Livingston New Jersey news

Dear Editor:

Since the charity’s inception, The Tribune has been tremendously loyal to Cycle for Survival. The paper’s advocacy for our cause has significantly contributed to our New Jersey success; large numbers of Livingston people have joined the battle, in good part due to your coverage. We thank you!

So much has changed due to COVID, and we are all distracted by the pandemic. But one thing did not change. People got cancer, and people died from cancer. Fact: more people in our country lost their lives to cancer than to the virus.

During two recent meetings – one with the Township Council, and the other a joint meeting of the Council and Board of Education – Natalia Sawka shared her family’s personal connection to the war in Ukraine, using it as a way to connect the greater Livingston community with the horrors that are currently ongoing half a world away.

Sawka and her family have done incredible things in the past month. They have helped their Ukrainian hometown of Chervonohrad by supplying funds to provide food for three daycare centers that are housing 150 people. Her family also opened their Ukrainian apartment to house nine people and is providing direct financial support to an additional 20 people. This grassroots effort has taken on the name “Friends of Chervonohrad.”

A few weeks ago in the Tribune, resident Bruce Freeman wrote about boosting handicap accessibility in town and how it could lead to increased business revenues. As we are sure that Freeman, who navigates with help from a motorized wheelchair, can attest to, there is always room for improvement in making our community more accessible and inclusive for all.

Yet, as Freeman also brought up to us, this town is, in many ways, a model of inclusivity. There are several reasons why Livingston is a desirable location for people and families to settle down and plant roots. Great schools, high test scores, and extracurricular activities set up students for success down the line. And in general, as Freeman put it, “we are fortunate to have the funds to buy the very best.”

“I’m proclaiming last Tuesday to be ‘Treasure Trove Tuesday,’” reported Livingston Philanthropies, Inc. (LPI) founder, Jeff Friedman. “After surreal weekend donations that were particularly meaningful, as well as large, Tuesday developed into receiving a kaleidoscope of fabulous items that continue to serve our constituencies living below the poverty line,” he said.
Beginning with Saturday, Friedman’s friend and neighbor, Claire Glynn Duffy, along with her sisters and brother, entrusted their late father’s wardrobe to LPI for distribution.
“Thank you, Jeff,” Duffy said. “It means the world to us that my dad’s items are being put to good use. We appreciate that you provided us that opportunity.”
Continuing Saturday’s bounty on behalf of those who are not in position to provide for themselves, Moira McCann, treasurer at Livingston Elks, stopped at Friedman’s home with a contribution from her organization. 

A new single family home at 24 Burnet Street was dedicated on Wednesday, March 30. It was constructed through Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newark with the help of volunteers, donors, and Livingston officials.

“It’s been a long time coming for this moment,” said Jeffrey Farrell, CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newark, “when a house becomes a home.”

Construction on 24 Burnet Street began several years ago, prior to the start of the COVID pandemic. It is now home to the Winston family, mother, Keisha, and her three children, Alexander, 10, Aaron, 5, and Arianna 3. The family officially moved into the house in February. Prior to that, they shared a small twobedroom apartment in Elizabeth.

“We welcome the Winston family to Livingston,” Mayor Ed Meinhardt said. “It’s great to have you and hope you will be an active part of town.”

The Township of Livingston will hold its first Electronics Recycling and Paper Shredding event of the year this Saturday, April 9, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Livingston Senior/ Community Center, 204 Hillside Avenue.

Under New Jersey state law and the Township’s recycling ordinance, it is mandatory to recycle electronic items. Electronic items cannot be placed at the curb for pickup – the garbage and recycling collection trucks will not take them. This event offers residents free drive-through service to dispose of unwanted electronics and have confidential papers shredded.

Electronics Recycling

The Livingston Board of Education held a budget discussion at its April 5 meeting.

The meeting was a hybrid format held in-person and on Zoom. It can also be viewed on the Livingston Township, NJ Facebook page.

Superintendent Matthew Block shared a presentation answering some of the Board’s previous concerns, including mental health spending, humanities teachers, and technology coaches.

Board members previously requested information on how much of the budget will be appropriated to mental health resources. The estimated mental health expenses for the 2021-2022 school year totals $8,360,000. The proposed budget for 2022-2023 currently allocates $10,180,000 toward mental health. Block explained that they can offer this additional funding because of the ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) grant the district has received.

The Livingston Township Council appears poised to have at least one newcomer on the dais in 2023.

Rudy Fernandez, who is in his 14th year on the Council, will not seek reelection this year. Three Council seats are open in the November 8 election, and six candidates – three Democrats and three Republicans – have filed their petitions to fill the positions. The Primary Election will be held on June 7.

Mayor Ed Meinhardt and Council member Shawn Klein are also up for reelection this year and will be running again alongside newcomer Rosy Bagolie on the Democratic ticket.

Three new Republican candidates will be seeking the available Council seats, as well. The candidates who submitted petitions on Monday were Sejal Lakhani-Bhatt, Rus Milov, and Michael Livi.

The filing deadline to run was on Monday, April 4. Biographies of the six candidates will appear in the next edition of the Tribune.

At its meeting on Tuesday, April 5, the Planning Board approved plans by the Metropolitan YMCA of the Oranges to relocate its West Essex facility, currently located at 321 South Livingston Avenue, across the street and north to 304 South Livingston Avenue. The site was formerly the home of Grace Lutheran Church.

The applicant, represented by attorney Michael J. Lipari, proposes to construct a 54,049 square foot facility, which will include indoor/outdoor recreation, a 24,719 square foot early learning center/office building, and related site improvements.

During the Monday, April 4, meeting of the Livingston Township Council, resident Natalia Sawka shared her family’s story of moving to Ukraine, how her family is helping people in her native hometown, and how the Livingston community can help.

“I was born and raised in Ukraine, formerly the USSR, in the small town of Chervonohrad,” she said at the meeting. “I still remember when the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991. I was six and my family, for the first time, could freely celebrate holidays and speak the Ukrainian language.”

Sawka’s parents moved to the United States in 1996, when she was 11. She and her brother followed in 1999, and then moved to Livingston in 2000. She said her parents worked hard to buy a small home in town because their friends told them of Livingston’s excellent school system.

“The difference between Chervonohrad and Livingston was opportunity and an inclusive approach of the community to help an immigrant,” she said.