Community Corner

Parking Solution Possible By Working With All Stakeholders, Council President Says

Mayor J. Brooke Hern, who has been at the center of New Providence's parking dispute, did not attend Wednesday's special meeting.

New Providence Borough Council held a special meeting Wednesday night, and council members learned Mayor J. Brooke Hern was not attending five minutes after the meeting was scheduled to begin.

On the agenda was a resolution to establish councilmen Bob Robinson and Gary Kapner as the council representatives for “downtown shopping district issues" and ask Hern to stop "undermining" the council's efforts to reach a fair parking solution by directing his own negotiations with downtown stakeholders.

The resolution was approved, 6-0.

Every council member spoke about the situation and all agreed it was not Hern’s place to negotiate a solution for shared parking in the downtown area on his own, without concurrence of council and after Robinson and Kapner were charged with that responsibility at a recent meeting. They also agreed that a shared parking solution would not be met by only speaking with one stakeholder. In this case, council members were referring to Hern's contact with Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc., the new owners of the Village Shopping Center. Instead, they agreed all downtown stakeholders must be included in the discussion and the solution.

Three residents spoke during the public comments section of the meeting, including Bill Ferdinand, owner of Ferdinand Jewelers, former Mayor Al Morgan and Economic Development Committee member Andre Luboff.

Ferdinand and Luboff commended the council for choosing Robinson and Kapner to lead negotiations for a shared parking solution in the downtown area. Morgan did the same, but also shared a similar opinion about Hern’s recent actions that council members also expressed.

Check out our video of Council President Michael Gennaro’s comments on this situation. 

On Thursday, Mayor Hern released a response to the council's criticisms.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from New Providence-Berkeley Heights