PARSIPPANY – On Sunday, February 12, Parsippany resident Michael Soriano announced his candidacy for Mayor. Two-term Republican Mayor James Barberio’s term is up December 31, 2017.

Currently Parsippany has Republican mayor and a council that has not had a Democratic member since Councilman Jonathan Nelson lost his mayoral bid against Barberio in 2013. Nelson was the first democrat to sit on the Council in over 25 years.

Council President Louis Valori and Council Vice President Robert Peluso terms end on December 31, 2017 and both are up for re-election.

In announcing his candidacy, “I’m running for one reason, to clean up Parsippany,” said Soriano. “When it comes to these petty feuds that have been going on in town hall that, for awhile, have made Parsippany so interesting to the press, I’ll tell you this, and I’ll paraphrase a friend of mine, I want to make Parsippany boring again.”

Soriano said I am going to break it down like this “I am going to demand a dollar worth of value for every dollar worth of tax money.”

Democrats have tightened the voter-registration gap in Morris County’s largest municipality, but Republicans still lead by a margin of about 11,000 to 9,000, according to Morris County Democratic Committee Chairman Chip Robinson.

“The Democratic turnout is usually down in odd, years, but because of Democratic frustration with Trump and Christie, we think Democratic turnout is going to be equivalent or higher than Republican turnout in 2017,” Robinson said.

Robinson also pointed out that despite the Republican voter advantage, Hillary Clinton won the 2016 presidential vote in Parsippany over Trump, and Barack Obama won the township twice.

“A lot of you may not know this, but since 1966, every mayor except for two were Democrats in this town,” said Robinson. “One of those two Republicans (Frank Priore) resigned. And the other is going to be defeated in about 10 or 11 months.”

Robinson continued to discuss voter demographics, but concluded by saying the most important reason he feels his party can “take Parsippany back” is because “we have an exceptional candidate for Mayor. One of the things I love about our candidate is that he treats everyone like brothers and sisters. He’s a union member, so it makes sense he would do that.”

Parsippany Democratic Chairman Matt Clarkin said: “[Michael Soriano] is someone who has served as a mentor to countless youth in his profession and in this Township, myself included. I know that this is the next step for him in a life defined by service to others.”

Former Mayor Mimi Letts, Former Councilman Jonathan Nelson, Morris County Democratic Chairman Chip Robinson and Parsippany Democratic Chairman Matt Clarkin were among the many supporters who came out on this cold, rainy, icy day.

Soriano, 49, was born on a military base in Fort Gordon, Georgia to Ramon and Ada Soriano in 1967. He was raised in Queens, New York. He earned his Associate’s degree in Public Administration from John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

He is also an Eagle Scout.

He moved to Parsippany in 2002 and married Jennifer DeMaio the same year, and has one daughter, Eleanor. He is an Electrician by trade, currently working as a foreman and a member of IBEW Local 3. He also belongs to Veterans of Foreign Wars Community Service Award, Post 536 and Vigil Honor Order of the Arrow.

The primary will be held on Tuesday, June 6. Polls will be open from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

You are eligible to vote if you are a citizen of the United States, are a Morris County resident 30 days before the election. You can register is you are at least 17 years of age, but cannot vote until the age of 18. You can not be incarcerated, on parole or on probation due to a felony conviction.

If you don’t know if you are a registered voter, you can click here to find out.

If you are not a registered voter, you can fill out the application form (click here), and mail a completed form to Morris County Board of Elections, Post Office Box 9000, Morristown, New Jersey 07960. You must register 21 days prior to the election which you wish to vote. Your registration will remain valid, as long as you do not move out of Morris County.

Once you are registered you will receive a ballot in the mail. If you need to find out where you go to vote, click here.

Parsippany Focus has reached out to all candidates that have filed their registrations, asking when and where they are announcing. Parsippany Focus will give equal coverage to all candidates running for office. Any candidate can contact us by sending an email by clicking here.

IPARSIPPANY — Sons of Italy Chapter 2561 will be sponsoring a fundraiser for Par-Troy Wrestling Club.  The fundraiser will be held at Parsippany Volunteer Fire District 5, 180 Old Bloomfield Road on Saturday, February 25 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

A $10.00 donation for adults and $8.00 for children.

Included with the pasta dinner, cooked by the Sons of Italy members, are homemade meatballs, bread, salad and dessert.

There will be door prizes, 50/50 and kids bingo.

Click here to download a form to make reservations for the event. Parsippany-Troy Hills Volunteer Fire District 5 will be donating the space for the event.

Parsippany is such a large town that its children’s wrestling programs are traditionally split into two teams – the Parsippany Redhawks and the Parsippany Hills Vikings. Both had long-established histories, successes, and victories. As strong as both teams functioned separately, coaches, wrestlers, and parents knew that if they joined forces to create one team Parsippany Wrestling would become a major squad.

This became a reality in the spring of 2010. The Par-Troy Wrestling Club was formed with the motto, “One Town. One Team.”

PTWC registers children from grades kindergarten through eighth grade and participates in a number of competitive wrestling leagues. Their function with a full Executive Board and Executive Committee Members. Their major annual fundraiser is a two-day Holiday Tournament with teams gathering from all over. Over the years PTWC boasts successes of all the kids, including:

• New Jersey Kids State Qualifying Wrestlers, Place Winners and Champions
• Participation and Great Success in Numerous Leagues: Grade School, Passaic County, Tri-County, Future Stars, Northwest NJ K-6, North Jersey, Northern NJ Gold and Silver Teams, and King of the Mat
• Place Winners and Champions at Competitive Tournaments
• Bronze Certified Coaches
• Alumni Wrestlers who move on and are highly successful at Parsippany High School, Parsippany Hills High School, and local private programs

The full roster looks forward to more success under the club’s long list of qualified coaches. The 2016-2017 season will include participation of teams in five competitive leagues and local tournaments.

For more information on Par-Troy Wrestling, click here.

PARSIPPANY — The Parsippany law firm Inglesino, Webster, Wyciskala & Taylor has donated $10,000 to Community Access Unlimited (CAU) for general support of the agency’s programs, services and members. This is the second year the firm has made this donation. Partner John Inglesino is Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Attorney. 

Inglesino, Webster, Wyciskala & Taylor is located at 600 Parsippany Road.

Community Access Unlimited (CAU), a statewide nonprofit providing support programs and services to adults with disabilities as well as youth served under the Department of Children and Families (DCF) to enable them to live independently in the community, providing supports in areas including housing, vocational skills and life-skills training, education, advocacy and recreation.

“We support the great things Community Access Unlimited does,” said Lisa Taylor, a partner in the firm. “I don’t think the agency can have a better name. Community Access provides people with disabilities with access to housing, employment, life-skills training, advocacy and more so they can live meaningful lives in the community.”

Inglesino, Webster, Wyciskala & Taylor is a boutique law firm providing legal services in a variety of areas, including litigation, municipal law, real estate, land use and redevelopment, healthcare law, property tax appeals and aviation.

Taylor became familiar with CAU through her work with the Alliance for the Betterment of Citizens with Disabilities, a coalition of provider agencies in the social services sector that works to improve the lives of individuals with multiple physical and developmental disabilities through early intervention, special education, Medicaid, workforce development, support coordination and affordable and accessible housing.

“Community Access is increasingly supporting other nonprofits in the community,” she said. “It’s really about an organization and its people supporting other organizations and people who are doing such great things. The opportunities are unlimited.”

Sid Blanchard, CAU executive director, said the firm’s donation will support the agency’s mission.

“At Community Access Unlimited we believe in community,” he said. “That means enabling people with disabilities to live fully integrated lives in the community, living and working in and contributing to the community, as well as helping other organizations so collectively we build an even healthier community.

“This donation from Inglesino, Webster, Wyciskala & Taylor will go far toward helping us continue to improve the lives of our members through our array of programs and services. We can’t say thank you enough.”

About CAU
Community Access Unlimited (CAU), celebrating its 38th year in 2017, supports people with special needs in achieving real lives in the community. CAU provides support and gives voice to adults and youth who traditionally have little support and no voice in society. CAU helps people with housing, life skills, employment, money management, socialization and civic activities. CAU also supports opportunities for advocacy through training in assertiveness, decision-making and civil right. CAU serves more than 8,000 individuals each year. CAU has previously signed a $2.5 million line of credit with TD Bank and a $2.5 million line of credit with Santander to support the agency’s supports and services. For more information about CAU and its services, contact us by phone at (908) 354-3040, click here for their website or by mail at 80 West Grand Street, Elizabeth, NJ 07202.