Candidates Martin and Desai Oppose the Recent Tax Increase and Demand New Leadership In Parsippany

PARSIPPANY — Gary Martin and Danny Desai, prominent community leaders and responsible budget advocates, express their deep concern and disappointment with the recent tax increase voted down by Parsippany council members on Tuesday evening. They are calling for a change in leadership that puts the interests of the taxpayers first.

Gary Martin said, “The decision to impose this tax increase on our hard-working community members is unacceptable. It burdens taxpayers without adequate justification or consideration for their financial well-being. We must hold our elected representatives accountable for their actions and demand transparency.”

Danny Desai echoed this sentiment saying, “As representatives, it is our duty to seek solutions to reduce the burden on our taxpayers actively. This budget fails to reflect responsible budgeting and genuine concern for the welfare of our citizens. We need new leadership that puts fiscal responsibility and our communities first.”

Martin and Desai stressed that this budget if given a chance. They are committed to working tirelessly to ensure the taxpayer’s financial well-being and proactively explore new ways to meet the community’s needs without imposing unnecessary financial pressures.

Martin and Desai are pressing Paul Carifi and council members to explain the reasoning behind their vote and provide a transparent account of their decision-making process.

DeCroce Comeback Runs Out of Gas Ahead of Election

MORRIS COUNTY — The Assembly campaign of BettyLou DeCroce and Robert Peluso has hit rock bottom. With a collective $6,700 on hand, the two face a staggering $60,000 in debt.

What began as a desperate attempt to restore DeCroce’s shattered ego after losing the 2021 Republican primary has developed into a colossal mess that some party leaders think is unnecessarily draining resources.

“BettyLou and Rob knew they had no chance, but they still tried to tear apart the party for their own ambitions,” said Bergen (R-Morris). “It’s sad.”

Bergen said that DeCroce was one of the most liberal Republicans in Trenton.

After being rejected by the voters two years ago, she went to work for the most progressive Morris County Democrats in Dover as the business administrator. In that position, she rakes in a staggering salary of $223,000 annually.

Peluso, an unemployed perennial candidate, has two other active campaign accounts, one to run for county commissioner next year and another for mayor of Parsippany in two years.

According to Bergen, despite his recurrent defeats, Peluso seeks to capture whatever position possible.

“June 6th can’t come soon enough,” concluded Bergen.  “Once we say goodbye to BettyLou and Rob, it’s time to get to the real work putting all our resources into getting a Republican majority in New Jersey.”

MCPO & Morris County Chapter of the NAACP Hold Semi-Annual Summit

MORRIS COUNTY — Morris County Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll, First Assistant Prosecutor Maggie Calderwood, Chief of Detectives Robert McNally, Sheriff James Gannon, and other investigative members of the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office, along with Lt. Joseph Waters of the Division of Criminal Justice, joined executive members of the Morris County Chapter of the NAACP for their semi-annual summit on Tuesday, May 16.

Participating for the Morris County NAACP Chapter was First VP Ottawanna Anderson, NAACP Branch 2092B President Vanessa Brown, Public Relations Committee Chair Athena Johnson, Chair of Legal Redress Robert Warrington, Esq, and Morris County Correctional Facility Chaplain and Chairman/Criminal Justice for the Morris County NAACP Rev. Herman Scott.

These meetings are part of a continuing effort to build community rapport and maintain an open dialogue on progressive law enforcement matters and the criminal justice system.  During the meeting, a PowerPoint explaining the internal functions of the MCPO was presented, and questions regarding changes in the various criminal laws and criminal procedures were responded to.

Prosecutor Carroll and Sheriff Gannon jointly stated: “In our ongoing reach out to community leadership, these substantive meetings enable our ability to provide important information about the many advancements and changes in the criminal justice system and to answer questions from the NAACP leadership.  We look forward to providing additional information to continue this mutually beneficial exchange of thoughts and ideas on improving community communication and building lasting relationships.”

Last November, NAACP executive members joined the administration of the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office and Morris County Sheriff’s Office for a tour of the Morris County Correctional Facility.

 

Vrajdham Temple Holds Its 3rd Annual Parsippany Rath Yatra

PARSIPPANY — Rath Yatra, or the festival of chariots, was held on Saturday, May 13.

The festival was put together with the partnership of Vrajdham Temple and ISKCON of Parsippany to create an event that would live in the memories of all who witnessed it.

Rath Yatra is a journey where Lord Jagannath and His siblings, a form of the popular Hindu deity Krishna, sit in a chariot and travel from one temple to another. The Rath Yatra had first been celebrated in Puri, a town in India that has been a beautiful tradition carried on for hundreds of years, and now a town in America blessed with an amazing community and the opportunity to do so.

Mayor James R. Barberio welcomed the chariot with Hindu traditions.

Attendances were Mayor James R. Barberio and other community leaders. It was a beautiful and colorful event, with people from all over New Jersey and the tri-state area coming together to view the Deity and pull His chariot. Vraj and ISKCON devotees pulled the chariot to the sound of kirtan, the recitation of the holy name of Krishna, and booming cheers from the devotees as they paraded Lord Krishna through His town.

The festival culminated in a cultural program at ISKCON’s new Parsippany temple! Have a glimpse of the festival through photos in the article!

All of Parsippany is welcome as Krishna and His Rath (chariot) arrive once more next year for everyone to see and enjoy! 

Vrajdham Temple is located at 120 Littleton Road.

Founder Guru of Vrajdham is seated on the chariot.
Lord Jagannath in the chariot

Justin Meeh Plans for The Next Chapter

PARSIPPANY — Over 1,200 students received degrees from East Stroudsburg University during three commencement exercises on May 5 and May 6. Many will begin the next step in their life’s journey by attending graduate or professional school or starting a new career.

Meet just a few students, including Justin Meeh of Parsippany, who take their Warrior Spirit with them as they embark on their next chapter.

Justin Meeh is preparing for the next chapter of their life with exciting plans and aspirations.

Meeh, a computer security major, received a job offer from Picatinny Arsenal for government cyber security.

Victor Cruz, a graduate student in exercise science from Westfield, was hired by the Tampa Bay Rays, the major league baseball team, as a strength and conditioning coach.

Alexa Ferris, a graduate student studying athletic training from Suffern, N.Y., smoothly transitioned from ESU’s undergraduate to graduate program. Before graduating this May, she passed the Board of Certification exam on her first attempt and was hired as an athletic trainer at St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkill, N.Y.

Three biology graduates with a pre-physician assistant concentration were accepted to graduate programs in physician assistant studies. Ingrid Hahn, from Mount Bethel, Pa., will attend St. Catherine University in Minnesota, and Megan Nyce, from Catasauqua, Pa., and Zowey Danubio, from Mount Bethel, Pa., will attend Marywood University in Pennsylvania.

Four hospitality, recreation, and tourism management students will begin their careers with Marriott Voyage Global Leadership Development Program. Paige Amrein, of Newtown, Pa., was hired as a front desk voyager at Westin Newport in Jersey City; Michael Cuozzo, of Fairfield, N.J., was hired as a rooms control voyager at the Marriott Marquis in New York City; Tyler Rhodes, of Laurel, Md., was hired as a food and beverage voyager at Fairfield Marriott at the Baltimore/Washington International Airport in Md. Keisha Hopkins, of Philadelphia, Pa., was hired as an event planning voyager in a corporate office of Marriot International in Seattle, Washington.

Three students who majored in social work were accepted as advanced, standing in Master of Social Work programs. Araceli Dunn, from East Stroudsburg, Pa., will attend Kutztown University; Ebony Galbreath, from Long Pond, Pa., will attend PennWest University; and Annalee Smith, from Hackettstown, N.J., will attend Rutgers University.

Jasmine Aue, a middle-level education major from Jim Thorpe, Pa., was hired full-time by the East Stroudsburg School District.

Jenna Johnson, a biology major from Brookhaven, Pa., will continue her education at ESU in the master’s of biology program.

Peter Kaires, an environmental studies major from Dingmans Ferry, Pa., accepted employment at Environmental Consultation Services (ECSi) in N.J.

Annelise Knauf, a history major from Stroudsburg, Pa., was accepted as an intern in the history department at the Smithsonian Institution.

Savannah Kohler, a psychology major from West Grove, Pa., was accepted into the master’s program in applied behavior analysis at Pepperdine University.

Johnathan Makar, a mathematics major from Oxford, Pa., was accepted to graduate school at West Chester University to study applied math.

Aaron Palm, a physics major from East Stroudsburg, Pa., was accepted to graduate school at Wilkes University to study mechanical engineering.

Arianna Weaver, a mathematics major with a concentration in secondary education from Effort, Pa., will be teaching at Pleasant Valley Middle School this fall.

For a full list of ESU’s 2023 graduates, click here.

East Stroudsburg University, a Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education member, opened in 1893 as East Stroudsburg Normal School. Today, ESU is a comprehensive university in northeastern Pennsylvania offering 58 undergraduate programs, 21 master’s programs, and two doctoral programs. Over 5,000 students are enrolled for the high-quality, affordable, and accessible education ESU provides. Nearly 31,000 ESU alumni live in Pennsylvania.

Council Vice President Michael dePierro Speaks Out Regarding Musella Proposed Budget Cuts

PARSIPPANY — Longtime Parsippany-Troy Hills Council Vice President, Michael dePierro, submitted a statement regarding Councilman Justin Musella’s proposal to reduce certain items from the 2023 Municipal Budget.

“In his desire to cut $2 million from the Township Budget, Councilman Musella
seemed to be more interested in negotiating with the public rather than with
the administration. While other Council members were successfully reducing
the Mayors proposed budget from over 5% to 3.76% (overall Tax Rate of 2.57%)
by working with our Auditor Valerie Dolan; our CFO Leonard Ho; our Business
Administrator Jamie Cryan and, Mayor Barberio, Councilman Musella was using
public meetings as a show-and-tell.

Councilman Musella showed little understanding or concern for the devastating
results of his proposed cuts, even though they were explained many times.
Some of his proposed cuts would have affected the Township’s Bond Rating
resulting in higher interest rates on all future Capital Expenditures.
His proposal to cut the Township Bus would have left many Senior Citizens
stranded.

His proposal to cut all vacancies would have left all Departments seriously and
permanently short-handed. Most of those vacancies resulted from the
prior Mayor’s four-year hiring freeze. Councilman Musella’s claim that those
positions were unnecessary is wrong.

His concern about the employee’s 2% salary increase ignored the fact that current
cost of living is far higher than that.

Our responsibility as Mayor and Council is to find a balance between Quality of
life, Services, Safety, and Taxes. To only concentrate on taxes is short-sighted
and irresponsible.

Par-Troy Little League East Opening Day

PARSIPPANY — The Par-Troy Little League East celebrated its opening day, with President Chris Mazzarella introducing all the teams. Mazzarella expressed his excitement about the newly installed scoreboard on DeLio Field, which was made possible through a generous donation from “Parsippany Supporting Our Town.”

Par-Troy Little League East is a place where kids and families can go to have fun, watch, and play baseball or softball while building relationships that will last a lifetime. It’s not just about playing ball, and it’s about teamwork and making friends along the way.

Volunteers maintain and operate the complex, home to five fantastic fields. Our top-rated and highly praised concession stand is the perfect place to grab lunch or dinner before, during, and after your games. The Stand is so good that we won’t be surprised to see you there even when you don’t have a game and want to hang out. 

 

Kiwanis Club Installs New Members

PARSIPPANY — New members joining community organizations like the Kiwanis Club is always nice. The Kiwanis Club of Greater Parsippany does great work in the community, so I’m sure Cassara Grasso and Shaun Astorga will make valuable contributions as new members. And it’s always wonderful to see existing members like Justin Musella sponsoring new members and helping to grow the organization.

Lt. Governor Frank Cahill said, “Kiwanis is something so good that each of us loves to share it. What better way to show our love for our club and community than to welcome a new member? Today we’re very pleased to welcome Cassara and Shaun to our club. We welcome Cassara and Shaun to our global organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world, one child, and one community at a time.

For more information on the Kiwanis Club of Greater Parsippany, click here.

Parsippany Budget with 2.57% Tax Hike Passes; Musella Lone No Vote

PARSIPPANY — On Tuesday, May 18, Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Council passed the 2023 Budget with a 4-1 Vote; Musella was the lone dissenter.

Councilman Paul Carifi, Jr.

“The overall increase is 2.57%, and the municipal tax rate increase is 3.76%. That’s a $100.00 annual municipal impact on the average home or $8.33 monthly. We are putting forward a responsible balance budget that provides the services our community deserves,” said Councilman Paul Carifi, Jr.

Mayor James Barberio said, “The budget process started last year with individual meetings with the department heads. We have answered questions from public members and, on multiple occasions, met with less informed council members to help them understand the process. We have taken every suggestion seriously and reviewed each with the finance team auditors and department heads. We considered all possible suggestions and clarified why it was not possible. The important part to remember is that this budget is built on a strong financial foundation that proves we meet our responsibilities to serve our residents today while preparing for the future.”

“This budget does not kick the can down the road as some have done in the past like some would want us to do. Most importantly, this budget does not play politics with people’s lives. Along with the council president of Loretta Gragnani, we met with Councilman Justin Musella on two occasions. We did our best to help him understand how we see the budget. After consulting with our BA (Jamie Cryan) and our CFO (Len Ho), auditors, and pertinent department heads, it was clear that the proposed cuts were unrealistic and would harm our town. Although Justin and I disagree, I respect his opinion on the budget. I aim to ensure we provide a fiscally responsible budget for today and for years to come,” he said.

Councilman Frank Neglia responded, “When the Finance Committee met in March, the budget increase was 5.1%.  We found this to be unacceptable.  Through hard work from the Administration and Mayor, it was reduced to 2.57%.  That is significant.  Any further cuts would impede services and hurt the town significantly.  It is a sound budget.

Mike Polsinelli, Business Agent at IBEW Local 102

Mike Polsinelli, Business Agent at IBEW Local 102, stated, “I’ve been working in Parsippany for close to 45 years. I’ve dealt with every mayor and council person in 45 years. I think the budget is solid. Our office is right here in Parsippany. I work on this stuff. I’m not a CFO, and I’m not a financial guy. Our company is worth over a billion dollars. So I do know a little bit about funds. Nobody wants anything to be raised. Understood. But if you want your town to operate, which everybody here wants it to operate, they cut things. Everybody was issued the budget. Everybody had a chance to review the budget. When Justin says he wants to know where the tax cuts are, I guess he didn’t read the budget. He doesn’t even pay taxes in this town. Most of us are homeowners. He doesn’t pay taxes in this town. He rents an apartment. So he wants to get behind this big paper bag curtain and be a hero to say, I’m gonna save the town a million dollars. The people behind him better wake up because he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

Musella fired back at Polsinelli, “Renters do pay taxes. It’s included in the leases. And I think you know that as a smart business person. When you pay a lease, it includes the taxes that are on the property. Thank you for bringing that up. Secondly, we’re talking about alternatives, and that’s what we’re here to do. My sole job is to develop solutions and policies that will improve the overall quality of life in town. Putting new eyes onto this budget reveals that we can make edits related to the vacant positions. And it’s not my goal to tax you, your business, and everybody else in here a dollar more than they need to be taxed. And when we allocate money for people who aren’t showing up to work, how could services be impacted?”

Parsippany resident Hank Heller

Resident Hank Heller said, “I’m really upset that we have people who come in here, and they may do business here, but I think that it’s important that we all express ourselves with respect toward each other. And I think the process we have gone through here in Parsippany over these past few months has been outstanding. I was very, very strongly and still am against the PLAs. You know that because I spoke to you about it. I let you know what I feel. You voted to do something else, and I respect that, and I walked away from the problem. But I’m very offended that people are coming here tonight. And point out that Mr. Musella or Mr. Carifi have not done the right thing when I think what has been done here is the most right thing I’ve seen in many years. Instead, I see many people here that I’ve seen, some of whom I’ve seen in the past, at other meetings at the Parsippany Hills High School. I was very resentful when we had many people from the unions who didn’t live in town to come and put pressure on what was happening. I know that many people did not come. Many people would not speak because they are intimidated. I am not intimidated and don’t want our government to be intimidated. And I wanted everybody to know that what we’ve done here has been right. Yes, Mr. Musella has asked hard questions, and you’ve given him hard answers. And I think that’s to be respected. But I don’t think we should be pushed around by anyone. Or anybody who comes along with busloads of people.”

Councilman Justin Musella said, “Based on my experience on Council, it is beyond obvious that these union members are nothing more than weapons in the Mayor’s political game to intimidate residents and suppress public comment at public meetings and hearings. I have noticed that union members suddenly appear to support the Mayor on an issue if he faces strong opposition from the community. This was blatantly evident during the PLA mandate ordinance and last night’s Town Council meeting on the budget and tax hike. I call on my colleagues to advocate for our residents and join me in a call to end this unacceptable manipulation that has no place in our community.”

Parsippany-Troy Hills Council Vice President Michael dePierro

Councilman Michael dePierro said, “We need to provide the increase for employees at 2%. It’s way below the cost of living. To meet all of our requirements, there’s a compromise. We did compromise on this budget. We did cut it from 5%. It’s the best budget we could come up with at this point in time. Everything else has gone up. Benefits have gone up. Gas has gone up. The price of materials has gone up. And for us to have just a two-and-a-half percent increase to the homeowners is as prudent as we could be at this point in time.”

Councilman Paul Carifi said, “I want to start off with Mr. Musella. I have all the respect in the world for him. You know, there’s gonna be things we disagree on. I made cuts. He wants further cuts. I’m listening to the professionals: The auditor, CFO, and BA, and they say we cannot go any lower. Or we’re going to have to eliminate services. The residents in our town count on it. Some of the cuts you had thrown out were $200,000 for Parks and Forestry. Another thing that you brought up was to cut $20,000 from the Office of Emergency Management (OEM). I spent over 25 years in law enforcement. The OEM deals with emergencies and public safety in the town. You can’t cut $20,000 from that when we have an emergency. You won’t have resources for these people to handle this. God forbid something happens here.”

“You wanted to cut $100,000 from legal. We have four contracts coming up. So there will be extra-legal things, and we also have other potential litigation pending for which we may need money.  You brought up cutting $90,000 from the Summer Concerts and the Farmer’s Market. I’ve always done my research and talked to residents, and our residents want the services. We’ve invested $30,000 in this budget for Economic Development, which is important—a $30,000 investment. We bring in businesses and work with the existing businesses. If Economic Development can bring more businesses into our town, that’s more revenue. These are wise investments.

Parsippany-Troy Hills Councilman Justin Musella

We wouldn’t be able to provide the services that we do that our residents enjoy. I’m sure for $8.33 cents per month. You want to keep your parks open on the weekend. You want to maintain your garbage pickup twice a week. You want to have the public safety in this town. We went down to 81 deployable police officers, down 20 plus officers. We can’t have that. We had residents coming up telling us four or five months ago. I’ll pay more. I want the police. Burglaries are up; car thefts are up. We, we can’t do it. I’m relying on our experts,” Carifi said.

Councilman Justin Musella stated before voting no on the budget, “The Mayor and I ran our campaign on a promise to end the practice of overburdening taxpayers with large tax increases. It was unacceptable for the previous administration to raise taxes at these levels with no thought on the impact it would have. It is also unacceptable for this administration to do the same. I presented a specific plan to make the budget more acceptable and bring back fiscal responsibility to our township, but this fell on deaf ears. I worked hard to find a compromise with the Mayor, and I was disappointed no aspects of my proposal were entertained. I voted no on last year’s budget as it was out of touch and unreasonable, and I’ll vote no on this budget for the exact same reason. Taxpayers need to see budgetary restraint and leadership, now more than ever. I hope my colleagues on the council join me in voting no on this budget and supporting my call for serious consideration of further cuts.”

Following the 4-1 adoption of the budget, Mayor James Barberio is seen leaning over to speak with Councilman Justin Musella.

Local Athletes Shine at NJAC Championships

PARSIPPANY — Congratulations to Anya Sadowski for placing 2nd and Leann Lombardi for placing 5th in the 100m high hurdles at the NJAC championships! Your hard work and dedication have paid off, and we are proud to have such talented athletes representing our community.