NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ—The city’s new newly-created Parks and Gardens Commission will meet at City Hall for the first time on February 29 at 7pm.
New Brunswick’s City Council approved the first members of the commission on January 20. Â The commission was created by an ordinance passed unanimously on September 2, and signed into law by Mayor James Cahill.
“The resident groups in New Brunswick…thought that there should be input from residents in the city into use of public space,” explained Vincent Rifici, who was part of the planning group that birthed the commission.
All of the commission members were chosen by Mayor Cahill, before being approved by the Council.
Among the appointments were at least two city employees, a leader in the non-profit community, a Dean at the Rutgers Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.
The city’s community organization specialist Keith Jones II, as well as Susan Painter, Salvatore Salsa were each appointed to three-year terms on the commission, which are set to expire December 31, 2018.
Charles Bergman of New Brunswick Tomorrow, Rutgers Associate Dean Dorothea “Thea” Berkhout, and NJPIRG’s Julius Moye have been appointed to two-year terms.
In an effort to stagger the appointments over multiple years, another six members were appointed to partial terms on the board.
Rifici, who also serves on the Environmental Commission, as well Michael Tublin, and Floribel Cruz each were appointed to one-year terms on the commission.
Charlie is the founder and editor of New Brunswick Today, and the winner of the Awbrey Award for Community-Oriented Local Journalism. He is a proud Rutgers University journalism graduate, a community organizer, and a former independent candidate for mayor of New Brunswick.
