MAYOR'S UPDATE:
OCTOBER 29

Thank you to everyone who came out last night to celebrate the ribbon cutting for the Center for Creativity at The Rialto! This incredible undertaking by the newly formed Westfield Arts Collective will usher in a new era for this beloved Westfield landmark and lay a substantial foundation in making our downtown a destination for the arts. Importantly, this new endeavor also includes the partnership of the Tee and Charles Addams Foundation, opening many opportunities for Addams’ legacy to be prominently featured here in his hometown.

At last night’s ceremony, we heard from the WAC’s president, Beth Cassie; Councilwoman Mackey in her role as the liaison to the Public Arts Commission and Chair of AddamsFest; Kevin Miserocchi, Executive Director of the Tee and Charles Addams Foundation; John Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls; and Doreen Sayegh, who, along with her father Jesse, have owned the Rialto since 1997. It was an incredible passing of the torch moment, and the possibilities for this space are incredibly exciting. I encourage you to get involved, through your time or donations, to help drive this community-oriented project forward to its fullest potential. Learn more at centerforcreativity.art.

I also had the opportunity to welcome Karma EV and Blissful Beauty to Westfield this week at their ribbon-cutting ceremonies. Congratulations to all!

Wishing you all a great weekend, and a Happy Halloween!

COVID-19 UPDATE

On Tuesday, a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee voted to recommend the Pfizer vaccine for emergency use authorization for those ages 5 to 11. The decision is scheduled to go to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s outside immunization advisers on November 2 to recommend how to use the vaccine, meaning that providers are expected to be able to give the two-dose regimen as soon as the first week of November.

Regional Health Officer Megan Avallone reports that, once again, one of the six regions in New Jersey (our Central East region) is showing high levels of activity. However, Union County’s transmission rate, as measured by the CDC, is in the moderate category -- one of just two counties in New Jersey and a handful in the northeast. It’s important to note that the New Jersey regional activity metrics include multiple counties, which in our case, groups Union with counties that currently have much higher levels of transmission (such as Ocean County).

Locally, there were 18 cases identified in Westfield between October 22 and October 28 (with 16 last week and 30 the previous week) The age ranges are broken down as follows:

Age 9 and under: 5 cases
Age 10-19: 1 case
Age 20-29: 2 cases
Age 30-39: 4 cases
Age 40-49: 2 case
Age 50-59: 2 cases
Age 60-69: 1 case
Age 70-79: No cases
Age 80-89: 1 case
Age 90 and above: No cases

The state’s seven-day average for new confirmed cases is down 7% from a week ago and 34% from a month ago, the lowest since August 6. The statewide transmission rate is .85.

Statewide, vaccination rates have increased 33% from last week’s rate, with an average of 29.6K doses administered per day. More than six million New Jersey residents are fully vaccinated, representing just over 75% of all those who are eligible.

In Union County, 365,402 (65.6% of the total population) are fully vaccinated. In Westfield, 95% of adults and 76% of our entire population is fully vaccinated. Additional breakdowns by location and age group can be found on the NJ COVID Dashboard.

The Health Department has started its complete booster push, administering all three brands of vaccine for primary and booster doses through clinics, walk-ins and home visits. They also continue to plan for the age 5-11 Pfizer vaccine authorization, and will communicate details on vaccine availability for this age group over the next week.

Any resident interested in receiving the vaccine can call 908-789-4070.

FEMA

The application deadline to apply for FEMA assistance from Tropical Storm Ida has been extended through December 6. Today, FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance teams concluded their in-person rounds through Westfield they’ve been conducting in recent days to answer questions and offer application assistance.

The FEMA Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) at the Cranford Community Center (220 Walnut Street, Cranford) remains open for assistance, Monday to Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and Saturday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. As a reminder, you also can apply for FEMA assistance online at DisasterAssistance.gov or apply/check your status by phone at 1-800-621-3362.

POLICE UPDATE

Chief Battiloro reports the following notable incidents occurred in Westfield this week.

October 29
At 7:50 AM, a resident of the 700 block of Lawrence Avenue reported the theft of all four center wheel covers from her 2019 Tesla Model 3, which apparently occurred while the vehicle was parked in her driveway.

To date, 24 vehicles have been reported stolen in Westfield in 2021, 22 of which have been recovered. Keys or key fobs were used to steal every single vehicle, and almost 92% of these vehicles were left unlocked with their key fobs inside at the time of their thefts.

Please take appropriate action to protect your property. This includes removing valuables, including key fobs, and locking vehicles at all times, regardless of time of day. Also, please report all suspicious persons, vehicles and/or activities immediately via 9-1-1.

You can always read more detail about police activity in the weekly Police Blotter, which is posted every Tuesday on the Westfield Police Department’s website, as well as on the Westfield Police Department’s Facebook and Instagram pages.

VOTING INFORMATION

Election Day is on Tuesday! As a reminder, you have several options for casting your vote:

Vote By Mail: If you received a vote-by-mail ballot, you must vote by mail; otherwise, if you show up November 2 at your polling location, you will have to vote using a paper provisional ballot.

Return your vote-by-mail ballot to the secure drop box located at the Fraser Building, 300 North Avenue East, Westfield, or mail in your vote-by-mail ballot by 8:00PM on November 2. You can track your ballot at trackmyballot.nj.gov.

If you would still like to apply to vote by mail, you must fill out an application and return it in person to the Union County Clerk's Office by Nov. 1 at 3:00 PM. If you lost, damaged, or accidentally misplaced or discarded your mail-in-ballot, you may request a replacement vote-by-mail ballot from the Union County Clerk's Office.

Vote Early in Person: Early voting is now open and continues through October 31.The polls are open from 10:00 AM - 8:00 PM, except Sundays when they are open until 6:00 PM. The closest location is at Union County College, 1033 Springfield Avenue, Seminar Room A/B, Cranford.

Vote In Person on Election Day: You can vote at your normal polling location on Tuesday, November 2. A list of Westield’s locations can be found on our website.

ROAD PAVING

Our road paving continues! Resurfacing work will begin on Monday for the entire length of Willow Grove Road. We expect to mill the road the first half of the week, with paving to occur Thursday and Friday when school is closed, to minimize any inconvenience in the Tamaques School area. This job is funded by the New Jersey State Transportation and Trust Fund Grant. Weather permitting, we expect additional paving over the next few weeks to be performed by Elizabethtown Gas in the areas where they recently completed their main replacement work. Details to follow as the timing is finalized.

GRANTS

Speaking of paving, we received word yesterday that the New Jersey State Transportation and Trust Fund Grant has approved our grant applications for paving the entire length of Elmer Street and Summit Avenue in 2022 -- totaling $410,000 in state aid.

Also on the grants front, we were thrilled to receive just over $53,000 in funding yesterday from the Union County Open Space, Recreation and Historic Preservation Trust Fund, which will be used for the installation of an ADA-compliant playground structure and equipment at Windsor Park, and for additional tree plantings to be completed in the spring.

Year to date in 2021, we’ve received over $1.7MM in grant funding! This is a huge increase over the average from 2006 through 2020, which was just over $630,000.

HALLOWEEN

We hope to see your costumed kids at the Cops & Goblins Halloween Spooktacular on Sunday from 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM outside of the Police Station. Our Police and Fire Departments, as well as the Volunteer Rescue Squad, will be on hand with entertainment for the kids, and of course some candy.

As always, please keep safety top of mind when trick-or-treating. We are fortunate to get so many trick-or-treaters in Westfield, and that means we all must do our part to keep motorists and pedestrians safe during the day’s outings. The Westfield Police Department has put together its annual list of safety tips, which you can find below, and they will of course be out in force to assist with any and all safety issues.

ADDAMSFEST

It’s the final weekend of AddamsFest! Thank you to the amazing group of volunteers, led once again by Councilwoman Mackey, for a highly successful fourth annual celebration of Charles Addams. It’s wonderful to see that, each year, the appeal of our festivities continues to expand beyond Westfield. In fact, we’ve had visitors from more than 80 communities — from as far as Buffalo, Wisconsin, and Atlanta -- who come for AddamsFest and then spend time in our downtown and enjoying our beautifully decorated neighborhoods. Kudos to the entire team for another fantastic year!

Come on out and enjoy this weekend’s line up, which has something for everyone:

The Blob at The Rialto: Tonight at 8:00PM (tickets available on addamsfest.com)
Dudley’s Drive-In at the South Avenue train station lot: Due to the rainy forecast, The Addams Family 2 has been moved to Sunday at 7:00 PM.
Complements Art Exhibit: Today from 4:00 - 8:00, Saturday from 11:00 - 5:00, and Sunday from 12:00 - 5:00.
Peter Lyons Readings of Tonight, Tonight is Halloween: Sunday from 11:00 - 1:00 on Quimby Street.
Norman Kirby Fence Art: Ongoing at the corner of East Broad and Central.
Ron MacCloskey Lecture on Charles Addams at The Rialto: Sunday at 3:00 PM (advance tickets not required)
Haunt Your House: Voting closes Saturday at 10:00 PM.
Wicked Windows: Ongoing throughout Downtown Westfield until early November

MAYOR'S UPDATE:OCTOBER 29