East Orange, New Jersey is governed under the City form of New Jersey municipal government. The government consists of a mayor and a city council made up of ten members, two representing each of the city's five geographic political subdivisions called wards. The mayor is elected directly by the voters. The ten members of the city council are elected to four-year terms on a staggered basis, with one seat in each ward coming up for election every other year. [1] [2]
Ted R. Green was raised in East Orange, New Jersey and attended East Orange Public Schools. He graduated from East Orange High School in 1981 and furthered his education by attending Cheyney University in Pennsylvania, where he majored in Business Management. He then attended Rutgers University where he received his certification as a Housing Counselor. Over the past 20+ years, he has distinguished himself as a professional in the field of Property Maintenance and Housing Revitalization. From 1990 until 1997, Ted Green served as the Assistant Compliance Officer for the City of East Orange. From 2002 until 2006, he was the Code Enforcement Officer for the City of Irvington Townships’ Housing Division. In 2011, Ted Green graduated from Lincoln University and received his Master of Arts Degree in Human Services.
Ted Green has been active in East Orange political and civic affairs for over 25 years. He is a member of the Third Ward Democratic Municipal County Committee and is active in East Orange Block Associations and Civic Groups. He is also a former Aide to New Jersey State Senator Richard Codey and served as an appointed member to the East Orange Housing Authority to which he would also serve as Council Liaison.
On January 1, 2006, Ted Green was sworn in as a member of the East Orange City Council representing the Third Ward. As Third Ward Councilman, Ted Green served as Chairman of Business and Development for the City, and on January 1, 2015, he was elected as the Chairman of the East Orange City Council, a position he held for two years. On January 1, 2018, he was sworn in as the 14th Mayor of the City of East Orange after winning an overwhelming 96% of the vote.
In 1990, Mayor Green founded the Green's School of Martial Arts, positive programs and activities for youth in East Orange. He has implemented community outreach initiatives and sponsored multiple pieces of legislation, including:
Mayor Green has received citations, awards and accolades, including:
While on City Council, Mayor Green has served as a member of every standing committee including Liaison to the Mayor, the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders, the New Jersey Legislature, the United States Congress, the East Orange Parking Authority, the Board of School Estimates, the Personnel Committee and Negotiations Team. Mayor Green currently oversees a $150 million budget, and within his first year in office as Mayor, has saved the city over $140,000 by bringing street sweeping back “in house” as opposed to paying a contractor to clean the streets in the community.
Mayor Green also developed the “Mayor on the Block” clean up and community engagement initiative. With members of Property Maintenance, Public Works, Health and Human Services, Public Safety, and Constituent Services, Mayor Green walks through sections of each ward on a bi-weekly basis to assess needs and concerns of residents and address areas that need cleaning, rehabilitation and improved safety. The goal of Mayor Green is to cover every block in every ward. In 2018, Mayor Green covered more than 65% of the city.
Under his administration, crime decreased an additional 17% between 2018 and 2019 with more than 50 new police officers on the streets, while $1 billion of private capital is being invested in the city.
A member of the Eta Pi chapter of Omega Psi Phi fraternity, Mayor Green is married to June Green and is the father of sons Eric Lamar and Salahuddin and the grandfather of four.
At the age of 39, Lester E. Taylor III became the second youngest mayor in the city's history. Taylor earned his undergraduate degree in political science from Montclair State University [14] and a Juris Doctor from Howard University School of Law. Both a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association and a Trustee for the New Jersey School Boards Association-North Region Association of School Attorneys, Mayor Taylor is also a partner at Florio Perrucci Steinhardt & Fader. [15] Taylor also launched several new initiatives, the Quality of Life Task Force, [16] the East Orange College and Career Readiness Network, [17] and the Mentor Summit. [18]
Thomas H. Cooke Jr. (October 13, 1929 - May 18, 2020) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as Mayor of East Orange, New Jersey, from 1978 to 1986. He was elected to the East Orange City Council in 1961, at age 32, and was re-elected in 1969 and 1969.
In 1967, Cooke became a candidate for the New Jersey General Assembly, running in Essex County District 11D. Cooke and his running mate, Frank J. Dodd, a future New Jersey Senate President and 1981 Democratic gubernatorial candidate, easily defeated Francis T. Craig in the Democratic primary. [19] In the general election, the two seats were won by Republican Kenneth Wilson (19,281) and Dodd (19,101), with Republican Donald MacArt, a former East Orange Council Chairman(17,845) and Cooke (17,816) losing. [20]
He was elected to the Essex County Board of Freeholders in 1970, and was re-elected in 1973. [21] He was not a candidate for re-election to a third term in 1976 after losing the backing of the powerful Essex County Democratic Chairman, Harry Lerner. [22]
He ran for Mayor in 1977, defeating Lerner's candidate, two term Mayor William Stanford Hart Sr. in the Democratic primary. [23] [24] He won renomination in the 1981 Democratic primary by just 321 votes, and lost the Democratic primary for Essex County Executive to incumbent Peter Shapiro by a 2-1 margin. [25]
Cooke made an unsuccessful comeback bid in 1997, challenging incumbent Mayor Robert L. Bowser in the Democratic primary. He finished fifth in that race with just 520 votes (4.8%). Bowser defeated Sheila Oliver 3,991 (37%) to 3,939 (36%).
Essex County is located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey, and is one of the centrally located counties in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the county was the state's second-most populous county, with a population of 863,728, its highest decennial count since the 1970 census and an increase of 79,759 (+10.2%) from the 2010 census count of 783,969. The county is part of the North Jersey region of the state.
Caldwell is a borough located in northwestern Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, about 16 miles (26 km) west of New York City and 6 miles (9.7 km) north-west of Newark, the state's most populous city. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 9,027, an increase of 1,205 (+15.4%) from the 2010 census count of 7,822, which in turn reflected an increase of 238 (+3.1%) from the 7,584 counted in the 2000 census.
East Orange is a city in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 69,612, an increase of 5,342 (+8.3%) from the 2010 census count of 64,270, which in turn reflected a decline of 5,554 (−8.0%) from the 69,824 counted in the 2000 census. The city was the state's 17th most populous municipality in 2020, after having been ranked 20th in 2010 and 14th statewide in 2000. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 68,446 in 2022, ranking the city the 553rd-most-populous in the country.
Maplewood is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is an inner-ring suburban bedroom community of New York City in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 25,684, an increase of 1,817 (+7.6%) from the 2010 census count of 23,867, which in turn reflected a decline of one person from the 23,868 counted in the 2000 census.
The City of Orange is a township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 34,447, an increase of 4,313 (+14.3%) from the 2010 census count of 30,134, which in turn reflected a decline of 2,734 (+8.3%) from the 32,868 counted in the 2000 census.
Peter Wallace Rodino Jr. was an American liberal Democratic politician. He represented parts of Newark, New Jersey and surrounding Essex and Hudson counties for twenty terms from 1949 to 1989. He was the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives from New Jersey until passed by Chris Smith in 2021.
Ronald L. Rice was an American Democratic Party politician who served in the New Jersey State Senate from 1986 to 2022. He represented the 28th Legislative District. Rice is one of the longest-serving state senators in New Jersey history.
Thomas P. Giblin is an American Democratic Party politician, who serves in the New Jersey General Assembly where he represents the 34th legislative district, having taken office on January 10, 2006. He has been the Assembly's Deputy Majority Leader since 2008.
Ralph R. Caputo is an American Democratic Party politician, who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2008 to 2023, where he represented the 28th Legislative District. He had previously served on the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders from 2003 to 2011 and as a Republican in the General Assembly from 1968 until 1972.
LeRoy J. Jones Jr. is an American politician who served four terms in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he represented the 27th Legislative District. He currently serves as Chair of the New Jersey Democratic Party, as well as the Democratic Party chair for both East Orange and Essex County, New Jersey. He is also a partner at 1868 Public Affairs, a government and public affairs consultancy.
Cardell Cooper was the Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. President Clinton nominated Cardell to be EPA Assistant Administrator for Solid Waste and Emergency Response in 1997 but the nomination stalled and he was appointed to HUD instead. He is currently director of the National Community Development Association.
Peter G. Stewart is an American Democratic Party politician who served as mayor of Caldwell, New Jersey in the 1960s and 1970s, was a member of the Essex County, New Jersey Board of Chosen Freeholders and was elected to the New Jersey General Assembly from Assembly District 11D in 1971. He was the General Counsel to the New Jersey Democratic State Committee. An attorney, he was a partner at Carella, Byrne, Cecchi, Olstein, Brody and Agnello, P.C., the law firm of former New Jersey Governor Brendan Byrne. He is a graduate of St. Peter's College and Seton Hall University Law School.
William Stanford Hart Sr. was an American Democratic Party politician serving as Mayor of East Orange, New Jersey, in 1970 and 1978. He who became the first African American to win election as mayor of a major New Jersey city when he won in 1969. He served as President of the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials.
James Whyte Kelly Jr. (1911–1990) was an American Republican Party politician who was Mayor of East Orange, New Jersey from 1958 to 1970. He held a number of other civic positions, including being president of the New Jersey Council of Mayors.
Essex County is New Jersey's largest county and its county seat, Newark, is New Jersey's largest city. Essex has been predominantly Democratic since the early 1970s. Essex was a politically competitive (swing) county for decades before that.
John J. Giblin was an American Democratic Party politician and labor leader.
The 2020 United States Senate election in New Jersey was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of New Jersey. It was held concurrently with the 2020 United States presidential election, as well as various other elections. The primary elections were moved from June 2, 2020, to July 7, 2020, due to COVID-19 pandemic concerns. Incumbent senator Cory Booker was first elected in a 2013 special election to complete the term of fellow Democrat Frank Lautenberg, who died in office.
The County Executive of Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey, is the chief officer of the county's executive branch and oversees the administration of county government. Approved in a 1977 referendum, the office was inaugurated in 1978 at the same time the Board of Chosen Freeholders, which plays a legislative role, was reconfigured to include a mix of at-large and district seats. The executive offices are located at the Essex County Government Complex in the county seat, Newark. When the first executive was elected in 1978, The New York Times described that the position was "considered by many to be second in power only to that of the Governor."
Britnee N. Timberlake is an American Democratic Party elected official, community advocate, nonprofit executive, and humanitarian. She has represented the 34th Legislative District in the New Jersey Senate since January 2024, when she became New Jersey's youngest state senator. Before she took office in the senate, Timberlake had represented the 34th District in the New Jersey General Assembly from January 29, 2018, when she was sworn in to replace Sheila Oliver, who took office as Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey. Timberlake had served as Freeholder President of the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders, where she was at the time the state's only African-American woman to serve as a freeholder board leader.
The County Executive of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States is the chief officer of the county's executive branch, which oversees the administration of county government, and works in conjunction with the nine-member Board of County Commissioners, which acts in a legislative role. The office of the county executive is in the Hudson County Courthouse in the county seat, Jersey City.