PARSIPPANY — Daniel Garcia, a graduate of Parsippany Hills High School Class of 2018, has been accepted for enrollment for the 2023 summer trimester in the Doctor of Chiropractic degree program at Palmer College of Chiropractic’s Main Campus in Davenport, Iowa.
In May 2022, Daniel successfully completed his Bachelor of Science in Biology from Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Palmer College of Chiropractic, the first and largest college in the chiropractic profession, has campuses in Davenport, Iowa; San Jose, California; and Port Orange, Florida.
Reprinted from Parsippany Focus Magazine, January 2024. Click here to read the magazine.
PARSIPPANY — Garden Savings Federal Credit Union announced the certification of two of its team members as financial counselors.
The newly certified counselors are Stephanie Parise, and Leandra Lopes who have completed the CUNA Credit Union Financial Counseling Program offered through the CrossState Credit Union Association.
Stephanie Parise, Branch Manager of Parsippany Branch.
With these two new certified financial counselors, Garden Savings FCU now boasts six certified financial counselors, with at least one available at each branch. This expanded team is well-equipped to offer personalized financial guidance and support to members seeking to gain control of their finances and address challenging financial issues.
Garden Savings Federal Credit Union is located at 129 Littleton Road.
Garden Savings Federal Credit Union is a member of the Parsippany Area Chamber of Commerce.
Reprinted from Parsippany Focus Magazine, January 2024. Click here to read the magazine.
MORRIS COUNTY — Morris County Commissioner Christine Myers was sworn in for a year-long term as director of the seven-member Board of County Commissioners tonight, following swearing-in ceremonies for Commissioner Tayfun Selen and County Clerk Ann F. Grossi.
Commissioner Myers was sworn in as Director of the Board by her nephew, attorney Robert Ferguson III, as the Commissioner’s husband, Stan Gorski, held the bible.
Commissioner Myers was sworn in as Director of the Board by her nephew, attorney Robert Ferguson III, as the Commissioner’s husband, Stan Gorski, held the bible.
“This board is committed again this year to meet with our local leaders and nonprofits to address the challenges and work together on concrete solutions to foster a greater engagement. The timing is right – because we have a unique milestone approaching that offers a phenomenal opportunity for volunteerism and collaboration: the 250th Anniversary of our Independence. It is a chance to re-engage our community, properly honor our national heritage, and boost our tourism and local economy,” said Director Myers.
County Commissioner Shaw is sworn in as deputy director by Sen. Anthony Bucco, as Shaw’s wife, Cindy, holds the bible.
Stephen H. Shaw will serve as deputy director for 2024. The commissioners elect the director and deputy director from among themselves.
Commissioner Shaw, who served as director in 2021, was sworn in as deputy director of the board by Sen. Anthony Bucco, as Shaw’s wife, Cindy, held the bible.
Rounding out the Board of Commissioners are John Krickus, Douglas R. Cabana, Thomas J. Mastrangelo, and Deborah Smith.
Senator Jon Bramnick administered the oath of office as Selen’s wife, Tulin, held the bible.
The meeting opened with the swearing-in of Commissioner Selen, who was reelected in November to his second, three-year term. Senator Jon Bramnick administered the oath of office as Selen’s wife, Tulin, held the bible.
Commissioner Selen
“During my first term as Commissioner, I said I would not disappoint you. For my next term, I will work even harder to make Morris County the best-run county not just in New Jersey, but in the country! It is an honor to serve on this board and from the bottom of my heart, thank you for electing me again and putting your trust in me to do this job,” said Commissioner Selen during his acceptance speech.
County Clerk Grossi is sworn in by Superior Court Judge Louis S. Sceusi. The bible was held by her daughter, Nicole, who was accompanied by her boyfriend, Michael Themistocleous.
County Clerk Grossi, who was re-elected in November to serve her third, five-year term, was sworn in by Superior Court Judge Louis S. Sceusi. The bible was held by her daughter, Nicole, who was accompanied by her boyfriend, Michael Themistocleous.
Morris County Clerk Grossi
The annual Morris County Reorganization Meeting was held in person in the Commissioners’ 5th-floor public meeting room at the Morris County Administration & Records Building.
Returning for the event was the Morris County Sheriff’s Office Joint Honor Guard and Sheriff James M. Gannon conducted the pledge of allegiance. They were joined by a crowd of well-wishers, family, friends, and public officials packing into the meeting room.
The National Anthem was sung by Ella Conroy and Victoria Cooney
The National Anthem was sung by Ella Conroy and Victoria Cooney who are 11th grade students at the Morris County Vocational School. Ella is in the Academy for Design and Victoria is in the Academy for Biotechnology. Culinary students from the vocational school also provided a bevy of snacks and drinks for attendees.
The invocation and benediction were provided by Father Owen Moran, Pastor of St. Vincent Martyr in Madison and Catholic Chaplain for the Morris County Correctional Facility.
The Morris County Board of County Commissioners will hold their next work session and regular meeting on January 10, 2024. The work session begins at 5:00 p.m. and the regular meeting at 7:00 p.m. The meetings will continue to be held in public in the Administration & Records Building.
PARSIPPANY — Jean Etienne, an employee from Performance Ford, was driving a 2018 Ford Escort west on Route 10 when he detected the smell of gasoline. This incident unfolded on Monday, December 26, at 1:52 p.m.
Parsippany-Troy Hills Volunteer Fire Department District 6 swiftly responded to the scene and successfully extinguished the fire.
Upon noticing the odor, he promptly veered off Route 10 and pulled into the Wendy’s parking lot located at 1860 Route 10 West. It was at this point that the vehicle erupted in flames. Parsippany-Troy Hills Volunteer Fire Department District 6 swiftly responded to the scene and successfully extinguished the fire.
The vehicle was owned by Performance Ford of East Hanover, LLC.
Subsequently, Performance Ford arranged for the vehicle’s removal from the property. Parsippany-Troy Hills Police Officer Gregory Lowe and Daniel Sisco were present at the scene to assist.
Performance Ford arranged for the vehicle’s removal from the property.
PARSIPPANY — The Parsippany-Troy Hills Board of Education convened its 2024 Reorganization Meeting on Thursday, January 5.
The incoming members, Timothy Berrios, Andy Choffo, and Wendy Wright, were sworn into office by the Board of Education Attorney, Kathryn Glifillan.
The new members signing the Oath of OfficeAndy Choffo was elected to serve as the Board of Education President
Andy Choffo, a newly elected returning board member, was elected President. In his statement, he expressed his anticipation of collaborative efforts with fellow board members and the administration to ensure a successful 2024.
Susy Golderer was elected to serve as the Board of Education Vice President
Susy Golderer, an incumbent member, was elected as Vice President of the Board.
During the public comments, Frank Neglia, the newly appointed Council Vice President, reiterated the Township’s stance on the recently approved PILOT projects and Justin Musella also spoke.
The reorganization meeting of the Parsippany Board of Education was attended by members of the public
PARSIPPANY — An attempted home and vehicle break-in were captured on a Ring camera, this morning, Friday, January 5 at approximately 4:40 a.m. The suspects attempted from multiple entrances before fleeing.
This occurred in the lower Lake Hiawatha area, in the Vail Road vicinity.
If you see any suspicious activity, don’t hesitate to contact the Parsippany Police Department at (973) 263-4300.
Attempted break-in
Additional Information from Parsippany Police Department
During the early morning hours of January 5th, we had two different attempts to gain entry into residences within our Township. We believe the goal during each burglary attempt was to steal high-end vehicles from their driveways.
At approximately 4:20 a.m., a male attempted to break into a residence on Old Bloomfield Avenue through a front window. The occupants woke up due to the noise created by the suspect at which time they turned on their interior lights and activated the alarm system. The suspect fled the area and the victim immediately called 911.
attempted to break into a residence on Old Bloomfield Avenue
At approximately 4:29 a.m., a male was observed on CCTV footage attempting to gain entry to an Audi parked at a residence on Winfield Drive. When the suspect could not get into the locked vehicle, he attempted to gain entry into the home through the rear door of the house. The suspect fled when the occupants inside the house woke up.
It is believed both incidents involved the same suspect. During the second attempt, the homeowner delayed reporting the incident. The Police Department must be notified as soon as possible so officers can effectively search the area immediately after an incident for suspect(s).
These incidents are currently under investigation and anyone with information is asked to contact (973) 263-4300 and speak with a Detective.
Over the past six months, the Parsippany Council and Administration have put on a master class on how to alienate voters, minimize transparency, and ram through unpopular ordinances. As most readers know, the issue at hand is the use of PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) agreements that give large tax abatements to commercial developers, allowing them to forgo paying the school system portion of the total tax bill. This culminated in a seven-and-a-half hour-long meeting on December 28 with about 700 to 800 residents in attendance at which three PILOT-based ordinances were passed with many residents speaking in opposition and none speaking in favor. Even the Parsippany Board of Education is opposed to the use of PILOTS and was not swayed by any data presented. This was a very messy, opaque, unsatisfactory, and often inflammatory process that enabled the use of many cherry-picked data points and misleading assertions and never produced a clear analysis of the impacts of the PILOTs on taxes. Parsippany needs a better process for dealing with such contentious issues going forward.
Unfortunately, the post-COVID business environment has created a glut of office space nationwide as businesses have found that workers can be effective from home offices. Now that Parsippany has provided four PILOTs (including the 1515 Route 10 building), we can expect many other office-building owners to ask for similar tax reductions as their tenants’ leases expire and every developer will certainly ask for this treatment for new buildings. Retail space owners will also look for relief as their businesses are affected by online competition. Parsippany needs a better process for evaluating PILOTS and more importantly, informing, educating, and dialoguing with residents on the pros and cons of PILOTS or any other tax abatement program. Even though the three PILOT ordinances were passed, there is no better place to start developing such an approach than by conducting a post-mortem analysis of these three agreements and the associated resident communications/education process because there is so much history and so much detailed information available. Who knows, perhaps after such an effort some or most residents might agree with these PILOTs or the effort might convince the mayor and some on the council to stop, significantly modify, or change the criteria for such agreements. In any case, the objective should be to have an agreed-upon process and decision criteria for such assessments in the future.
The town council and mayor must commit to full transparency and good-faith communications. The current information process is not transparent. PILOT agreements are complex with multiple subjective assumptions such as discount rates, children added to the school system, the need for long-term contracts, alternative uses of the properties, etc. The current three PILOT agreements started to take shape over the summer of 2023. However, it was not until only two hours before the meeting on December 28, that the mayor sent out an email with a few cherry-picked, unverifiable data points in a last-minute attempt to sway public perception. During the meeting, residents were shown financial analyses they had never seen before. The data was hard to see, hard to hear, and very hard to evaluate and many asked why this had not been provided previously. Partially true statements from the council, such as the assertion that the schools would be funded because they submit their budget to the town and the town collects the money, could not be discussed.
The current communication process is not conducted in good faith. The council and mayor used tactics such as pushing to get these PILOT ordinances passed before the end of the year, without providing full information to residents. Poor transparency is invariably perceived as acting in bad faith. They changed the normal council agenda to first vote on the ordinances before allowing the general public speaking portion. They scheduled a meeting at 1:00 p.m., making it more difficult for working residents to attend. They used an excuse created by the town lawyer who said there were critical non-PILOT items that needed to be passed before year-end and meeting at 1:00 p.m. was the only way to address all items on the agenda. (If the non-PILOT issues were so critical, why did they not take the PILOT ordinances off the agenda to get the non-PILOT issues passed and move the PILOT ordinances to 2024?) They allowed only 1.5 minutes for comments from each resident. While all these actions may have been aboveboard, they appeared to be in bad faith and created the perception of an ulterior motive involving the council, mayor, developers, and the developers’ attorney. If the Mayor and council thought these PILOTs were such a good deal for taxpayers, they should have communicated better and shown the residents and the School Board the numbers and assumptions to prove it.
Below is a description of a highly transparent, good-faith process for dealing with this issue. It is recommended that the council and mayor adopt these principles. At the end of this process, there should be much more agreement than disagreement among the parties. This should be applied to the recent PILOT agreements to both test the process and explore its benefits.
Provide complete information for stakeholders (residents and school board) at the start of the project and continue to update it as the project progresses.
Start by developing a template that provides detailed, comprehensive information on these programs and includes costs, revenues for each project, and a comprehensive bottom-line analysis of the total impacts on taxes (town and schools) both with and without the PILOT agreements. Show all the pros and cons of the agreement.
Provide this template to the stakeholders, obtain feedback and stakeholder buy-in, and finalize.
Fill in the template for the projects including statements and support for all assumptions such as the number of additional children that would attend Parsippany schools, alternative uses of the properties, etc.
Publicize this information and hold a Q&A session for the stakeholders to address all questions and refine the information based on the answers. This should be done with a flexible time limit on each question to explore it completely and a commitment to provide answers to all reasonable questions. Such a session need not be part of a formal council meeting, as has been done with budget developments.
Demonstrate that the timeframes for decisions are reasonable and address stakeholder concerns.
As new data is developed on any project, the public template must be updated and additional Q&A sessions held, if needed.
The mayor and council must work to address the needs of the school board such that they either support the programs or are neutral. The council cannot expect the public to be in favor of programs the school board finds objectionable.
Finally, the mayor and council must show the same respect for the stakeholders that the council requests in meetings. The mayor and council must recognize that they have complete power and the public’s only recourses are their arguments, letters, and their physical voices and actions. When the council minimizes transparency and takes actions that are perceived as being in bad faith the public feels disrespected and reacts, often with rowdy behavior because they feel that is the only way they can have an effect. When the council tells them to be respectful, the public perceives the council as being, at best, oblivious to the disrespect they have demonstrated towards the public.
PARSIPPANY — The Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Council has scheduled a meeting for Tuesday, January 16th, at 7:00 p.m. The meeting will occur in the Council Chambers, located at 1001 Parsippany Boulevard within the Parsippany Municipal Building.
Formal action may or may not be taken.
Any individual who is a qualified disabled person under the Americans with Disabilities Act may request auxiliary aids such as a sign interpreter or a tape recorder to be used for the meeting. Auxiliary aids must be requested at least 72 hours before the meeting date. Please call (973) 263-4351 to request an auxiliary aid.
Mayor James Barberio Council President Paul Carifi, Jr. Council Vice President Frank Neglia Councilman Justin Musella Councilman Matt McGrath Councilwoman Judy Hernandez
PARSIPPANY — The Par-Troy West Little League (“PTWLL”)Spring Baseball/Softball season registration is now available.
Little League International specifies the age cutoffs for Baseball and Softball annually.
Softball ages are determined as of December 31 of the year before the Spring season in which they will be playing. For example, in 2024, the age is as of December 31, 2023. Baseball ages are determined as of August 31 of the year in which they are playing. For example, in 2024, the age is as of August 31, 2023.
Children in the league are not placed in divisions based on grade level.
Click here for the registration link, and to download the updated 2024 flyer click here.
Par-Troy West Little League is a non-profit IRS 501.C.3 organization, established in 1952. The league is run by a Board of Directors, all of whom are volunteers. PTWLL receives no outside local, state, or federal financial aid to operate our program. All funds are received through donations, fundraisers, sponsors, and registration fees. All funds are used to maintain our fields and to pay for all services, insurance, utilities, equipment, and uniforms.
PTWLL is in full compliance with all Little League Rules and Regulations. They have an approved charter that is approved regularly for every season by Little League Headquarters. Their approved By-Laws, which are quite similar to approved By-Laws of the past and those of other Little League organizations, have been approved by Little League International Headquarters in Williamsport, PA.
PARSIPPANY — The Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills has implemented additional government management software solutions into their municipal offices throughout 2023 to automate processes, digitally manage data, and engage citizens via the cloud with GovPilot – the Operating System for Local Governments.
In collaboration with GovPilot, a government management software provider based in New Jersey, this municipality of Morris County, expanded a partnership that will allow the local government to access new, modern, software solutions across the municipality.
This partnership aims to provide both citizens and government officials with simplified access to data and information that will save valuable time and resources across the board. GovPilot’s customer success rates and stellar reviews set this government management software provider apart from all others, streamlining the implementation of new software solution deployments efficiently and successfully for Parsippany Township.
Parsippany added the following solutions to expand their GovPilot partnership: •Retail Food License Module •Retail Food Inspection Module •Public Recreational Bathing Module •Summer Camp Permit Module •Health Licensing Module •Temporary Food License Module •Septic Permit Module •Miscellaneous Health Records Module
All additional software solutions deployed by Parsippany will continue to simplify and digitize once manual, paper-based government processes, allowing for government workers to dedicate their valuable time to more pressing municipal tasks, and saving constituents the hassle of traveling to city hall in person.
