Who is James Ward?

Do you know where approximately $92.48 million is allocated in Orange?

Since 2022 the Orange Municipal council voted to approve budgets while refusing all recommendations from the Citizens Budget Advisory Committee to reduce municipal costs. Rising from $81m to 92m in 4 years.

• Instituting a Parking Authority

• Imposing a freeze on new hires

• Capping overtime pay

• Reducing or limiting perks such as up to $40,000 in dry-cleaning expenses for the police department

Despite these proposals, the City Council ignored all of them and ultimately moved forward year over year from 2022 - 2026 increasing 13.2% in the municipal budget.

Spending is out of control in Orange

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—covering more than 20 blocks and engaging over 270 registered members.

James regularly brings forward community concerns to the City Council, addressing issues ranging from speeding and unsecured properties to excessive noise, always prioritizing the quality of life in Orange’s neighborhoods.

He has also successfully worked with council members to draft legislation restricting driving schools from operating within the city after they were shown to pose significant public safety hazards. In addition, James has collaborated with the Police Department and the Orange Board of Education to create safer streets for children by instituting designated school drop-off zones and enforcing stricter speed restrictions around schools.

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.