Tuesday March 22nd Lunch Meeting

 
 
 
Club Secretary, Norman Davis presented his program, The Mayors of Englewood. You may download the program by clicking on the link at the side of this page.
 
 
Thank You, Norman. 
 
 
 
Englewood Rotary Club – March 22, 2016
Meeting Location: Crowne Plaza Hotel
Presiding:  Eileen O’Driscoll
Recorder:  Steve Wiessner
Birthdays/Anniversaries: Brian Katz and Mitch Schonfeld observed birthdays this week
Visiting Rotarians and Guests: Visiting Rotarian Evan Arsdale guest of John Devol.  Guest, Susan Proietti, guest of Serena Carson and Kathy Silberstein
Announcements: 
Eileen announced:
  • She gave thanks and recognition to all who helped organize and execute our Community Awards Dinner with an extra special shout out to our own Rotary band
  • PETS (President Elect Training) was attended by Aleta and Jill Abbott at the East Hanover Marriot this past weekend
  • The 59th annual District Conference will take place at the Inner Harbor of Baltimore on April 28 – May 1.  Contact Jim Cole for details. Aleta announced that we need more sign ups for the bus for the District Conference and that 57 have registered for the hotel but we need a total of 67. Visit http://portal.clubrunner.ca/50049/Page/2016-district-conference for more information.
  • A Board meeting will occur after the luncheon
 
Other Club Announcements:
  • Jim Cole announced that he attended an Interact Club meeting at Dwight Morrow High School earlier this week and that the club was working on a clothing drive and the senior prom.  Jim was impressed with the energy from the leadership of the group.
 
 
 
  • Eddie Hadden announced that the International Projects Committee will be sending a delegation to our project in Negril, Jamaica on April 5 - 10.  Three more people signed up bringing the total to 7. Eddie mentioned that there is still one slot available if anyone is interested in joining the group, and feel free to follow up with him for more information.
 
  • Florence Marchi wanted to thank Joan Johnson who is paying for van transportation to and from the airport for the Jamaica project.
 
  • Janet Sharma announced that she is leading a group called the Age-Friendly Englewood Coalition focused on issues facing the active older population in the area.  She noted that a survey has been created and that Rotarians from Englewood of the appropriate age demographic (60 and above) should take the survey.
 
  • Guest Susan Proetti announced a program on March 31 at Englewood Hospital at 7:00 pm called “Mental Health: Let’s Talk About It” which is the kickoff event of the newly created Stigma Free Englewood initiative with our own Vicki Sidrow being a panelist representing Vantage Health System
 
Happy Dollars:
  • There were many Happy Dollars congratulating the Community Awards Committee for their hard work on the successful fundraiser
 
Program:
Norman Davis pinch hit as presenter as the scheduled speaker had a death in the family.  His presentation was called “The Mayors of Englewood”.  Norman noted that Englewood has had 30 mayors since 1893 and they are all pictured currently on the walls of City Hall. He noted that the powers of the mayor in Englewood include appointing members of various city boards and commissions and being the primary spokesperson for the City.  Mayors do not have a vote on the City Council except to break ties.  Currently mayors serve three year terms in conjunction with the At-Large Councilperson, but in the past mayors of Englewood have also served 2 and 4 year terms.  
 
The bulk of Norman’s discussion essentially involved the major activities of the City’s prominent and recent mayors which I list below:
 
  • Donald Mackay, he was  president of the New York Stock Exchange who was known primarily for donating the land to the City which became Mackay Park
  • Dan Fellows Platt, Englewood’s youngest mayor at 30 who donated his vast art collection to the Princeton Art Museum who was noted for taking an ax and chopping down the electric poles in front of his property
  • Donald Quarles, was a Deputy Defense Secretary whose name eventually was put to the Early Childhood Education Center now located on Davison Place
  • Austin Volk, a mayor from the 1960s who was a member of our club who died recently and was in office during the 1967 Englewood riots 
  • Ned Feldman recently visited our club and is still alive at age 97.  He was the last Republican mayor of Englewood who ran for reelection as an Independent and lost in a contentious 3 way contest.  Mr. Feldman was known for pushing to have the Rock Creek high density housing units built in the 2nd ward
  • Reverend Walter Taylor was the winner of the 3 way race that Mr. Feldman lost and was the first African American mayor of Englewood
  • Sandy Greenberg was Englewood’s first and only woman mayor and Norman noted that Sandy was supportive of the John Harms Arts Center , predecessor to the current Bergen Performing Arts Center and that she was very focused on improving quality of life for residents. She was also in office when a new City Charter created the City Manager position to run the day to day activities of the city
  • Steven Rothman followed Sandy Greenberg and whose biggest achievement Norman noted was working with developer Fred Fish who brought the Palisades Court shopping center to Englewood.  Mr. Rothman continued in politics to become Congressman for our 9th District
  • Donald Aronson followed Mayor Rothman and was Englewood’s longest serving mayor serving for 9 years.  Norman noted that he was a strong mayor who resisted an attempt by the Marriot Corporation to build an assisted living facility in a residential area on East Palisade Avenue
  • Paul Fader then took the helm and was noted primarily for focusing on education and facilitated the bringing in of Dr. John Grieco who created the Academies at Englewood on the campus of Dwight Morrow High School.  Mayor Fader was involved in pushing for the improvement of school facilities
  • Michael Wildes followed Mayor Fader and was best known for maximizing the publicity of the mayor’s position in Englewood.  Mayor Wildes had aspirations to claim the Congressional seat in the 9th District, but was not successful
  • Our current mayor is Frank Huttle III (a current member of our club) who was elected in 2010 and is serving his third term.  In addition to serving as mayor, Mr. Huttle also served two years as Council President and may be the only mayor to have served in both capacities at the same time.  Mayor Huttle is a strong proponent of bringing light rail to Englewood with a terminus planned for Englewood Hospital (he gave a presentation to our club on this matter a couple years ago).  He has been very active in overhauling the City’s Master Plan and was instrumental in bringing in our current City Manager Timothy Dacey. 
 
50-50: None this week
 
Attendance:  25 out of 72, 35%