PARSIPPANY — Community Relations Officer, Remo D’Alessandro talks about how you can keep your car and valuables safe. Please remember to lock your car, just as you lock your home.
Letter to the Editor: Candidates for Lake Parsippany Property Owners Association
To the Editor:
We are the Reform candidates in the upcoming election for the Lake Parsippany Property Owners Association (LPPOA). In full transparency, many of us are recent members of the LPPOA and have not volunteered for or run for leadership committees on the LPPOA in the past. However, we bring experience in running multiple businesses, environmental engineering, information technology, we have been involved in other organizations (e.g., Boy Scouts of America), and our candidate for President, Pulkit Desai, is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps.
For us, the lake comes first and foremost, and we strongly believe that all common interest property members should have to pay toward the upkeep of the lake. Therefore, mandatory easement is necessary for the maintenance of the lake. This will make Lake Parsippany an attractive place to be. However, all paying members should receive voting rights in return. They should be able to vote in elections. They should be able to choose officers.
We believe in ensuring and improving the vitality of the lake. This is where one of our candidates, Rinam Shah, an environmental engineer by profession, can help. She can assist in reviewing matters with the lake in reference to the quality of water, the environment in and around the lake, and how to sustain it efficiently for years to come. An asset we need on the board.
We believe in transparency, open communication, and running the lake in the interest of the entire community, and not select members. Some major concerns amongst community members are about future increases in the easement fee, poor communication about issues and stagnant recreational activities. We vow to bring a cap on such increases, communicate to reduce confusion and look for creative ways to bring about new activities for all ages especially youth and teens.
We want to bring reform so that the lake has more willing participation from the common interest community and is committed to enhancing the community involvement at the lake, especially the youth. Movie nights, yoga in the morning, community barbeques, multi-religious festivals, and video game clubs come to mind, for example.
If you are motivated to seek change to bring in fiscal responsibility, management, transparency, a strong sense of community, improved communications, and operations, we would be delighted to have your support. Let’s make Lake Parsippany an attractive and inclusive community to live.
The Reform 2020 Candidates
| President – Pulkit Desai US Marine Veteran |
District 1 – Rinam Shah Environmental Engineer |
| Vice President – Danny (Dharmesh) Desai
Multiple Business Owner |
District 3 – Rajnikant (Rajni) Patel
Realtor & Community Leader |
| Finance Secretary – Tarak Bhatt
Chief Accountant |
District 4 – Deepa Tailor
Computer Engineer |
DeCroce: Murphy’s Restaurant Rules Are Too Little, Too Late
PARSIPPANY — Governor Phil Murphy’s decision to open restaurants this week at 25 percent capacity isn’t enough to help the restaurants and catering halls that didn’t close for good during the pandemic says Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce. She called for more help and relief from the Economic Development Authority.
“The prolonged shutdown of restaurants has driven many out of business and severely hurt others that are barely surviving,” said DeCroce (R-Morris). “The governor’s restriction on indoor dining will not allow restaurant owners to make a profit or recover lost revenue from having their doors locked to customers.”
DeCroce the prime sponsors of a bill (A4413), which passed both houses of the legislature unanimously last week, that appropriates $30 million to the state Economic Development Authority from the over $2 billion left in CARES Act block grants. The aid would be used to support establishments affected by the shutdown, particularly those that spent money to reopen on July 2 before Murphy reversed his decision by Executive Order No. 158.
“I don’t think the governor understands the extent of the economic and psychological misery his shutdown of the restaurant industry has caused,” said DeCroce. “His indiscriminate edicts hurt not just restaurant owners but staff, and those businesses that supply restaurants with food, linens, and equipment. The shutdown has rippled through the economy in ways the governor doesn’t realize.”
The restaurant industry affects more than 348,000 jobs in New Jersey, according to the National Restaurant Association. Murphy has not signed the bill.
Parsippany Community Update September 3, 2020
PARSIPPANY — Tomorrow, Friday, September 4, New Jersey restaurants will be able to open for indoor dining at 25% capacity. Several requirements have been put in place by the state to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
Parsippany Community Update September 1, 2020
PARSIPPANY — Consider getting tested for COVID-19 if you have attended an indoor party, a large gathering or were around people you don’t know. Consult with your physician to determine whether you meet the criteria to get tested. As always, you can keep up with the day-to-day numbers on the Morris County coronavirus tracker page by clicking here.
Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Council Agenda Meeting – September 1, 2020
PARSIPPANY — Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Council Agenda Meeting – September 1, 2020
Click here to download a copy of the agenda.
Parsippany Republican Council Members Support Rosemary Becchi for Congress
PARSIPPANY — Republican Candidate for Congress Rosemary Becchi recently held a successful fundraiser at Knoll Country Club.
Area politicians came out to support Becchi were Mountain Lakes Councilwoman Audrey Lane, Senator Anthony M. Bucco, Jr., Morris County Freeholder Tayfun Selen, Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce, Parsippany-Troy Hills Council President Michael J. dePierro, Council Vice President Loretta Gragnani, Councilman Paul Carifi, Jr., Morris County Republican Chairwoman Laura Ali, Former Morris County Republican Chair John Sette and Morris County Young Republicans Chairman Justin Musella.
Becchi is running for election to the U.S. House to represent New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District. She is on the ballot in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Rosemary is a leading tax policy lawyer and consultant who works as a Strategic Advisor and Counsel at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, where she specializes in tax and financial services matters. Rosemary began her career in the public sector at the IRS as an attorney and advisor before moving on to the majority of the staff of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee as tax counsel. It was during her time on the Finance Committee that Rosemary co-authored the “529 college savings plans,” that are used today by parents across the country to help their children pay for college. She has also held in-house executive positions, including as vice president of federal government relations at Citigroup and Fidelity Investments.
Rosemary also has been a political advocate both on the national and local levels. She has authored multiple commentary pieces on tax and financial services issues. She has served in a leadership role of the Tax Coalition, including serving as the chair. Most recently, Rosemary was Chairman of the Board of Running Start, an organization dedicated to getting more women elected to public office. Rosemary is also the New Jersey Chair for Maggie’s List.
Assemblyman Bergen Settles Bet with Head Shave
MORRIS COUNTY — Keeping with the nation’s oldest rivalry, Assemblyman Ryan Peters, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate will be shaving the head of Assemblyman Brian Bergen, a West Point graduate, at his legislative district office in Lumberton on Friday.
Chalk one up for Midshipmen after Bergen lost an early summer bet. The Morris County lawmaker bet that a bill he introduced (A4147) to limit Gov. Phil Murphy’s executive order authority would pass the state legislature before September 1, but it did not.
The measure would have required the full state legislature to vote on any of the governor’s executive orders within two weeks or else the order would expire.
“In theory, this should’ve been a bipartisan bill that puts the power back in the hands of the people and the legislators they voted for to represent them. All this would have done is bring back the system of checks and balances our founding fathers created,” Peters (R-Burlington) said.
“But the Democrat legislators are obviously intent on sitting back and letting the governor make every decision for them and everyone else in the state for six months and counting. I was fairly certain that would be the case,” he continued.
“I made a bet expecting good policy that enforces checks-and-balances would triumph over politics,” said Bergen (R-Morris). “Unfortunately, that isn’t the case in New Jersey where Democrats view checks-and-balances as obstruction of power instead of a fundamental American principle. Next time I will take a safer bet, like who will win the Army versus Navy football game this year!”
Bergen will stop by Peters’ office on 668 Main Street in Lumberton at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, September 4. Peters will shave his head with a straight razor and shaving cream.
“The Democrat legislators in this state had a chance to join Republicans and choose democracy over a monarchy, and they went with the latter,” Peters said. “Now we’re going to go through with our bet to highlight how absurd this New Jersey monarchy has become.”
Township Council Special Meeting Notice for September 9
PARSIPPANY — Please be advised, the Township Council of the Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills is scheduling a Special Meeting to be held on Wednesday, September 9, 2020, at 6:30 p.m.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting will be held via a web conferencing program name WebEx. This program will allow the public to listen in to the meeting and to participate during the public portion session only.
The purpose of the meeting is to discuss potential water and sewer rate adjustments. Formal action may or not be taken, and any other action reasonably related thereto may also be taken.
Click here to download the agenda.
Click here to register and join the meeting.
DeCroce: Governor Needs To Find Options To Increasing The State’s Gas Tax
PARSIPPANY — New Jersey motorists will be paying more than 40 cents a gallon in gas taxes starting October 1 if Gov Phil Murphy pushes ahead with his plan to raise the gas tax by 9.3 cents, says Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce.
The gas tax hike is part of the governor’s revised FY 2021 budget that seeks to raise taxes and create yet another new social program.
“The governor should be working with the legislature and the White House to find innovative ways to address the state’s financial problems rather than heap more financial misery on residents and businesses,” said DeCroce. ‘Tax hikes are not the solution to everything New Jersey needs to do.”
DeCroce noted that the fuel tax hikes will take effect immediately on the heels of a series of toll hikes that will also hit motorists across New Jersey starting in September.
The gasoline tax finances the state’s Transportation Trust Fund – which pays for infrastructure improvements. Built into the TTF regulations is an automatic tax hike if revenue drops to a certain point. DeCroce says, however, the state should have foreseen the TTF revenue decline coming after the governor closed most businesses in the state and furloughed government workers.
DeCroce says the governor has issued dozens of executive orders to get around state laws and create new regulations and he could have issued another executive order to override the fuel tax hike trigger.
“Someone in the administration had to realize that with businesses closed, most of the state government closed, and people working from home — that fuel consumption would drop and so would fuel tax revenue,” said DeCroce. “The answer to every problem in New Jersey is not to automatically raise taxes.”
DeCroce said that instead of sparring with the White House at every turn, the governor should have been reaching out to President Trump’s team to discuss an increase in federal infrastructure funding.
“The president is a big supporter of infrastructure financing and so am I. New Jersey has some of the worst roads and bridges in the nation that need to be addressed. I am sure the state could have received federal help for infrastructure funding and not hit residents with another tax increase,” said DeCroce.