Parsippany Town Hall Council Regular Meeting, 04/17/2018 – Part 1. This meeting was filmed in two parts. Here is part two:
CCM’s Student Run Newspaper Garners Seven Awards
RANDOLPH — The Youngtown Edition, County College of Morris’ (CCM) award-winning student run newspaper, recently added seven more awards to its long list of accolades from the New Jersey Collegiate Press Association (NJCPA), this time for the 2017-2018 academic year.
Competing in the two-year college category, the newspaper won top honors in news writing, editorial writing, enterprise investigative reporting, layout and design and third place in photography and overall website. On April 14, at the NJCPA’s awards luncheon held at the Courtyard Marriott in Jamesburg, The Youngtown Edition received second place in General Excellence for the third consecutive year.
Formed in 1952, the NJCPA’s mission is to advance the prestige and integrity of NJ college newspapers. NJCPA is the charitable arm of the New Jersey Press Association.
Youngtown advisor and CCM adjunct professor Russ Crespolini, who is also the editor of The Progress newspaper, is proud of the student journalists for their hard work, due diligence in reporting and their dedication in producing a bi-weekly campus newspaper.
Crespolini respects the judgement of the NJCPA stating that the association members are an incredibly dedicated and talented group of journalists who take their craft very seriously.
“To be acknowledged by them is a big validation to these students. Their work, I feel, speaks for itself, but it is nice to be acknowledged by those whose job it is set the industry standard. It echoes the compliments from the campus community and local officials the staff received this past year.”
The 2017-2018 awards received were as follows:
First Place – News Writing for “Student Government Shutdown: ‘Petty’ disagreements, ‘dysfunction’ and misconduct allegations see group disbanded,” published April 26, 2017– Beth Peter of Califon, Jannat Sheikh of Hopatcong, Moe Rahmatullah of Parsippany
First Place – Editorial Writing for “Support proposed New Voices of New Jersey legislation,” published April 26, 2017 – Brett Friedensohn of Morris Plains
First Place – Enterprise / Investigative Reporting for Youngtown’s fire safety certificates investigative series published in October and November of 2017 – Brett Friedensohn, Jannat Sheikh
First Place – Layout and Design for the Halloween issue published October 25, 2017 – Staff of The Youngtown Edition
Second Place – General Excellence – Staff of The Youngtown Edition
Third Place – Photography for Youngtown arts section in the Wednesday, November 8 issue – Arianna Parks of Bedminster
Third Place – Overall Website for work on youngtownedition.wordpress.com – Alexa Wyszkowski of Rockaway, Marisa Goglia of Madison
“These newswriting awards are not easy ones to get,” Crespolini said. “We had some stiff competition. But we challenged ourselves there and with our design this year so those were standout awards for me.”
The Youngtown Edition is produced completely by the students at The County College of Morris with the assistance of a faculty advisor and technical advisor. The students decide on the content and no experience is required to get involved.
“That is one of the things I love about Youngtown. Every semester is different. We have new faces who come in with new ideas and interests and that informs what ends up in our pages and what awards we end up being recognized for,” Crespolini said. “Some of our members take what they learn in Professor (John) Soltes classes and expand on it with us but many come to use with no experience. They just have an interest in writing or photography or graphic design.”
According to Crespolini, another benefit of Youngtown is immediate clips and marketable skills.
“I’ve personally hired multiple students directly from the Youngtown for full time and part time and freelance work,” Crespolini said. “And some of them have used their work samples for internships and to get jobs other places as well.”
Crespolini said there are always openings at the paper, and anyone interested can email by clicking here.
The Youngtown Edition can be found on the CCM website by clicking here.
Mount Tabor Tag Sale – Attic Treasures & Trinkets
PARSIPPANY — Mount Tabor Tag Sale – Attic Treasures & Trinkets will be held on Friday, April 27, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; Saturday, April 28, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; and Sunday, April 29, 12:00 Noon to 4:00 p.m. at the Bethel in Mount Tabor.
Members of the Society have made donations to the sale, which will include unusual and interesting items; something for everyone.
After the sale, feel free to take a walk in Trinity Park, circled by the oldest Victorian houses in Mount Tabor. For information call (973) 714-7344.
Directions: Turn off Route 53 onto Dickerson Road or St John’s Avenue and follow the signs. Park at the Mt. Tabor post office at 26 Simpson Avenue. Proceeds help the Mount Tabor Historical Society support its Richardson History House and to fund programs concerning the importance of preserving the historic community.
Parsippany Elks purchases $2,000 in trees for Parsippany
PARSIPPANY — Parsippany-Troy Hills Elks Lodge #2078 purchased $2,000 in trees using a Beacon Grant from the Elks National Foundation.
The trees will be planted by Elks members on Parsippany-Troy Hills Township owned properties. This is the second year the Parsippany-Troy Hills Elks received this grant. The guidelines of the grant calls for the members to apply and use the grant for the same purpose each year.
Pictured above are Joe Serrechia, Michael Markoski, Scott Burns, Walter Rusin, Eric Bisah, Parsippany-Troy Hills Parks and Forestry Superintendent James Walsh, Cerbo’s Owner Tony Cerbo, Ceil Cerbo, Cindy Cooper, Mayor Michael Soriano, Sean Rice, Edward Rice, Doug Moroz and Tyler Cerbo.
Cerbo’s Parsippany Greenhouses is located at 440 Littleton Road, and is a long-running nursery carrying seasonal flowers, trees and shrubs, plus soil and landscaping products.
For more information on Cerbo’s Parsippany Greenhouses, click here.
Parsippany Elks BPO Lodge is located at 230 Parsippany Road. For more information click here.
Students participate in Knollwood PTA Car Wash
PARSIPPANY — Fourth Grade students participated in Knollwood School PTA Car Wash on Saturday, April 21.
The students charged $5.00 per car for a sparkling clean job!
Starbucks sponsoring “Coffee With a Cop”
PARSIPPANY — Starbucks is sponsoring the Parsippany-Troy Hills Police Department’s Fourth Coffee with a Cop event.
The event will be held on Wednesday, May 9 at 1429 Route 46 between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m.
The mission of “Coffee with a Cop” is to break down the barriers between police officers and the citizens they serve.
Please stop by and meet your local police officers, ask questions, and enjoy some coffee.
Volunteers Clean Up Troy Meadows
PARSIPPANY — A number of volunteers were removing debris scattered throughout Troy Meadows during Earth Day weekend.
Troy Meadows is a remnant of the last glacier, a part of ancient Lake Passaic. A huge mass of ice broke off the glacier and rested here, enclosed in a thick layer of glacial debris. As the ice melted and settled, a depression formed, lined with the sediments deposited by the glacier. At one time the meadows were part of a vast lake of glacial melt water that drained through the Great Falls of Paterson. Gradually, the water level dropped and marsh plants invaded the area.
ADP gives back to the community
PARSIPPANY — A $2,000 donation was presented by ADP to each the following Parsippany organizations at the Township Council meeting held on Tuesday, April 17.
· Parsippany-Troy Hills Free Public Library
· Parsippany Police Athletic League
· Police Benevolent Association Local 131
· Parsippany-Troy Hills Fire Association
· Parsippany Ambulance Squad
A total of $10,000 was donated by ADP to local organizations.
The presentation was given by David White, Division Vice President, Tools and Technology for ADP’s Global Business Solution.
The headquarters for its Major Accounts Division – which supports companies with 50-999 employees – is located right across from Parsippany Town Hall at One Waterview Boulevard. ADP’s other key location at 99 Jefferson Road houses over 1,000 associates and is considered one of ADP’s largest service and implementation centers on the East Coast. ADP has four campuses within ten miles of each other, two located in Parsippany and 150 associates that live in Parsippany.
David has been attending and giving back to the community for the fifth consecutive year. David shared one of ADP’s core values of giving back to the communities where we work and live. ADP is the largest Human Capital Management provider in the world and is proud to have two major sites located in Parsippany.
White indicated that ADP’s CEO and President Carlos Rodriguez has always been a big advocate of giving back to communities, and has made it part of the ADP culture. One way that he demonstrates this is by giving each full time ADP associate eight hours of paid volunteer time per year, to be used in the form of volunteer work or community service to make the world a better place to live and work.
Judge rules County Committee Candidates can run with bad advice
MORRIS COUNTY — Passaic County Superior Court Judge Ernest Caposela has ruled that the Morris County practice of allowing political parties to decide how many signatures are needed to run for county committee is illegal, but will allow candidates to run this year, since fault for the deficiencies with their petitions were caused by bad advice from the Morris County Clerk’s office.
The ruling made by Passaic County Superior Court Judge Ernest Caposela is a blow to a long-standing Morris County practice of allowing political parties to set the number of signatures needed to appear on the ballot as a candidate for county committee.
Since 1994, the Morris County clerk has allowed Republican candidates for county committee to appear on the ballot with five signatures, while requiring one for Democratic candidates.
The county committees voted to have candidates require their respective number of signatures in 1994, and the county clerk’s office has abided by those decisions ever since. On December 8, 2017, Laura Roberts, the elections manager at the Morris County Clerk’s office, sent a memo advising local clerks in the county of the now-illegal policy.
In his ruling, Caposela said that Morris County Clerk Ann Grossi “administered a memorandum that runs counter to the relevant state statutes.”
“The error was not the fault of the prospective candidates,” Caposela ruled in his opinion.
Democrats have not won a race for Morris County Clerk since before the Civil War, but a judge’s ruling yesterday that Ann Grossi did not understand state election law has now become an issue in her bid for re-election to a second term this fall.
Chatham attorney Shala Gagliardi, the Democratic candidate for county clerk, is criticizing Grossi for her decision to follow the instructions of a former Morris County Republican Chairman on county committee petitions rather than obey the easy-to-understand statute that twenty other counties use.
“Ensuring the integrity of our election process is one of the most important duties of the County Clerk. The people of Morris County trusted our clerk to be an effective steward of our elections,” said Gagliardi.
Grossi’s mistake has already brought back a statement she made while seeking a pay raise that she is “overqualified to run” the county clerk’s office because she is an attorney.
“The people of Morris County should be concerned about the fact that a clear state statute governing our elections has been ignored under Clerk Grossi’s watch,” Gagliardi said. “This raises questions about whether any other election laws have also been neglected or overlooked.”
Laura Roberts, Elections Manager, Morris County Clerk’s Office, sent the following email to all municipal clerks, including Parsippany’s Municipal Clerk, Khaled Madin. Parsippany has 39 voting districts, each one allowing a male and female candidate. Based on a male and a female in each district that would make a maximum of 78 Republican candidates and a maximum of 78 Democrat candidates. Most of the candidates were advised that Republicans needed only five signatures each on their ballots, while Democrats only need one signature each on their ballot.
In submitting the petitions to the Township Clerk most candidates followed the advice of Laura Roberts obtaining only five signatures for Republicans and one signature for Democrats, thus not qualifying under state statute as a candidate for the county committee.
Parsippany residents will be voting for members of the county committee in the June primary.
Allison Davanzo Inducted into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi
PARSIPPANY — Allison Davanzo, a 2016 graduate of Parsippany High School, was recently initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor society. Davanzo is pursuing a degree in Public Health at The College of New Jersey.
Davanzo is among approximately 30,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni to be initiated into Phi Kappa Phi each year. Membership is by invitation only and requires nomination and approval by a chapter. Only the top 10 percent of seniors and 7.5 percent of juniors are eligible for membership. Graduate students in the top 10 percent of the number of candidates for graduate degrees may also qualify, as do faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction.
Phi Kappa Phi was founded in 1897 under the leadership of Marcus L. Urann who had a desire to create a different kind of honor society: one that recognized excellence in all academic disciplines. Today, the Society has chapters on more than 300 campuses in the United States and the Philippines. Its mission is “To recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others.”
Since its founding, 1.5 million members have been initiated into Phi Kappa Phi. Some of the organization’s notable members include former President Jimmy Carter, NASA astronaut Wendy Lawrence, novelist John Grisham and YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley. Each biennium, Phi Kappa Phi awards $1.4 million to qualifying students and members through graduate fellowships, undergraduate study abroad grants, member and chapter awards, and grants for local, national and international literacy initiatives. For more information about Phi Kappa Phi click here.