Being proactive in a reactive world

When my wife and I married six years ago I promised her we would buy a home, raise a family and live an amazing life.  After we wed, she packed her things and we made the big two and a half mile move over that invisible line that separates Livingston from West Orange spending what amounted to be our life savings on a down payment on our new home. 

During our six years here we have been fortunate enough to start a family, make amazing friends and join a thriving community full of extraordinary neighbors.  Despite being a victim of crime 5 years ago, we truly enjoy this town and have made our house a home for our dog and two children.  With all of that fortune, the fortune we so often take for granted, also brings responsibility.  Responsibility to our friends, responsibility to our neighbors but most of all, a responsibility to our children. 

We all read these blogs because we care.  We care about our families and our neighbors.  We care about our tax assessments and our property values.  We care about our businesses and downtown.  We also care about our image, that innate ability to see ourselves through the eyes of someone else, and with that, when someone says disparaging things about the town of West Orange, we become defensive, upset or even accepting; honestly, what can we do?

I felt the same way, as a young father raising two children, paying high property taxes, dealing with the image of living in a neighborhood that is becoming less safe year over year.  I decided instead of being reactive, it was my duty to my family to be proactive.

In only three months, members of our organization have been fortunate enough to spend time, time on the phone, email or time in person, with many of the esteemed and honorable members of our community, from Mayor Parisi and Police Chief Abbott, to members of the town Council, we were able to put aside any misguided notions that assistance and cooperation were not to be found in West Orange.  The members of our Police and Government are here to help us, but it is our job to also help ourselves.  We don’t have all the solutions, but neither does our police, neither does our government – and it would be foolish for us to think otherwise because in a township of 46,000 citizens, 46,000 voices, with limited resources, bordering towns that are both impoverish and prosperous, we must focus on the positives of what can we do and how our police and elected officials can support our efforts.

After speaking with hundreds of citizens over the course of the past 3 months, I have heard so many disturbing issues that solidifies the phrase ignorance is bliss.  With that, we have continued to hear an underling theme as to why more crimes are not reported.  Sadly, many people feel that their complaints often fall on deaf ears, which leads to anger and frustration, so why waste our time reporting an issue?

Drug dealers on your lawn?  I’m afraid to get involved.

Underage kids drinking openly in the street?  I don’t want to be the only one who calls the police.

Unfixed potholes and unfinished roadwork?  People parking in your driveway and having sex at night?  Cars driving off the highway, parking on our streets and shooting up heroine in the middle of the day… let someone else report it.

Sadly enough, these were all stories I have heard in redundancy, something must be done.

Myself, along with members of our town council, members of the West Orange Police and a group of extraordinary citizens - without whom none of this would be possible - have come together to exchange ideas and help develop solutions to our continuing safety issues.  The West Orange Neighborhood Association or WONA is designed for 12 streets here in West Orange, but continues to gain traction as we continue to expand.  In theory, each block would maintain their own block program while communicating with other block programs to problem solve, communicate with the police and town officials as well as plan social events for both children and adults in a safe, family friendly atmosphere.  Our hope is that these efforts will enable our police force to pinpoint problems and do what is necessary to make our streets a safer place to live and raise our children.  Of course, we will continue to work with the police to encourage communication and end any disconnect that has been the source of many of our problems.

As we begin to organize and grow we need your help, our mission is simple.  30 minuets a week, 2 hours a month, 24 hours a year.  There is no arguing that our time is stretched out to the point where some of us feel we have no more to give, but service can be as simple as being out in the street playing with your children, talking with a neighbor or walking your dog.

We are not expecting miracles overnight, so we have developed a long-term approach, yes we want crime out of our neighborhoods, but we also need to care for our neighbors.  From elderly, to single mothers to the unemployed, there are so many people that need assistance and may not be asking for it, or, even worse, may have asked and not received causing negative feelings, some which may last a lifetime.

At the end of the day, we all want to feel safe and why shouldn’t we.  West Orange is as diverse as a town can get, truly an American dream realized!  We must be proactive before the pressure of being reactive breaks us.

We need feedback!  Do your part, good or bad and take 30 seconds to respond, like us on facebook, retweet on twitter or email us at WONA79@gmail.com

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