TENAFLY—A proud U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05), joined by Mayor Mark Zinna, officiated a ceremonial swearing-in for Councilwoman and fellow Democrat Dr. Julie O’Connor at Borough Hall on Jan. 5.
“Julie O’Connor has already accomplished so much for the Borough of Tenafly, helping to improve the environment and keep its streets safe,” Gottheimer said. “That’s what Jersey Values are all about. As Julie takes her solemn oath to govern and lead, I know she will make Tenafly and our entire state stronger.”
Also sworn to a three-year term on council was fellow Democrat Lauren Dayton, who garnered 3,982 votes, or 41.3%, to O’Connor’s 3,777 votes, or 39.2%. In the election, unaffiliated challenger Jennifer L. Jackson posted a strong showing, with nearly 20% of the vote.
O’Connor, a middle school teacher and district coordinator in Cliffside Park and mother of twins in the Tenafly district, has served on the Tenafly Borough Council since the pandemic, when she was elected to fill the seat vacated by Zinna, who defeated independent Peter Rustin for mayor in the 2019 election. At that swearing in, District 37 state Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle referred to O’Connor as her “gold stamp of approval” on animal and environmental legislative issues.
O’Connor is liaison to several borough entities, including the Board of Health, the Environmental Commission, the Stigma Free Committee, Tenafly Pride, and Tenafly Nature Center.
In recent campaign coverage for The Echo, Tenafly High School’s student news site, staff writer Nikhil Lewis highlighted O’Connor’s dedication, writing, “O’Connor’s commitment to her family and community is strong, and she has served on the Tenafly council since the pandemic, doing much work for the community.”
Lewis detailed her environmental advocacy, including work on the borough’s tree code, which directs fines toward replanting at the Tenafly Nature Center, and her efforts to reduce pesticide use. He also credited her with spearheading the borough’s composting program, helping families divert food waste from landfills.
“Beyond her environmental focuses, O’Connor dedicates a large amount of time to ensuring the comfort and safety of Tenafly’s community,” Lewis wrote. “Joining the committee during COVID, O’Connor felt the community’s yearning to grieve their losses. To residents during this difficult time, she organized an area for a COVID memorial in Davis Johnson Park & Gardens for people to pay their respects to their loved ones they lost to the pandemic.”
Lewis also noted O’Connor’s advocacy for cultural diversity. She helped plan Tenafly’s Juneteenth celebration, recognized an Indian holiday, and organized a gathering to celebrate the borough’s new sister city relationship with Seneca Falls, N.Y., honoring Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the fight for women’s suffrage. “Diversity is our strength,” O’Connor said.
This term, O’Connor plans to expand her programs while addressing taxes, flooding, and pedestrian safety. “You’ll always see me walking around,” she told The Echo. “I live by Stillman School, so I’m always walking to town and back.” A traffic light is planned for the Clinton Inn Hotel intersection, alongside a new traffic pattern to improve safety.
O’Connor’s recreational initiatives include a new skate park at the former swim club, with raised flower beds to accommodate those with mobility challenges, and community gardening areas to attract pollinators like monarch butterflies and bees. The borough also plans to expand the dog park.
Lewis summarized O’Connor’s goals: “Overall, O’Connor is looking for ways to assist and help our community in a healthy and productive way.”
Outside her council role, O’Connor’s professional background reflects her lifelong commitment to education and progressive advocacy.
O’Connor has been a teacher and instructional supervisor for over 20 years in both the New York City and Cliffside Park public school systems, specializing in English language learning. She earned her doctorate in education from Northcentral University, focusing her research on how “humane education,” prosocial learning that includes kindness to animals, improves student outcomes.
She holds master’s degrees from Mercy College and The Bank Street College of Education and has presented on humane education at numerous conferences, including The Oxford Animal Ethics Summer School, the NJEA Teachers Convention, and the American Teacher Educators Conference.
O’Connor as of 2021 served as the educational director for the Animal Protection League of New Jersey and was vice president of The Humane Education Committee Inc.
In her book “United States of Friendship,” O’Connor reflected on a national pen pal project inspired by the events of Sept. 11, 2001. “The third graders in Illinois reaching out to the traumatized children in New York City through a pen pal project was exactly the type of healing our nation craved,” she wrote. “May we all learn to be kind to others, just as these small-town students were to their inner-city pen pals.”