IRVINGTON, NJ — Mayor Tony Vauss said he likes West Ward Councilman Vern Cox for a lot of reasons, but mostly because he always puts his money where his mouth is. Vauss said this was never more evident than at the first West Ward Community Festival on Saturday, Sept. 5, which Cox organized and paid for out of his own pocket.
“It’s his first one; he wants to have this annually and it’s one heck of an event,” Vauss said. “We’ve got the entire community out here. The kids are out here on bouncy rides. We have a live band. DJ Qua is playing the music. We got our seniors out here; (Cox) got his neighbors, the community; it’s just a real fun time.”
Vauss said Cox has done well representing his constituents in the West Ward on the Irvington Municipal Council. Cox succeeded former West Ward Councilwoman Charnette Frederic, who now serves as the council’s president. Vauss said the hallmark of any great elected official is how much they actually care about the people who elected them to office, once they get voted into those positions and, based on that, Cox is right on the money.
“He’s done a fantastic job,” Vauss said. “Vern Cox paid for this event out of his own pocket. As you can see, from the live bands to blow ups to cartoon characters to all the endless food and the entertainment, it’s a pretty penny; well over $12 grand.”
Cox said he didn’t mind the expense of putting on the first West Ward Community Festival because it really was a labor love. He said there have been cookouts and other events in the West Ward and at other locales in town, in collaboration with other wards, officials and groups, but he wanted to do something different.
“I paid for the entire event and I have no problem doing that and I have no problem doing it again next year either, as far as that goes, because I think our community needs these kinds of events, especially the children,” Cox said Saturday, Sept. 5. “And I might add, senior citizens had a pretty good time today, too. They’re still here, they’re still having fun and, as you can see, the grills are still going.”
Cox said his favorite saying is: “Put your money where your mouth is.”
He said he has a no-nonsense leadership style that’s based on the idea a leader does not only address quality-of-life issues such as street-sweeping and filling potholes, even though that is a very important part of the job, too.
Cox said leadership also means investing in the community and constituents, which is why he hosted the West Ward Community Festival. But first he said he had to make sure he got permission from his wife to do so.
“I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my wife, because my wife controls the checkbook,” Cox said with a smile.
“If my wife says, ‘It’s OK’ then it’s OK. … So I said to her: ‘Well, how much?’ and she said, ‘Do what you have to do.’ My wife’s name is Robin Marie Cox and she controls the purse strings. She’s been smiling all day from ear to ear. We didn’t get much sleep. But that’s OK.”
Many of the participants and attendees at Cox’s festival, such as Assemblywoman Cleopatra Tucker, Essex County Freeholder Wayne Richardson and others, said that was OK with them, too.
“I’m always in Irvington,” Tucker said at the event.
“Irvington is my second home. I’m looking for an apartment in Irvington, so I’ll have a residence in Irvington and in Newark. I’m supposed to be here to support my mayor and the people in the community, so this is just a part of the things I do.”