b'apandemic,both leaders had to come upwithaplanto addresstheemer-gency on a hyperlo-callevel.Turning thevalvesoffofa firehoseiseasier saidthandone, says McGehee. Its acollaborativeef- Collum and members of the South Orange Village Board of fort that we had toTrustees have been conducting meetings online for months now.take on. It was such a surreal time. in Millburn. So there was a conversa-Both township leaders spoke of thetionandcollaborationheldamong immediate need to address food inse- those four municipalities.curitiesthroughoutthecommunityWhen asked about what has been which they feared would be greatly af- themostdifficultpartoftheirjobs,Thinking of selling?fected by the sudden shutdowns. Andboth Collum and McGehee spoke of they were quick to credit the invalu- the loss of life. With schools shuttered,Let us tell the story of able communal spirit of their leader- independent businesses forced to close, ship communities and municipal de- jobslost,andfamilydynamicschal- your home.partments, health officers, police, fire,lenged, the deaths hit them deeply.EMS, and Public Works who ensuredTobequitehonest,Ifoundmy-that the towns would have a continu- self crying a whole lot, says Collum. ity of services.Theres a balance between trying to be SheenaandIwantedtomakea leader and be the village president and sure that what we were doing in Ma- let people know that youre in control. plewood was being complimented in[.] But every time we would get a posi-South Orange so there was no confu- tive [test for COVID-19], or every time sion. Theres a need for synergy in theI found out about a death, or, even just interest of public safety, says Mayorcommunitymemberswhohadsome-Frank.IalsoextendedthatsamebodypassawayintheirfamilythatOur design and staging skills will bring out the courtesyto[Union]MayorMichlewerent in South Orange, its hard not tonatural beauty of your home and our specialized[Delisfort].SheandIactuallygotoend up in a place where the emotionalmarketing strategy will tell its unique story,the same church, at St. Josephs. Westrain of just listening to these stories also wanted to align accordingly withdoesnt just make you cry. And its nothelping it to sell faster and for more money.MayorJackie[BenjaminLieberberg]even just the loss of life and the disease #Designed #Staged #SoldDouglas HuebnerRealtor | Sales AssociateKeller Williams MTD181 Maplewood Ave.Maplewood, NJ 07040(973) 762-5400(917) 676-2000Mayor Frank speaks to the Maplewood Library staff at a COVID-19 awareness meeting after he declared a state of emergency for the town on March 12. Each office is individually owned & operatedfeature story /23'