3rd Ward

Vernon Pullins Jr. was raised in the City of East Orange where he attended Elmwood Elementary School, Washington Street School, and Vernon L. Davey Jr. High School. In 1990, he graduated from East Orange High School. In 1995, Vernon earned his Bachelor of Arts (BA) from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. In 1998, he earned his Doctorate in Jurisprudence (JD) from Rutgers School of Law-Newark. Vernon continued to pursue his passion for education and in 2015 he earned a master’s in educational leadership and Administration (MA) from New Jersey City University.

Vernon has made a career of advancing educational goals for students. He has worked with the Newark Board of Education for 13 years, and currently serves as Supervisor of Guidance for High Schools. He also worked with Rutgers University as Site Director for the Consortium for Pre-College Education. In the late 1990’s, Vernon entered public life for the first time as a member of the East Orange Democratic County Committee and later became the Vice Chair of the Third Ward East Orange County Committee under the leadership of Mrs. Amelia Grooms. In 2005, Vernon became a Commissioner of the East Orange Water Commission where he held numerous positions as Vice President, Chair of Finance and Vice Chair of Personnel. During his tenure on the commission, Vernon assisted in “right sizing” the organization to be economically solvent and profitable. Some years later, Vernon was appointed to serve on the East Orange Board of Education. Here, Mr. Pullins held numerous leadership roles as the President of the Board of Education, Chair of Personnel, Vice Chair of Finance, and Chair of Maintenance. In this capacity, Vernon worked with an august body to streamline policies and procedure to ensure students had an opportunity to be college and career ready for the 21st century. Recently, in 2017, Mayor Ted R. Green, reappointed Vernon to continue serving the great citizens of the City of East Orange as a board member. During this Vernon served as the Chair of Personnel, and as a member of the Curriculum and Legal Committees. Also, Vernon also served as Vice President of the Alcohol Beverage Control Commission (ABC) in the City of East Orange.

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Vernon sought the seat of East Orange City Council in 2019, winning the Third Ward seat. He was installed as Councilman on January 1, 2020, when he will begin his first-year term serving the people of the Third Ward. As a member of City Council, Councilman Pullins serves on the following committees: Chair of Finance, Public Works, Law and Legislation, Public Safety, Arts, Recreation and Cultural Affairs and has served as liaison to the Water Commission. During the pandemic, Councilman Pullins provided over two thousand meals to families in need in the third ward and partnered with local businesses and religious institutions to provide PPEs to families as well. Legislative accomplishments include, but are not limited to, passing legislation recognizing Juneteenth, passing three years of balanced budget, legislation to improving and upgrading firehouses, and tougher legation to support tenant’s rights.

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Mr. Pullins is also the Executive Director of the Ted R. Green Foundation which is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that is committed to building on the twenty years of active community engagement by its founder Ted Green. The foundation provides scholarship opportunities to high school graduating seniors to pursue post-secondary education who otherwise would not have the financial means to fulfill their educational goals. Vernon is married to Rana and they have three lovely children. They have lived in the Third Ward for 16 years.