Do you know where $78,469,990 is spent in Orange?

In 2020 the Orange Municipal council voted to approve this budget while refusing all recommendations from the Citizens Budget Advisory Committee to reduce municipal costs.

$798,141.46 of Unfilled Jobs

$4,848,303.41 - 2020 Overtime Costs

$2,287,179.89 - 2020 - Covid-19 response Overtime cost, none went to essential employees.

Additional Revenue Refused, Existing Revenue Not Maintained

27.7% of city parking meters need repair

In 2019, alongside his wife, James began advocating on behalf of his neighbors for expanding capacity at our neighborhood school for our soon-to-be preschoolers.

When concerns about Property taxation came to a head in neighborhood talks, James led efforts to challenge the Essex county tax board and bring accountability to the city council.

In the midst of the 2020 Covid-19 Pandemic attention was brought to the community about the township public safety, voting irregularities, town budget, and taxation. Action was taken to coalesce the community around these shared concerns; realizing that a unified voice would be the only way to see about change in our community, and the Seven Oaks Society was born.

Mr. Ward has been a committed advocate for community policing establishing one of the largest and most effective Crime Watch Networks in the City of Orange. Encompassing 20 Blocks with registered 270 Members.

James regularly reiterates the concerns of the community to the city council, from speeding to unsecure properties, and noise. The quality of life in our homes and community is a priority.

James will create a strategic plan for attracting and retaining a diverse selection of businesses to our commercial districts.

James will work to establish a set of standards for all new construction and major renovation projects. That will include:

• Buildings + Places Review Board

• High-Performance Building Practices

• Prewiring for Solar Panels

• Prewiring for Electric vehicle charging

• Water runoff mitigation

• 2 to 1 Parking Standard (1.2 to 1 now)

When one of us is not protected, none of us can claim safety for our neighborhood. We must strongly rebuke the idea that we will stay silent in the face of intolerance.

In the Spring of 2021 James organized a group of concerned citizens and business leaders to testify before the City Council in support of Legalizing the Sale of Cannabis in the City of Orange.

Eventually submitting over 300 signatures of registered voters to overturn the decision of the city council.

The facts are that Orange will lose out on the 3% sales tax on Cannabis-related businesses. This could be as much as $2M in revenue for the Citizens of Orange.

James is an educator from developing corporate educational seminars to his role as lecturer at Columbia University his passion for imparting knowledge to the next generation is shown through his works.

The Seven Oaks Society originated the idea to bring little libraries to the City of Orange, working through the council members to revise the code of Orange to allow this to happen. Bring the joy of reading to our doorsteps.