Welcome to the NEW Borough Newsletter

Hello fellow Oaklanders and welcome to the brand new borough newsletter!

For those that have wondered why they haven't seen a borough newsletter in a while, a series of events happened behind the scenes that led to the newsletter being delayed, new leadership being put in place, and a new way to deliver the newsletter being implemented. Please know there was nothing nefarious behind the delay or changes, but we are excited to introduce to you the new 21st century borough newsletter!

For starters, the change from printed and mailed to digital delivered via email is a big cost saving measure, a big paper saving measure, and is almost certainly going to be more convienient for the vast majority of Oakland residents. For those that do not have computer access, we will be coming out with a limited basic print edition of the newsletter with the same content found online. These copies will be located in Borough Hall, the Senior Center, and the Library. It may still be another month or two before we have print editions available as we make changes and adjustments to the newsletter based off of feedback, but print copies will be coming for those that need and want one.

Other changes to the newsletter include:

• Receiving the newsletter monthly instead of quarterly - This makes the newsletter smaller in equivilent pages to the print edition, easier to read with less text, and less stale to you the reader as information is fresh and current.
• More flexibility to submit content - If you want your announcement or event from your non-profit or Borough organization or committee to be included in the next newsletter, send it a few weeks before the end of the month. If it isn't fit to print or is submitted too late to be included in the following month's edition, if still relevant, it'll make it onto the next month's newsletter. If you are a local organization or a Borough committee or commission or department that would like to have appropriate content featured in the newsletter, please email oaklandcrossroads@gmail.com.
• More community news - We want this newsletter to be by and for the community, and so we want to highly encourage Oakland non-profits and organizations and boards and committees and commissions and the like to submit content.
• Spotlights on what makes Oakland great - We'd love to see your photos of Oakland and life in your neighborhood. Similarly, we'd love to hear stories about residents who are or have made a difference in the community as one of our volunteers might do a little story about it for the newsletter!
• Sharability - By having the newsletter online, you'll be able to forward the email to fellow residents to easily and quickly share information. Also, major feature stories will be posted on the Communications Commission's webpage so you can easily click a feature story you see in the newsletter (like this one!) to read more and then share to social media sites.
• Providing News You Can Use - Want to know the recycling schedule for the month? A Borough announcement about a road closure? We want the new newsletter to put this information easily at your fingertips.

Very briefly, I will also introduce myself as well as our new Newsletter Committee Chairwoman.

My name is Ryan Schwertfeger and I joined the Oakland Communications Commission in the summer of 2017 and became Chairman in 2018. I've been an Oakland resident for almost my entire life and went to Heights Elementary, Valley Middle School, and Indian Hills High School before going to Waynesburg University in Waynesburg, PA where I graduated Cum Laude with a major in Communications, a minor in political science, and was a proud Class of 2017 scholar in the Stover Center for Constitutional Studies and Moral Leadership. You may have heard of me for my efforts to bring a dog park to Oakland since 2009, a project still in progress. I presently work at DialAmerica in Mahwah, NJ as I seek other full time employment. It is exciting and a great learning experience heading the commission as I strive to bring new ideas, new energy, and improvements to an important commission within our Borough.

I am also extremely fortunate to welcome as a recent member to the Communications Commission, and the head of our Newsletter Committee, Chairwoman Elizabeth (Liz) Llorente.

Liz Llorente is a senior reporter for Fox News. Prior to joining Fox, she was a senior writer for The Bergen Record, winning numerous state and national awards, including New Jersey Journalist of the Year and Colulmbia University Graduate School of Journalism's Career Achievement Award.  Her stories also have appeared in The New York Times, AARP's online magazine, Forbes, and New Jersey Monthly. She is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, the nation's first journalism school and one of its most prestigious. She has conducted workshops and presentations at journalism schools and universities around the country to teach best practices in reporting and writing.  Liz also is the founder of New Jersey’s annual Ethics in Journalism forum, which is held at Rutgers University.

Please feel free to reach out to myself or to Liz if you have any questions or inquiries or comments about the Borough Newsletter. We hope you enjoy what the newsletter is and will be to come!

Ryan Schwertfeger & Liz Llorente