Rep. Sherrill Statement on the 20th Anniversary of September 11th

Frank L. Cahill
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Rep. Sherrill Statement on the 20th Anniversary of September 11th

PARSIPPANY — Representative Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) released the following statement on the 20th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks:

“For so many of us, it is difficult to believe it’s been 20 years since that fateful Tuesday morning in September, which changed our world forever and cost us so many loved ones.

“We all remember where we were that day. As a young Naval Officer, I was stationed at the US Atlantic Fleet Headquarters in Norfolk, VA. I’ll never forget the juxtaposition of a perfect fall day, beautiful blue skies, a crisp feeling in the air, and the absolute horror of the attack as I manned my post in the headquarters. Amidst the chaos, with the Pentagon under attack and so much uncertain information flowing, our hours and days following the attacks were dominated by our coordination of the military response, scrambling jets, and mobilizing forces to be on high alert.

“As we’d come to find out, 749 New Jerseyans died on 9/11, more than 90 of them residing in what is now the 11th Congressional District. As we do every year, we honor their lives by coming together as a community in each town across the district and continuing to keep their memories alive. We promised to never forget, and we keep that promise.

“We owe a debt of gratitude to our first responders from New York, New Jersey, and those who flooded in from all over the country to save lives and search for our loved ones in the rubble. Far too many of them lost their own lives as a result. And to this day, too many are still grappling with the health effects they incurred from their time on the pile. I’ve been so proud to be part of the fight, working for them to help make the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund permanent. Our continued support for them is central to our efforts to never forget.

“As we gather at services, memorials, and events on this anniversary, it’s heartening to be able to be together once again after the year and a half we’ve had. I look forward to joining you all in towns throughout the district to remember, grieve, and honor our families, friends, and neighbors today.”

Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Council Agenda Meeting – September 7, 2021

Frank L. Cahill
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Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Council Agenda Meeting – September 7, 2021

PARSIPPANY — Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Council Agenda Meeting – September 7, 2021.

Click here to download the agenda.

 

Township Honors Uzbek-American Day

Frank L. Cahill
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Township Honors Uzbek-American Day
PARSIPPANY – As the nation of Uzbekistan celebrates 30 years of independence and self-governance, Mayor Soriano will honor Uzbek-Americans with a proclamation honoring September 1, 2021, as Uzbek-American Day at the September 7 Township Council Meeting.

Across Uzbekistan and across the world, the country’s history and rich culture are marked by displays of traditional folk music, dancing, local craft, and eating plov, the national meal.

“I’m honored to help celebrate the independence with the people of Uzbekistan, and mark the occasion with our many Uzbek-American residents and friends,” said Mayor Soriano. “Our township is proud to be the home of residents from five different continents, making our community an example of diversity in cultural heritage in America. I hope everyone in our Township joins me in wishing all who celebrate their Uzbek heritage the very best during this joyous time.”

The Proclamation also commends the efforts of the Turkestanian American Association in their efforts to keep cultural ties connected between the United States and their native lands.

To learn more about Uzbekistan and its rich history and culture, please click here.

Market Street Mission Gives 500 Backpacks in Annual Project Backpack Giveaway

Frank L. Cahill
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Market Street Mission Gives 500 Backpacks in Annual Project Backpack Giveaway

MORRIS COUNTY — The Market Street Mission in Morristown packed and distributed 500 backpacks full of school supplies to children in need in our community, during August. As children begin to go back to school in person again this year, they are excited to help prepare and equip them with the materials they need to succeed.

Every August, hard-working volunteers come to the Mission to help prepare 500 backpacks and supply kits for students from preschool through high school. Many of the bags go to the men in the Mission’s addiction recovery Life Change Program to give to their children and grandchildren. Program alumni can sign up for backpacks as well. Throughout the program, they help the residents learn to be responsible, supportive fathers, and Project Backpack is one tangible way they can help them work to rebuild relationships with their children by providing for their needs while still pursuing their own recovery.

Market Street Mission Gives 500 Backpacks in Annual Project Backpack Giveaway

The Mission also works with local schools, churches, and organizations to provide backpacks for children in the community. This year, they were able to support organizations around the Morristown and Asbury Park Mission locations, as well as their new Sussex County location that opened in Newton earlier this year.

Partner organizations included Saint Margaret’s Church in Morristown, the Spring Street Alliance CDC and Bethel Church in Morristown, Neptune High School, and Project Self-Sufficiency in Newton.

It was a special blessing to be able to deepen our relationships with Sussex County community partners as we establish our new location in Newton. One leader from Project Self-Sufficiency commented on the backpacks, saying, “these items will bring so much joy to children in our community and fill them with excitement as they prepare to return to their classrooms this fall. You have given them the opportunity to start the year poised for academic success!”

The Market Street Mission has been serving the community for more than 130 years with meals, shelter, addiction recovery, and community outreach services. Project Backpack has served as a great opportunity to show support and care for our neighbors as we help local students prepare for the school year. Thank you to all our volunteers and donors who helped make this possible!

Established in 1889, the Market Street Mission is an experienced organization with a proven method of helping fight alcoholism, substance abuse, hunger, and homelessness in northern and central New Jersey. As a private non-profit we rely on the charitable support of compassionate donors to provide more than 110,000 meals and 30,000 nights of shelter per year. For more information on our emergency services, free addiction recovery program, community counseling services, and thrift store please visit by clicking here.

Market Street Mission Gives 500 Backpacks in Annual Project Backpack Giveaway

Township Council Meeting Scheduled for Tuesday, September 7

Frank L. Cahill
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Township Council Meeting Scheduled for Tuesday, September 7

PARSIPPANY — Township Council of the Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills has an Agenda Meetings scheduled for Tuesday, September 7.

Regular Township Council Meetings will commence at 7:00 p.m. All meetings will be held on Tuesday evenings.  All meetings will be held in the Municipal Building, 1001 Parsippany Boulevard, Parsippany. Formal action may or may not be taken at all scheduled meetings.

Click here to download the agenda.

Any individual who is a qualified disabled person under the American with Disabilities Act may request auxiliary aids such as a sign interpreter or a tape recorder to be used for a meeting. Auxiliary aids must be requested at least 72 hours prior to the meeting date. Please call (973) 263-4351 to make a request for an auxiliary aid.

Township to Honor Former Council Members with Plaques in Town Hall

Frank L. Cahill
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Township to Honor Former Council Members with Plaques in Town Hall

PARSIPPANY – Beginning this month and running into November, the Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills will continue the tradition of honoring former members of the Township council who have passed away. This tradition dates back decades when the first plaque was fixed on the township walls in honor of former councilman Charles W. Denny for his service to the community. Currently, there are over 20 memorial plaques on the Council Chamber walls, paying tribute to the Township’s many mayors and councilmembers.

“It brings me great pleasure to honor the many local elected officials who stepped up, led, and helped represent the residents of our Township over the years,” said Mayor Michael Soriano. “These community leaders were often the voice and the spirit of our township and helped bring our community forward to where Parsippany is now. Though they are no longer with us, their memory and their contributions to Parsippany will not be forgotten.”

The plaque ceremony was intended to be a periodic event taking place throughout 2020 but was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic postponing in-person council meetings. Beginning with the September 21 Township Council Meeting to the November 23, 2021 council meeting, the Township will honor the following former council members:

– William Devine (Dates of service: 1984-1987).
– Vincent Ferrara (Dates of service: 2011-2013).
– William Taylor (Dates of service: 1981-1983).
– Arthur Vespignani (Dates of service: 1978-1981).

The plaques can be viewed in the hallway near Council Chambers at Parsippany Town Hall, located at 1001 Parsippany Blvd in Parsippany. For more information on the township council, please click here.

Video Footage Uncovers AJACO Towing is a Victim of Numerous Crimes, Including Terroristic Threats

Press Release
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Video Footage Uncovers AJACO Towing is a Victim of Numerous Crimes, Including Terroristic Threats

MORRIS COUNTY — On August 18, 2021, the Mayor of Parsippany-Troy Hills Township, Michael A. Soriano, became aware of a thirty-second video clip in which a white man used a racial epithet against the person holding the camera. The white man in the video was assumed, based on context clues given in the Instagram post publicizing the clip, to be acting as an employee of AJACO Towing Inc., a company contracted by the township to provide professional towing and other emergency-related services for the Parsippany Police Department and other municipal operations.

MAYORS VERDICT WITHOUT ANY INVESTIGATION

However, instead of allowing the police department to complete an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident, Mayor Soriano accepted the clip at face value and, without seeking approval from the town council or the township’s attorney or obtaining a single fact from the parties involved in the incident, made the decision to direct the acting police chief to terminate the townships nine-year-long contract with the 27-year-old company, AJACO towing Inc. without any investigation. Video footage uncovered and now reviewed for the first time by Detectives from Parsippany Police Department on August 27, 2021, reveal that AJACO Towing is a Victim of Crimes that include terroristic threats. Unlike the Mayor’s Actions in this matter, a complete investigation has begun.

THE ALLEGED CRIME

Mayor Soriano also instructed the township’s public information officer to issue a press release that branded AJACO Towing and everyone associated with it as racist, or, at the very least, as a business employing individuals who condone racist behavior. As a result, employees and even family members have endured harassment and even death threats on a near-constant basis since the press release was published and major media outlets began reporting about it.

The facts of the situation were never examined by Mayor Soriano, who acted wholly outside of his authority as township mayor by making an “executive” decision without giving a highly regarded company with nearly thirty years in business the rights afforded to that company by virtue of its contract with the township. He instructed the public information officer to issue a press release that can best be described as libel, which is defined by Cornell Law School as “a method of defamation expressed by print, writing, pictures, signs, effigies, or any communication embodied in physical form that is injurious to a person’s reputation, exposes a person to public hatred, contempt or ridicule, or injures a person in his/her business or profession.”

THE DEFAMATION

The release of this false statement to the public and the media has resulted in immediate negative consequences to AJACO Towing including financial damage related to the loss of its contract with the Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills, as well as immeasurable damage to its reputation, not only within the local community but across the country.

New Jersey Revised Statute Section 2C:27-12 describes the crime of corruption of public resources, which reads: “1. a. A person commits the crime of corruption of public resources if, with respect to a public resource which is subject to an obligation to be used for a specified purpose or purposes, the person knowingly uses or makes disposition of that public resource or any portion thereof for any unauthorized purpose.”

CORRUPTION OF PUBLIC RESOURCES

The township’s public information officer is indisputably a public resource. Instructing the public information officer to issue a libelous press release to the public and the media is almost certainly a misuse of that public resource. AJACO alleges that by using the public information officer to release a libelous public statement, Mayor Michael A. Soriano committed a crime against AJACO Towing, the municipality to which he was elected, and the PEOPLE for which he has taken an oath.

OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM VICTIM AJACO TOWING, INC.

“AJACO TOWING, INC. does not condone racism and never has. The Parsippany Public Information Office should not be used for one’s individual political gain nor should any government office be used to incite racism in our Parsippany Community. AJACO demands that the Mayor’s Press Release is rescinded without delay”

In fact, the public is welcome to visit with this author at AJACO Towing to review the actual facts of what happened that day on August 16, 2021.

This press release was submitted by Paul G. Argen, Investigative Reporter & Fraud Examiner

FULL DISCLOSURE: PAUL G. ARGEN is a Public Advocate and also employed as Chief Compliance Officer for AJACO Towing, Inc

Morris County Prosecutor Swears in New Assistant Prosecutors

Frank L. Cahill
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Morris County Prosecutor Swears in New Assistant Prosecutors

MORRIS COUNTY — Morris County Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll and First Assistant Prosecutor Maggie Calderwood announce the hiring of Bridget Carr and Tatijana Lindsey as Assistant Prosecutors for the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office.

Assistant Prosecutors Carr and Lindsey were officially sworn in at the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office on September 1, 2021.

Assistant Prosecutor Carr will be assigned to the Juvenile Unit and Assistant Prosecutor Lindsey will be assigned to the Domestic Violence Unit. Assistant Prosecutor Carr served as a law clerk for the Honorable David H. Ironson, Judge of the Superior Court, New Jersey, Criminal Division-Morris County. She has held several intern and externships including at the U.S. Attorney’s Office-District of New Jersey, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and the Essex and Morris County Prosecutor’s Offices. She holds a B.A. from Rutgers University and a Juris Doctorate from Pace University.

Assistant Prosecutor Tatijana Lindsey

Assistant Prosecutor Lindsey began her legal career as a legal assistant for a private law practice in 2014, later joining the staff of judges in the Family Division of the Vicinage 5 Superior Court and then the Criminal Division, both in Newark. Assistant Prosecutor Lindsey served as a law clerk for the Honorable Christopher Romanyshyn, Judge of the Superior Court, New Jersey, Criminal Division-Essex County. She holds a B.A. from Seton Hall University and a Juris Doctorate from Rutgers University. Prosecutor Carroll said, “I am confident that the incoming Assistant Prosecutors will serve honorably and will benefit the residents of Morris County.”

Coffee with a Cop Returns to IHOP

Frank L. Cahill
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Coffee with a Cop Returns to IHOP

PARSIPPANY — This Wednesday, September 8 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 Noon join officers from the Parsippany Police Department for another instalment of “Coffee with A Cop.”

This semi-regular get-together offers local residents the opportunity to chat with our local police force over a multitude of important issues affecting residents and their neighbourhoods while offering a glimpse into the day-to-day operations of running our police department.

IHOP is located at 792 Route 46 West in the Arlington Plaza. For more information, call (973) 263-4383.

Township Dedicates Veterans Memorial Park Gazebo to Mimi Letts

Frank L. Cahill
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Township Dedicates Veterans Memorial Park Gazebo to Mimi Letts

PARSIPPANY — In honor of departed former Mayor Marceil “Mimi” Letts, The Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills will dedicate the Gazebo at Veterans Park in her memory on Friday, September 17 at 2:00 PM. Letts passed away on September 15, 2019.

With a lifetime of public service to Parsippany and a dedication to municipal and community improvements for the Township, Letts was Mayor of Parsippany from 1994 to 2005, the first and only female mayor to serve in the Township’s history. She was instrumental in building the main branch library on Halsey Road, Veterans Park (home to summer concerts, cherry trees, and soccer fields wonderful walking trails), the Raoul Wallenberg monument, and many other significant contributions to the township.

“There will never be another Mimi Letts,” said Mayor Michael Soriano. “She was a fearless leader who got things done, thanks to her passion for improvement and steadfast determination. I’m honored to have called her not just a colleague, but a mentor to the end. Parsippany is a far better place because of her leadership, and dedicating this gazebo is long overdue. She loved gazebos, and this wonderful place will be enjoyed by residents for generations to come.”

Letts was a member of the township Planning Board and served as president of the board of directors of Parsippany’s Senior Citizen Housing Corp. She served on the Zoning Board of Adjustment, Parsippany’s Historical Society, and the Kiwanis Club of Greater Parsippany, and worked closely with New Jersey’s Highlands Council.

At the time of her passing, Rep. Mikie Sherrill said Letts was a “trailblazer and a champion of having more women engaged in politics in New Jersey … Mimi’s commitment to advocacy and to the residents of Parsippany continued even after leaving the mayor’s office.”

All residents are invited to participate in the dedication, with the request that all attendees wear masks and practice social distancing. For more information on the event, please call the Mayor’s Action Center at (973) 263-4262 or emailaction@parsippany.net.

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