Mayor Art Ondish Leadership Award

This award is given annually by Sustainable Jersey in memory of Mayor Arthur Ondish of Mount Arlington. He was a true leader and an original member of the visionary mayors who founded the Sustainable Jersey program. He was a key thinker and doer during the growth of the Sustainable Jersey movement. In the early days, he spent countless hours meeting with local officials to promote Sustainable Jersey and was instrumental in the program's acceptance in rural parts of New Jersey.

This award recognizes an outstanding leader of a Sustainable Jersey certified town who has provided ideas, policy support, and the necessary resources for the green team to achieve significant success towards sustainability at the local level.

 

2023 Recipient: Honorable Ravinder Bhalla, City of Hoboken

Mayor Bhalla has been active in the accomplishments of the Hoboken Green Team and Hoboken’s achievement of silver-level certification with Sustainable Jersey. He has focused on making the City of Hoboken more resilient to climate change, signing the City’s Climate Action Plan in 2019 with the goal of the City of Hoboken being net zero energy by 2030 and carbon neutral by 2050. The plan includes expansion of Hoboken’s residential composting drop-off program, a full ban on all carry-out plastic bags and Styrofoam and the purchasing of 100% renewable electricity for all Hoboken municipal operations. Hoboken offers a renewable energy program for residents and has completed energy efficient upgrades in 11 municipal buildings. Under Ravi’s leadership, Hoboken has become a national model for creating safer streets for all residents and modes of transportation. In 2019, he signed an executive order launching Hoboken’s Vision Zero initiative, forming a Vision Zero Task Force, and creating a Vision Zero Action Plan. His involvement has been exemplary.