Millburn TC Candidate Event Goes On Without Mayor Prupis

MILLBURN, NJ — A Township Committee candidate event hosted by Facebook community group Happy Millburn went on as scheduled Sunday, even though one of the two candidates running for the only open seat on the township committee — Democrat Mayor Tara Prupis — did not show up.

At the start of the event, Happy Millburn administrators — Roger Chinchilla and Adam Goldberg — announced that Prupis would not be attending the event. They said Prupis emailed them Sunday morning, stating that she was unable to make it, but gave no further explanation.

During a Township Committee meeting on Oct. 19, Prupis announced she had to leave early because her mother fell down a number of stairs and was in the hospital getting surgery. Some community members wrote in the comments of the livestream that this could potentially be the reason for her absence.

Prupis did not respond Monday to a question from Patch about why she did not attend.

Goldberg said Prupis had previously committed to the event, and they were in communication with her in preparation.

Goldberg said he and Chinchilla did not want to penalize Republican candidate Oyin Owolabi by cancelling the event.

Instead, the livestream was a single-candidate event, where Goldberg and Chinchilla took turns asking Owolabi a series of questions that were created and voted on by the Happy Millburn Facebook community.

When asked what she believes is the biggest challenge facing Millburn Township right now, Owolabi said flood mitigation and the Fair Share Affordable Housing settlement are currently the most prominent issues.

She was also asked about the idea of converting Millburn Avenue and Essex Street back into two-way traffic roads, which has been discussed at past Township Committee meetings.

"I would like us to spend more time researching that implication," Owolabi said. "The Middle School is very close to our downtown, and we have many of our children walking and bicycling to school. Ultimately, I think we should avoid making too many changes too often because it's really confusing for everyone and bad for the businesses. I don't want to act in a hasty matter and waste taxpayer's money like we did with Flex Parking."

To view the event and learn more about Owolabi’s platform, people can watch the video posted to Facebook here.

In-person voting will take place on election day, Nov. 2, and Vote-By-Mail ballots will also be accepted. The deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot by mail is Oct. 26.

Voters can search for their designated polling location on this website by entering their street address.

To get a Vote-By-Mail application, download one at www.essexclerk.com, or pick one up in person at Millburn Town Hall. Completed applications should be mailed directly to the Essex County Clerk or placed in the drop box outside of Town Hall.

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