment to expand background checks for gun purchases had 54 votes in favor, a clear majority, but it did not meet the unrealistic and ridiculous procedural hurdle of 60 votes.  Even though the American people overwhelmingly support expanded background checks, the Republican Party and a handful of Democrats abandoned …

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DeLuca and Torpey Will Join "Meet the Mayors" Breakfast

Saturday's event will include mayors from two counties, plus President of PSE&G.

  Area residents are invited to have breakfast with more than 20 mayors from Essex and Passaic County. The third annual Meet the Mayors event will take place on Saturday, March 23, from 9 to 11 a.m., at Crane’s Mill, 459 Passaic Ave., in West Caldwell. Mayors from all 22 towns in Essex County, as well as Little Falls and Clifton, are invited to enjoy a hot breakfast and mingle at this free event. This year’s speaker is Ralph A. LaRossa, President & COO of PSE&G. For information or to RSVP, call 973-226-5500 or email@northessexchamber.com. The League of Women Voters of the Montclair Area partners with local chambers of commerce to present an annual Meet the Mayors breakfast at Crane's Mill.

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Lee Navlen

3:46 pm on Friday, March 22, 2013

The same Ralph A. LaRossa who kept giving Mayor De Luca misleading information as to when we would get our power back after Sandy? Following the Mayor's advice and publication of his e-mail address on MOL, I must have fired off half a dozen e-mails to LaRossa. I may attend just to see if he remembers me!   more ›

DeLuca, Democratic Mayors Search for Christie Opponent

Maplewood's Mayor Vic DeLuca joins other NJ Dems seeking a challenger to Governor.

PHOTO: Groundbreaking on Springfield Avenue

Township officials join developers and Assemblyman McKeon to kick off construction of a mixed-use building across from Police & Courts Building and Walgreens.

  Mayor Vic DeLuca, Deputy Mayor Kathleen Leventhal and other township officials, as well as Assemblyman John F. McKeon, hoisted shovels Wednesday morning to ceremonially break ground on a mixed-use residential and commercial building at 1611 Springfield Ave. in Maplewood. The project, which has been in the works for several years, will feature 5,275 square feet of retail space on the ground floor as well as six apartments on the second floor. Daibes Gas 14 LLC, a subsidiary of Daibes Enterprises of Edgewater, will construct the building, to be located on a triangular plot of land across the street from the Police & Courts Building and from Walgreens on Burnett Avenue. Also on hand for the groundbreaking were vice president Danny Daibes …

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Township Aims for Two Percent Tax Increase in 2013

Stuck with ongoing costs from Hurricane Sandy and other expenses, township committee remains optimistic they can keep increase to minimum.

  The Maplewood Township Committee said Saturday they aim to keep tax increases in 2013 within two percent, in spite of continuing complications from Hurricane Sandy. At the first budget meeting of 2013, the committee agreed that a 2013 tax increase is inevitable in the wake of hurricane damage over the past two years. They said that while the township and the budget committee have been working hard to keep the tax increase as small as possible, the need to equip township departments with adequate personnel and equipment must be carefully weighed against the cost to the average homeowner. “Two percent is an objective,” said Committeeman Marlon K. Brownlee, “but we need to make the requisite investments to maintain the future of our town… …

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Maplewood State of the Township Address 2013

Mayor DeLuca updates the community on accomplishments and challenges.

  At the annual Maplewood Township Reorganization meeting on Jan. 1, 2013, newly reinstated Mayor Vic DeLuca delivered his 8th State of the Township address. The transcript of the address is published below in its entirety. Also at the meeting, Kathy Leventhal and Jerry Ryan were sworn in as Township Committee members. More coverage on the day's activities will be coming later on Patch. Happy New Year to all! Congratulations to Kathy and Jerry on the first day of your new terms. Our community thanks you for your years of service and looks forward to working with you to accomplish even more over the next three years.  I want to thank my colleagues for electing me as Mayor for another year, my eighth. We have worked cooperatively to get the …

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Maplewood's Annual Reorganization Meeting is Tuesday

Elected officials are sworn in, will discuss 2012 accomplishments and priorities for 2013.

Maplewood Township will hold its annual Reorganization Meeting Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013 at noon at the Maplewood Municipal Building (Town Hall.) The meeting, which is open to the public, will feature the swearing in of elected officials (Mayor Vic DeLuca will be sworn in for his eighth term as Mayor, and Jerry Ryan and Kathy Leventhal will take the oath of office after being reelected to the township committee.) The Mayor will give his State of the Township address (see addresses from 2012, 2011, 2010). The township by-laws will be adopted, and various appointments will be made. The township committee will elect the Board of School Estimate. See the full agenda attached as a PDF to this article. Rev. Brenda Ehlers will offer the invocation; …

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Who Will Govern Maplewood in 2013?

Hint: the times are probably not much a changin' in town politics.

Update 12/15, 12:52 p.m.: Patch has updated the article with a comment from Township Committee member Jerry Ryan. At the end of each year, the five members of the Maplewood Township Committee select a Mayor, Deputy Mayor and board and committee assignments for the following year. The Mayor is then officially installed at the annual reorganization meeting on Jan. 1. Vic DeLuca has been Mayor of Maplewood for four straight terms. Is he likely to be chosen again by the committee members? "You'll find out on Dec. 18," said DeLuca in a phone interview. That is the date of the next regular meeting of the township committee.  "We have a caucus meeting each year," he said. "In the past we've had that meeting in public." So far, the signs point …

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Mayor DeLuca Endorses Rice for Congress

Newark councilman is vying for a seat in 10th Congressional district

Maplewood Mayor Vic DeLuca released the following announcement yesterday.  Dear Friend,  On Tuesday, June 5th, we have the opportunity to elect a new member of Congress. I urge you to vote for Ron Rice.  I believe Ron is the best candidate for Maplewood. He is a progressive Democrat who will challenge the right wing Republican agenda in the House of Representatives.  Environment – Ron will promote policies that address climatechange. He led the effort to set up Newark’s Environmental Commission and for the adoption of the city’s Sustainability Plan. Ron was endorsed by the NJ Environmental Federation.  Reproductive Health Care – Ron will fight to protect a full range of reproductive health care rights and services for women.  Gay Rights – …

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She's a Beauty: Maplewood's New/Old Bulletin Board

The most blogged-about bulletin board in town is cleaned up and in place.

When the bulletin board near the post office suddenly disappeared from Maplewood Village some weeks ago and was replaced by a new, locked kiosk, the outcry was immediate and intense.  Read all about it here. Then, Mayor Vic DeLuca announced a solution that seemed (at least for now) to please all parties. The township took a bulletin board that had been located on Baker Street behind Arturo's and relocated it to a brand new, and highly visible, spot on Maplewood Avenue -- on the other side of the post office from where the old one stood for many years.  Joe Strupp of Maplewoodian chronicled the operation on Wednesday. Locals who had protested the original board's removal pitched in to dislodge decades-old staples, and now the tidied-up …

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