John's Golden Record As Commissioner

Every year since John took office his Department's (Public Affairs and Health Department) Municipal budget has decreased. Ask me for more details. I am happy to discuss this accomplishment.

John took office in 2020 during the peak of the Covid-19 Pandemic, and he tackled it head on. While other towns lagged behind in contact tracing, Nutley's contact tracing was done within 24 hours of contact. Moreover, Nutley was one of only 3 towns in Essex County to offer local municipal vaccine clinics. 

A growing concern among many, if not all, in our community is mental health. John strongly believes that there is no health without mental health. John sponsored legislation for the town to be a stigma free town, which was unanimously supported by all commissioners. John didn't sponsor legislation, but forged meaningful partnerships with a number of mental health providers to ensure that residents have real access to mental health counseling, particularly veterans. In addition, John put on frequent mental health discussion panels staffed with industry leading experts to discuss topics such as depression, PTSD, body positivity, addiction and more. John also partnered with the BOE to provide these panels to students at no cost.

John recognized that the opioid epidemic was hitting Nutley hard and decided to do something about it. As the Nutley's Public Health Commissioner, John launched a new division of the Health Department, the Opioid Addiction Recovery Resource Center. The center provides much need information for those struggling with addiction and partners with mental health counseling organizations to get people the help they need. One local expert commented that Nutley is the model for local health departments tackling the opioid pandemic.

John recognized that after schooling there is little offered for individuals with special needs. To address this gap, John worked with individuals, their families, industry professionals and experts, and employers to kick start a program to assist in finding meaningful employment for individuals with special needs based on their interests and skills. Building off of the Nutley school's RIISE program, this program is called Rise Beyond. This program was an instant success with even the Governor's office taking notice and reaching out to us.

Unlike most politicians who forget about veterans when they take office, John, an Army Veteran himself, made it a priority to focus on veterans' needs. John partnered with a local mental health counseling organization to provide free counseling to veterans to fill in the gaps from the services provided by the VA. Through Nutley's Veterans Affairs office, John provided free services to Veterans to help upgrade their service records and increase the amount of retirement or disability benefits they receive, amounting to nearly million dollars in extra benefits to local Veterans. Moreover, John sponsored numerous activities to help Veterans stay active and involved in the community, for example the annual Veterans Day Ruck March was founded under his leadership. John also started Nutley's hometown hero program.

In 2020, isolation and loneliness probably hit our senior population the hardest.  As a result, I directed that the Health Department takes steps to ensure that our Seniors know they were not forgotten. For instance, I ensured that our public health nurses were in constant dialog with our senior population and with the two senior buildings in town, as well as providing seniors with opportunities to build resiliency through panel discussions on the topic of loneliness and isolation. 

I also re-launched the Seniors Helping Seniors Program. The idea behind the program is for able-bodied, possibly recently retired, seniors who have more free time on their hands, to volunteer their time to assist less able-bodied seniors to do tasks that they are no longer capable of performing, such as routine yard work or installing or removing a window mounted air conditioning units. 

As we moved past COVID restrictions and lockdowns, continuing the focus on mental and physical health was vital for our senior population. As a result, I made sure that mental health panels focused on Seniors continued beyond COVID. 

Physically, as we moved out of COVID restrictions, the Vaccine was made available. However, the nearest county vaccination site was located about 25 minutes away. This was unacceptable to make seniors travel that far. As a result, I pushed for and received vaccines at the local level to offer vaccines right here in Nutley for COVID. (Nutley was one of only three towns in the county to offer local vaccine sites). The first group that we offered the vital vaccines to was our Seniors. Moreover, we made it a point to provide some of the initial rounds of vaccines to our homebound seniors by physically bringing the vaccine to them. 

I expanded the Senior Ride Program. For those who are not familiar with the Senior Ride Program, it is a gap filler program where we offer free rides to seniors and Veterans to go to their medical appointments. We pick them up and take them home when their visit is over. If you would like more information on this wonderful program, reach out to the Health Department on how you can sign up 

John was raised by a strong mother and has five trailblazing sisters. Inspired by them, John wanted to showcase the talent and skills of various women leaders, artists, engineers, lawyers, businesswomen, and others within our community. Every year during the month of March, John and the Public Affairs and Health Department partners with the local Women's organizations and various leaders in our community to put on various events showcasing the accomplishments of women in our community. Events include sip and shop of women owned businesses, networking events, panels discussing success and the barriers that still exist, and panels for high school women to learn of various career opportunities and hear from numerous trailblazing women about their successes in their fields. 

Every year in April, John, through the Public Affairs and Health Department offers a FREE Rabies clinic for Dogs and Cats to be vaccinated against the disease. John also started the first "Paws in the Park(ing lot) event, an event that takes place at the Farmers Market where all are encouraged to bring out their pets to enjoy some fresh air and shop or support some local pet focused businesses and causes. 

John is proud of his ability to leverage technology so that he and his department can better connect with all residents. Under John's leadership, the  Department of Public Affairs and Health launched a Health Department Fitness App and created fitness challenges to go along with it. The Department of Public Affairs and Health launched the DPA instagram page. In addition, John used QR codes to enhance residents experience when approaching local landmarks, such as Veterans' monuments to learn more about the monument.

As Commissioner of the Public Affairs and Health Department, John continued the long standing tradition of providing important and meaningful public health to the town through various programs and initiative such as vaccine and flu shot clinics, homebound nursing programs, rides to health appointments for seniors and veterans, and other senior programs and resources.  

John took office right before the tragic death of George Floyd. As a result of numerous conversations with concerned citizens John started, with the unanimous support of all commissioners, the Nutley Cultural Inclusion and Diversity Council. A committee that celebrates Nutley's diversity through cultural events and informational seminars.