Category: Public Info

Every holiday season for 18 years, Union County Sheriff’s Officers have set up their “Tree of Hope” in the courthouse seeking donations of toys and clothing for needy children throughout the county. Each year the response has been overwhelming.

The “Tree of Hope” was first planted in 1997 when officers encountered children in the courts who were going to experience a less than happy holiday season. The children the officers encountered were homeless or living in shelters, were victims of domestic violence or medically fragile.  Their parents or guardians did not have the financial ability to provide holiday gifts.

Every year since the “Tree of Hope” committee have erected a tree in the Union County Courthouse featuring paper ornaments. Volunteers make the ornaments and write a particular gift on each one.

Monetary donations to help provide additional gifts are also being sought.

Contributions of money (tax-deductible), toys and clothing can be sent to: Union County Sheriff’s Officers Tree of Hope, Union County Courthouse, 2 Broad Street, Elizabeth, N.J., 07207. For more information, call the “Tree of Hope” hotline at 908-629-2158.

The following press release from Kean University describes the third annual UC-STEP Summit, held on December 11. UC-STEP is a countywide youth development and community service initiative launched by Freeholder Linda Carter in 2013, when she served as Chairman of the Freeholder Board. For more information about UC-STEP visit ucnj2.org/uc-step.

UNION, N.J. – Hundreds of Union County High School students gathered for the third annual UC STEP Summit on Friday, December 11 at Kean University.  Sponsored by the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders, the day-long event invites high school sophomores and juniors from throughout Union County to participate in hands-on activities focused on leadership, personal growth and civic engagement.

“It’s never too early for young people to get engaged in their communities.  If you develop a commitment to service now, it will never leave you,” said Kean University Vice President for Operations Phillip Connelly addressing the audience of more than 200 students.

“UC-STEP helps high school students reach beyond the classroom and unite the entire Union County community in a common cause,” said Union County Freeholder Linda Carter, who initiated the program while serving as Freeholder Chairman in 2013. “It’s a valuable life experience for high school students who are seeking to make their mark on the future, and I’d like to thank my colleagues on the Freeholder Board for their continued support.”

UC STEP attendees have the opportunity to participate in workshops such as “You Be the Judge,” which focuses on crafting effective elevator speeches, and “How to Be an Effective Leader,” which focuses on identifying the diversity, concerns and values of others. Students are given the opportunity to attend breakout sessions focused on personal growth and leadership while collaborating with others to work through the day’s activities.

The headline event of UC STEP, the Civic Engagement Challenge, brings students together to brainstorm and create a county-wide community service campaign to be enacted through the Freeholder Board in connection with Union County students. The service initiative that receives the most votes at UC STEP and via the online poll will become a countywide project undertaken by participating Union County high schools. Judged based on involvement, enthusiasm, and creativity, the winning project will receive a $1,000 START NOW Grant from the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders.

2014’s winning START NOW initiative, “Donate to Educate,” organized a school supply drive throughout Union County. Through joint efforts with the Boys & Girls Club of Union County and Ivy Visions, Inc., the project assembled over 200 backpacks for students in need.

In 2009, Kean created the Center for Leadership and Service. 8,550 Kean students logged more than 52,600 hours of community service in 2015 alone. Kean University has appeared on President Barack Obama’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for five consecutive years.  The alma mater of Congressman Donald Payne Jr. and Union County Freeholders Christopher Hudak, Angel Estrada, Vernell Wright and Sergio Granados, Kean welcomes Union County’s future civic leaders each year at the UC STEP Summit. 

ABOUT KEAN UNIVERSITY

Founded in 1855, Kean University has become one of the largest metropolitan institutions of higher education in the region, boasting a richly diverse student, faculty and staff population. Kean continues to play a key role in the training of teachers and is a hub of educational, technological and cultural enrichment serving nearly 15,000 students. The Nathan Weiss Graduate College offers three doctorate degree programs and more than 60 options for graduate study leading to master’s degrees, professional diplomas or certifications. The University’s five undergraduate colleges offer 50 undergraduate degrees over a full range of academic subjects. With campuses in Union and Toms River, NJ, and Wenzhou, China, Kean University provides a world-class education. Visit Kean online at www.kean.edu. 

Marking the beginning of Chanukah, Union County Freeholder Vice Chairman Bruce H. Bergen, Freeholders Christopher Hudak and Sergio Granados, Union County Manager Alfred Faella, Deputy County Manager William Reyes and other county officials gathered with Rabbi Mordechai Kanelsky and representatives from Bris Avrohom of Hillside to light the menorah in Phil Rizzuto Park in Elizabeth.

(Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

Filmgoers packed the seats at Hamilton Stage in Rahway on Sunday evening for the Union County premier of the legendary documentary, “Rat Slayer of Hillside NJ,” which captures the real life case of man vs. rat that made headlines around the globe back in 1994. The screening, sponsored by the Freeholder Board, was attended by a costumed rat character and other local luminaries including director and writer Andrew Ruotolo, co-producer Andrew Lessner, and co-director of photography Sean Devaney, who all grew up together in Westfield.

Not in attendance were co-producer Michael Angelo Covino and co-director of photography Zach Kuperstein. Freeholder Chairman Mohamed Sellu Jalloh and Vice Chairman Bruce Bergen were in attendance for the premiere along with Rahway Mayor Samson Steinman.

Learn more about the documentary at https://www.facebook.com/ratslayerofhillsidenj/

New Jersey native Ronald L. Charles served as Associate Director of the Essex County Department of Corrections and as Facility Administrator at Delaney Hall

Ronald L. Charles, a New Jersey native who has extensive experience in managing both public and private correctional facilities in the state, has been hired as the new Director of the Union County Department of Corrections, County officials announced.

Charles is a former Associate Director of the Essex County Department of Corrections, the state’s largest County correctional facility, and has also served in senior level executive positions at Delaney Hall, a private facility.

Charles was hired following a nationwide search conducted by the County following the retirement of former director Brian Riordan, who left in July after seven successful years. During the interim period, Assistant Director George Blaskiewicz had served as acting director.

The County received well over 50 resumes during the job search, and narrowed the list to nearly a dozen finalists before selecting Charles.

“Ronald Charles has an outstanding record of public and private-level experience in corrections,” said County Manager Alfred J. Faella. “He has managed the administrative and fiscal operations of two major correctional facilities, and had his boots on the ground as a corrections officer for many years as well. We look forward to working with him.”

Charles is earning a salary of  $115,000 a year, and started his new job yesterday, following his hiring by the County Manager. He is responsible for the supervision of a total staff of approximately 295 corrections officers and supervisors, 34 civilian employees, and a census count of approximately 720 prisoners, with another 40 under contract at Delaney Hall in Essex County.

Charles will work to continue many of the reforms begun under way at the facility. During the past eight years, the County has focused on reducing its daily census count (number of inmates) at the jail by nearly 30 percent, resulting in operational efficiencies.

The County implemented the findings from the Luminosity study, which has succeeded in reducing operational costs and expenses at the adult facility (Union County Jail) by $1 million.

This report continues to reap benefits by bringing together stakeholders in an effort to reduce unnecessary detention while maintaining public safety and the integrity of the courts process.

Charles said he looks forward to starting his job, and thanked the Freeholder Board and the County Manager for the opportunity to lead the Department of Corrections.

“There is still much to accomplish and there are many challenges before us, but I look forward to working with the County team in providing a safe, secure, productive and efficient facility,” Charles said. 

During a 29-year career in corrections, Charles, who started as an Essex County Corrections Officer,  rose through the ranks meritoriously  to Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain,  Associate Warden  and climbed to the position of Associate Director of the Department in 2006, where until his retirement in 2011, he was responsible  the supervision of more than 700 employees with a operating budget of over $100 Million dollars.  Among his other duties, he authored RFP’s (Requests for Proposal) and contracts, and wrote a financial review process for the budget with department heads and administrative officials.

In 2011, he began work for Delaney Hall Detention Center, a private run facility that contracts with governmental agencies such as Union County and Essex County for its detainees. Over the next four years, he served as a Facility Administrator and then a Facility Training Administrator whose responsibilities included managing the budget, supervising staff, establishing operational plans, and developing lesson plans and learning objectives for professional and leadership  development. 

Charles is a Certified Public Manager (CPM) and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice.  He is  a graduate of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government  Leadership Program and  is a certified instructor with the New Jersey  Department of  Law and Public Safety Police Training Commission and is a certified auditor with the American Correctional Association. 

Standing outside the Mignone family’s home in Clark, Union County Freeholder Vice Chairman Bruce H. Bergen (right) thanked Michael Mignone for the donation of a 30-foot tall blue spruce from his front lawn that will be this year’s Christmas tree in the rotunda at the Union County Courthouse in Elizabeth. The public is invited to view the tree on weekdays during the holiday season.  (Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

Union County Freeholder Vice Chairman Bruce H. Bergen and Freeholders Bette Jane Kowalski, Angel G. Estrada and Alexander Mirabella accept a plaque from Roselle Public Library Director Jeanne Marie Ryan, Clark Public Library Director Dawn Jenkin and Elizabeth Public Library Director Mary Faith Chmiel representing the Libraries of Union County Consortium thanking the Freeholder Board for its continued support of libraries throughout Union County. The presentation took place in the Elizabeth Public Library.

(Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders is pleased to announce a call for visual artists to participate in the County’s second public art project this year, Art Outside the Box – Beautiful Bench Project.

“Entries for the beautiful bench public art project will support Union County’s ongoing efforts to broaden cultural development through the promotion, coordination, and integration of public art into our communities,” said Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh. “The Freeholder Board is proud to provide opportunities that celebrate creativity, enhance community identity, and encourage cultural tourism.”

The new Beautiful Bench Project is an expansion of the County’s Art Outside the Box program created to help integrate the arts into non-traditional venues and expand, broaden, and diversify public exposure to the arts.  Union County visual artists are invited to submit artwork renderings for the County’s Art Outside the Box – Beautiful Bench Project online at ucnj.org/beautiful-bench-project. The deadline for entry is December 18, 2015. There is no fee required to participate.

Three designs will be selected to be attached to benches in front of the following Union Township locations:

• Van Gogh’s Ear Café on Stuyvesant Avenue
• Union County National Bank on Morris Avenue
• Killer Vegan on Stuyvesant Avenue

This call for entries is open to all artists who paint residing in or working in Union County. Local artists are invited to submit renderings of up to three proposed designs for the painted bench.  For artist submission(s) that are chosen, the County will provide fiberboard on which the artist will paint the selected design. The top three selected submissions will be awarded an honorarium. The deadline to submit your artwork is Friday, December 18th.

Offered as part of Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh’s Building a Community of the Arts initiative, the Beautiful Bench Project is an expansion of the County’s Art Outside the Box public art program that has awarded12 individual artists the opportunity to have their artwork cover 13 different traffic control boxes in Elizabeth, Linden, Plainfield, and Rahway.

For further details about how to participate, and to learn more about the project, including entry form, bench locations, reference samples, and artist agreement are available online at ucnj.org/beautiful-bench-project or call the Union County Department of Cultural Heritage at (908) 558-2550.

Union County Freeholder Vice Chairman Bruce H. Bergen and Freeholders Bette Jane Kowalski and Sergio Granados joined Elizabeth Mayor J. Christian Bollwage, Assemblyman Jamel Holley, Community Development Group CEO and President Armando D’Errico, Elizabeth Council President Patricia Perkins-Auguste, Councilmen William Gallman, Carlos Torres, Kevin Kiniery and Manny Grova, Union County Manager Alfred Faella and other officials in cutting the ribbon opening the Spring Street Project in Elizabeth.

The Spring Street Project is part of a $3.2 million mixed use development featuring the city’s first African-American Cultural and Learning Center located in the city’s Keighry Head neighborhood.

The 39,498 square foot site will include a community theatre/multipurpose facility and 20 affordable rental housing units encompassing 10 multi-generational residences and 10 active adult residences.

The Spring Street Project the NJ Community Development Group is and County of Union to catalyze advancements in socialized housing for the millennium in the city of Elizabeth, New Jersey’s fourth largest city.

Working in partnership with the city of Elizabeth and the NJ Community Development Group, Union County contributed $850,000 in Neighborhood Stabilization funds, and an additional $250,000 in Home Investment Partnership Program funds.

Union County, NJ – The evidence shows that preparing wholesome meals at home can have a significant impact on both family health and household budgets, and experts from the Rutgers Cooperative Extension have summed up the basics in two articles packed with tips and facts. The articles are available on the Union County website, ucnj.org/rce.

“According to the evidence, households are in better shape when they focus on healthy, home cooked meals,” said Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh. “I encourage everyone to take a look at the information and see how you can benefit by taking a few simple steps.”

The Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Union County is supported in part by the Freeholder Board. It belongs to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s nationwide Extension program, aimed at providing the public with scientific research about community health and economics. Extension offices throughout the country are encouraging families to join the “Dine In” campaign on December 3, as part of an annual celebration of the family and consumer sciences profession.

Some of the tips and observations provided by the Rutgers Extension experts are:

• Make it a goal to cook once a week and work up to cooking more often.

• Plan ahead to make better food choices. Keep healthy staples on hand, such as dried fruit, whole wheat pasta, “no-salt-added” canned vegetables, and frozen fruit.

• Use smaller plates and put a small portion of food on your plate to manage portion sizes. Remember to only eat seconds if still hungry.

• To save time, try prepping dinner the night before. Simple sides and salads could also be prepped in the morning.

• Over time, the amount of money saved by eating meals at home and/or prepared at home is noteworthy. For example, someone could accumulate almost $50,000 in 20 years by eating out one less evening per week and investing the money saved at a 5% yield.

• People tend to eat healthier meals when they eat at home because they can better control portion sizes and the use of sauces, dressings, and other high-fat ingredients.

For all community information from the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Union County including 4-H youth clubs and adult volunteer programs, visit ucnj.org/rce.

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