Politics & Government

'Era of Fear' Will End in Bloomfield, Venezia Vows

New mayor was sworn into office Wednesday at Bloomfield College.

Michael Venezia was sworn into office on Wednesday morning at Bloomfield College. His address is below. 

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I welcome everyone to the annual reorganization meeting of the township of Bloomfield.  Rev. Miller and Brown, who are offering prayers today, thank you. 

Dignitaries, many of you here are responsible for electing me mayor.  All of you will be responsible for the success of Bloomfield.  Thank you for having confidence in me to serve you

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To my wife Laura, my partner, my love.  I thank you for inspiring me to be a better man. 

I want to thank my parents, who gave me the opportunity to get a good education and whose values have guided me through life.  I also want to recognize my brother sister in-laws aunts uncles and cousins. 

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In this my first address as your mayor, I’d like to share my vision for the job ahead, so i offer a menu of projected aims for the coming term.

First though, a nod to my running mates on the town council – Joe Lopez, Nina Davis and Carlos Pomares and to veteran council members Eli Chalet, Nick Joanow and Carlos Bernard.  To each of you, I look forward to the respectful opinions and teamwork that will contribute to positive change for Bloomfield

Today, more than any other time in our history, more than any other place, the township of Bloomfield is ready for change. 

The era of fear has had a long enough reign.  The period of doubt has run its course. 

On this day of new beginning, I give you my solemn pledge to summon our courage, to raise our hopes and to build our confidence. 

Now it’s time for us to convince the cynics that the fear, the doubts and the cynicism are over with. 

Dream with me of a town that can be better than the way it is now.  Believe with me that our problems can be reduced, not magically resolved.  Plan with me to make the realistic changes that will actually make people’s lives better than they are right now, and work with me to apply these plans to improve our township. 

Dream, believe, plan and work.  This is the foundation for the process of change. 

As your new mayor, it is an honor to fight for the change we need and a privilege to lead the town we love. 

New times demand new answers; old problems cry out for better results.  This afternoon we leave behind the old ways and old divisions and begin a new day for Bloomfield.  I am proud to lead a township united in a common purpose and driven by a common thirst for change. 

It is time to take on the challenges that threaten the very future of Bloomfield.  The decisions we make in the next three years will determine what Bloomfield will look like in the next thirty

Rolling up my sleeves and getting down to business - - that’s my goal as mayor.  While i know the job won’t be easy, I am eager and honored to take on this challenge. 

My first order of business is to get Bloomfield’s finances in order.  The taxpayers of Bloomfield simply cannot afford tax increases like they’ve faced over the last twelve years. 

It’s getting tougher and tougher to live in this great town.  My wife Laura and I are in the same boat as many of you, we are paying close to $13,000 for our home. 

I plan on holding all my department heads accountable.  I am asking them to produce a budget that has a five percent reduction with their recommended cuts. 

The township recently signed an agreement with West Orange and Parsippany to share health insurance.  This agreement has the potential to save Bloomfield two million dollars.  Shared services is something that I plan on being very aggressive with. 

From the moment I began my campaign for mayor, I have been clear about the hard truths and tough choices we face. 

We simply cannot afford the size of municipal government we had in the past. 

The taxpayers deserve a more effective and efficient government than we have today. 

It’s not just a matter of doing more with less.  We must look at every aspect of government and ask the basic questions:  do we need it?  Is it worth it? Is there a better deal? The old ways are no longer working, it is time for a new era of responsibility and reform. 

The days where the bureaucratic mentality of “tomorrow is another day” are over in Bloomfield. 

A couple of weeks ago county clerk Chris Durkin made a statement describing county executive Joe D as a tax payers best friend and a bureaucrats worst nightmare. 

This statement stuck out, because this is something for me to strive for in Bloomfield. 

 

 

Don’t get me wrong, our employees are our biggest asset, doing everything the same way we always have is not the right course for Bloomfield’s future.  We will do no favors to our employees or our taxpayers if we let outdated rules and practices make important government services too costly to deliver.  

Any mistreatment of any employee is deplorable.  I’m going to ensure that our veteran employees and all employees who fall into a protected class like our veterans will be treated fairly and respectfully and I won’t stand for mistreatment of them.

I fully understand that there will be those who oppose our efforts to reform government, this prescription for failure that Bloomfield will not accept. 

Given the challenges we face, we need to look for better and smarter ways to meet our responsibilities. So when I ask for new policies, I guarantee, the one answer I will not tolerate is: we’ve never done it that way before.  Bloomfield is a township of ‘yes we can’ not ‘not we can’t’

This administration plans on creating a shop Bloomfield program.  This will not only give residents property tax relief, but it will also boost our local economy.  This program has been very successful in Marlboro and Bayonne and will be in Bloomfield. 

I’m committed more so than any other mayor in the last fifteen years to work our board of education.  Education is the key to success for this community.  Despite being a separate entity, the better the Bloomfield schools are, the better Bloomfield and our real estate values are. 

We, as a community, must do right by our children, we must demonstrate to the state and nation that here in Bloomfield, education and training is our most precious legacy. 

Bloomfield is going to create a strategy under the rubrics of quality of life and zero tolerance. 

This administration plans on creating a quality of life task force.  This task force will include members from each department in town, because a fire problem may not be a police or DPW problem, but at the end of the day we are all one Bloomfield. 

Bloomfield is a town on the rise.  We currently have over 350 million dollars in private investment right now. 

The Bloomfield renaissance will change the face of Bloomfield for the next thirty years. 

We are going to concentrate on smart, transit-oriented development around our two train stations

Bloomfield is one of the last municipalities in our state with a midtown direct that is affordable.  Working for senator Lautenberg, I saw how many municipalities benefitted from their access to New York City.

Together, we can renew and strengthen Bloomfield - - neighborhood by neighborhood, business by business and block by block.

I ask you - - I ask of you what I demand of myself - - greet tomorrow with a determined capacity to overcome any problem.  Dream, believe, plan and work with me. 

In doing, we’ll remove the grip of unwelcome legacies and provide an administration of new beginnings.  Our success is critical not only to ourselves but to Bloomfield and New Jersey.  It is in our common interest to work to work together, to emerge successfully. 

I thank everyone for being here god bless you and god bless Bloomfield.  


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