Jump to content
Main menu
Main menu
move to sidebar
hide
Navigation
Main page
Recent changes
Random page
Help about MediaWiki
Special pages
Niidae Wiki
Search
Search
Appearance
Create account
Log in
Personal tools
Create account
Log in
Pages for logged out editors
learn more
Contributions
Talk
Editing
Bloomfield, New Jersey
(section)
Page
Discussion
English
Read
Edit
View history
Tools
Tools
move to sidebar
hide
Actions
Read
Edit
View history
General
What links here
Related changes
Page information
Appearance
move to sidebar
hide
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
===Local government=== {{Further|Mayor of Bloomfield, New Jersey}} Bloomfield operates under a [[Special charter (New Jersey)|special charter]] granted by an act of the [[New Jersey Legislature]]. The township is one of 11 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that operate under a special charter.<ref>[https://njdatabook.rutgers.edu/sites/njdatabook.rutgers.edu/files/documents/inventory_of_municipal_forms_of_government_in_new_jersey.pdf ''Inventory of Municipal Forms of Government in New Jersey''], [[Rutgers University]] Center for Government Studies, July 1, 2011. Accessed June 1, 2023.</ref> The township's governing body is comprised of the Mayor and the six-member Township Council. The mayor and three councilmembers are elected [[at-large]], and one member is elected from each of three [[Ward (United States)|wards]], with all positions chosen on a partisan basis as part of the November general election. Councilmembers are elected to three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with the three at-large seats (and the mayoral seat) up for election together and the three ward seats coming up for election two years later and no election in the middle year of the three-year cycle.<ref name=DataBook>''2012 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book'', [[Rutgers University]] [[Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy]], March 2013, p. 128.</ref><ref>[https://njdatabook.rutgers.edu/sites/njdatabook.rutgers.edu/files/documents/forms_of_municipal_government_in_new_jersey_9220.pdf#page=15 "Forms of Municipal Government in New Jersey"], p. 15. [[Rutgers University]] Center for Government Studies. Accessed June 1, 2023.</ref> Bloomfield's charter retains most of the characteristics of the [[Town (New Jersey)|Town]] form, with additional powers delegated to an administrator.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160112170825/http://www.njstatelib.org/slic_files/imported/NJ_Information/Digital_Collections/MFMG/MFMGCH5.PDF "Chapter V: Special Charters"]}}, [[New Jersey State Library]]. Accessed June 25, 2015.</ref> {{As of|2025}}, the [[Mayor]] of Bloomfield is [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] Jenny Mundell, who was elected to fill the balance of the term of office ending December 31, 2025. Members of the Bloomfield Township Council are Sarah Cruz (D, 2026; Third Ward), Wartyna "Nina" Davis (D, 2025; at-large), Rosalee Gonzalez (D, 2026; First Ward, appointed to serve an unexpired term), Nicholas Joanow (D, 2026; Second Ward), Widney Polynice (D, 2025; at-large, appointed to serve an unexpired term) and Monica Charris Tabares (D, 2025; at-large, elected to serve an unexpired term).<ref name=Officials>[https://www.bloomfieldtwpnj.com/313/Elected-Officials Your Elected Officials], Township of Bloomfield. Accessed January 19, 2025.</ref><ref>[https://www.bloomfieldtwpnj.com/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/311#page=19 2024 Municipal Data Sheet], Township of Bloomfield. Accessed February 17, 2024.</ref><ref name=EssexDirectory>[https://essexcountynj.org/county-directory/ County Directory], Essex County, New Jersey. Accessed January 19, 2025.</ref><ref name=Essex2024>[https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NJ/Essex/122756/web.345435/#/summary General Election November 5, 2024 Official Results], [[Essex County, New Jersey]], updated November 18, 2024. Accessed January 1, 2025.</ref><ref name=Essex2023>[https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NJ/Essex/119027/web.317647/#/summary General Election November 7, 2023 Official Results], [[Essex County, New Jersey]], updated November 27, 2023. Accessed January 1, 2024.</ref><ref name=Essex2022>[https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NJ/Essex/116147/ November 8, 2022, General Election Official Results], [[Essex County, New Jersey]] Clerk, updated November 22, 2022. Accessed January 1, 2023.</ref> In December 2024, the township council appointed Rosalee Gonzalez to fill the first ward seat expiring in December 2026 that became vacant when Jenny Mundell took office as mayor and named Widney Polynice to fill the at-large seat expiring in December 2026 that became vacant when Richard Rockwell stepped down from office. Both will serve on an interim based until the November 2025 general election, when voters will choose candidates to fill the balance of the terms of office.<ref>[https://www.bloomfieldtwpnj.com/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=460 "Bloomfield Welcomes Two New Council Members: Widney Polynice and Rosalee Gonzalez Sworn In"], Bloomfield Township, posted December 5, 2024. Accessed January 19, 2025. "The Township of Bloomfield is proud to announce that Widney Polynice (Councilmember-at-Large) and Rosalee Gonzalez (Councilmember for the 1st Ward) were officially sworn into office last night during a Township Council meeting.... Widney Polynice fills the vacancy left by former At-Large Councilmember Richard Rockwell, while Rosalee Gonzalez steps into the 1st Ward seat previously held by Mayor Jenny Mundell before her transition to her current role as Mayor."</ref> The Township Council appointed Ted Gamble to serve as mayor in January 2024 to fill the seat vacated by [[Michael Venezia (New Jersey politician)|Michael Venezia]] when he took office in the [[New Jersey General Assembly]]; Gamble will serve on an interim basis until the November 2024 general election, when voters will choose a candidate to serve the balance of the term of office.<ref>Connolly, John. [https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/essex/bloomfield/2024/01/22/councilman-ted-gamble-bloomfield-nj-interim-mayor/72318099007/ "Councilman Ted Gamble named Bloomfield's interim mayor"], ''[[The Record (North Jersey)|The Record]]'', January 22, 2024. Accessed February 17, 2024. "At-Large Councilman Ted Gamble was named Bloomfield's interim mayor on Monday night, replacing Michael Venezia who was elected to the New Jersey Assembly in November.... Venezia stepped down as Bloomfield's mayor on Jan. 8, a day before he was sworn in as a state assemblyman representing District 34. He had been the mayor of Bloomfield since 2014."</ref> In February 2024, Monica Charris Tabares was chosen to fill the at-large seat expiring in December 2025 that had been held by Ted Gamble; she will be sworn into office on February 24 and will serve on an interim basis until the November 2024 election.<ref>Kiefer, Eric. [https://patch.com/new-jersey/bloomfield/bloomfield-town-council-chooses-tabares-replace-gamble "Bloomfield Town Council Chooses Tabares To Replace Gamble Bloomfield will soon have its first Latina member of the town council: Monica Charris Tabares."], Bloomfield, NJ [[PatchMedia|Patch]], February 15, 2024. Accessed February 17, 2024. "Bloomfield will soon have its first Latina member of the town council: Monica Charris Tabares. Earlier this week, the Bloomfield Town Council unanimously voted for Tabares to fill the vacant at-large seat previously occupied by the town's new mayor, Ted Gamble."</ref> In the November 2024 general election, Jenny Mundell was chosen to serve the balance of the term as mayor and Tabares was chosen to serve the balance of the at-large term.<ref name=Essex2024/> In January 2018, the Township Council selected Richard Rockwell from a list of three candidates nominated by the Democratic municipal committee to fill the at-large seat expiring in December 2019 that had been vacated the previous month by Carlos Pomares who resigned from office to serve on the Essex County [[Board of County Commissioners (New Jersey)|Board of Chosen Freeholders]].<ref>Kadosh, Matt. [https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/essex/bloomfield/2018/01/23/appointment-bloomfields-second-openly-gay-councilman-okd/1056284001/ "Bloomfield pride: Council appoints its 2nd gay member"], ''[[The Record (North Jersey)|The Record]]'', January 23, 2018. Accessed September 12, 2019. "Richard Rockwell, 64, is Bloomfield's second openly gay member of the Township Council. The local government approved his appointment to the seat left vacant by Carlos Pomares."</ref> Rockwell served on an interim basis until the November 2018 general election, when he was elected to serve the balance of the term of office.<ref name=Essex2018>[https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NJ/Essex/92902/Web02.222611/#/ November 6, 2018, General Election Unofficial Results], Essex County, New Jersey, updated November 22, 2018. Accessed January 1, 2019.</ref> The Township Council selected Jenny Mundell to fill the vacant First Ward seat expiring in December 2017 that had been held by Elias N. Chalet until he resigned from office after being charged with accepting $15,000 in bribes in exchange for making sure that the township would proceed with the acquisition of a commercial property. After pleading guilty, Chalet was forced to resign from office and could be sentenced to five years in prison.<ref>Kadosh, Matt. [http://www.northjersey.com/story/news/crime/2017/10/06/bloomfield-councilman-elias-chalet-bribery/737731001/ "Former Bloomfield councilman's sentencing moved"], ''[[The Record (North Jersey)|The Record]]'', October 6, 2017. Accessed October 31, 2017. "The sentencing for former councilman, Elias N. Chalet, which was previously set for Friday, is now anticipated to be heard in Judge Martin Cronin's court at Superior Court in Newark on Nov. 14. Chalet, 55, faces five years in prison with the possibility of parole after two years. The state Attorney General's Office had accused the former 1st Ward representative of promising a business owner that he would ensure the township continued its planned purchase of the man's commercial property."</ref> ====Emergency services==== The township maintains its own [[Bloomfield Police Department (New Jersey)|police department]].<ref>[http://www.bloomfieldpdnj.com/Home.aspx Home Page], Bloomfield Police Department. Accessed July 1, 2016.</ref> The town is protected by a fire department consisting of 78 active professional firefighters who operate out of four stations, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There is also a squad of volunteers. In 2009, the department received international accreditation.<ref>[https://www.bloomfieldtwpnj.com/195/Accreditation Accreditation], Township of Bloomfield. Accessed September 11, 2019. "On Tuesday March 10, 2009 the Bloomfield Fire Department received International Accreditation with the Center for Public Safety Excellence."</ref> The Fire Prevention Bureau established in 1953 and described as the first of its kind in the state, is operated by the department. It consists of one fire inspector, one fire official and a small support staff of civilians and fire personnel.<ref>[https://www.bloomfieldtwpnj.com/176/Fire-Prevention John H. "Jack" Flaherty Fire Prevention Bureau], Township of Bloomfield. Accessed February 9, 2018. "In October of 2006 The Bloomfield Fire Department named our Fire Prevention Bureau in honor of former Fire Chief John H "Jack" Flaherty.... Listed are but a few of Chief Flaherty's initiatives and accomplishments that are now standards in most fire departments statewide. Created Bloomfield Fire Prevention Bureau 1953 - 1st of its kind in the state."</ref> The department apparatus consist of four engines (one is a rescue pumper), one Truck/Ladder, a rescue and three reserve apparatus. Engine 1 located at the fire headquarters frequently closes due to lack of manpower.<ref>[https://www.bloomfieldtwpnj.com/163/Fire-Suppression Fire Suppression], Township of Bloomfield. Accessed September 1, 2019.</ref> In 2018, the [[Insurance Services Office]] once again listed the fire department as a class 2 agency, recognizing it in the top five percent of the nation's fire departments, a ranking it had held for the ten previous years. As of 2020, the department is again working toward achieving accreditation status.<ref>Kiefer, Eric. [https://patch.com/new-jersey/bloomfield/bloomfield-fire-department-ranked-top-5-nation-officials "Bloomfield Fire Department Ranked In Top 5% Of Nation: Officials The Bloomfield Fire Department placed well β again β on the Insurance Service Organization's ratings for municipal fire agencies."], Bloomfield, NJ Patch, April 12, 2018. Accessed September 11, 2019. "The ISO rates 46,042 municipalities across the country, with only 241 receiving a class 1 distinction, and 1,324 receiving a class 2 distinction, placing The Township of Bloomfield in the top 5% of all municipal fire departments in the entire country. Bloomfield has been assessed a class 2 rating for over a decade."</ref> The Fire Chief is Louis Venezia. He is the brother of former mayor, Michael Venezia.<ref name=Administration>[http://www.bloomfieldtwpnj.com/main/site-page/administration Administration] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160627144144/http://www.bloomfieldtwpnj.com/main/site-page/administration |date=2016-06-27 }}, Township of Bloomfield. Accessed March 16, 2018.</ref>
Summary:
Please note that all contributions to Niidae Wiki may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here.
You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see
Encyclopedia:Copyrights
for details).
Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)
Search
Search
Editing
Bloomfield, New Jersey
(section)
Add topic