PARSIPPANY — Recently, Republican candidates gathered at Morris County Republican Club to start canvassing the town to get their message out to voters.

At the meeting, Parsippany-Troy Hills Council candidates included Matt McGrath, Adam Kandil, and Paul Carifi, Jr.,

As the primary election on June 6th approaches, you will likely notice increased political campaigning in Parsippany. This includes frequent candidate appearances, an uptick in political signage throughout the town, and a higher volume of campaign literature, such as mailers, distributed to residents via mail and door-to-door.

Political campaigning often involves various strategies, such as door-to-door canvassing, phone banking, social media outreach, and advertising, to persuade voters to support a particular candidate or party. Ultimately, the success of a political campaign depends on various factors, including the candidate’s platform, messaging, and the effectiveness of their campaign strategies.

It appears that several elected officials also attended the Saturday morning gathering. Assemblyman Brian Bergen, Jay Webber, Senator Joe Pennachio, and Morris County Clerk Ann Grossi. It is common for political figures to attend these types of gatherings to show support for their party and fellow candidates, as well as to engage with voters and discuss important issues in the community.

Senator Joe Pennachio will be challenged by Thomas Mastrangelo; Assemblyman Jay Webber and Brian Beregn are being challenged by Robert Peluso and BettyLou deCroce. Morris County Clerk Ann Grossi is not being challenged in the primary. Morris County Commissioner Tayfun Selen is being challenged by Paul DeGroot.

Gary Martin and Danny Desai are challenging Paul Carifi, Jr., Adam Kandil, and Matthew McGraft for Parsippany-Troy Hills Council.

MORRIS COUNTY — Morris Habitat for Humanity Chief Executive Officer Blair Schleicher Wilson has confirmed her retirement plans. Wilson has led the affordable housing organization since 2004 and will continue to serve as CEO until July 31.

“It has been my great honor and privilege to serve as the leader of Morris Habitat for nearly 20 years,” said Schleicher Wilson. “I am proud of the organization we are today and our impact, working with thousands of outstanding people, groups, and networks to advance the cause of safe, decent, and affordable housing for everyone.”

Schleicher Wilson is an accomplished leader who has helped transform lives by furthering Morris Habitat’s mission of providing affordable homeownership to those in desperate need. During her remarkable 19-year tenure, Schleicher Wilson has grown a once-small New Jersey nonprofit into one of the nation’s top Habitat for Humanity affiliates.

During her tenure, Schleicher Wilson has developed and implemented strategic business plans that have accomplished extraordinary program and revenue growth, increased staff size and tripled the number of homes built and families served. She is a sought-after thought leader for her accomplishments and advocacy efforts to serve more deserving, hardworking families with a hand up to homeownership. She has also built an increasingly diverse board that reflects the functional knowledge needed for effective leadership and governance oversight and counsel while deepening political relationships and community engagement.

Schleicher Wilson’s accomplishments leading the organization to unparalleled growth in program and revenue:

• Achieved nonprofit affordable homeownership developer of choice by municipalities, building 166 homes in five counties and 30 municipalities, with an additional 25 set to close in 2023 and over 80 homes planned for completion over the next four years.
• Developed a property pipeline of more than 200 homes.
• Added Neighborhood Revitalization/Home Repair/Aging in Place Programs to assist lower-income homeowners with home preservation activities, assisting nearly 500 households.
• Led successful acquisition of Greater Plainfield & Middlesex County Habitat for Humanity, creating a service area of 68 municipalities in three counties.
• Established the organization’s ReStore retail operation and its virtual e-commerce store, supporting the organization with annual revenues of more than $3 million.
• Grew philanthropic support, including an equity revolver fund and $20 million in governmental funding; established strong collaborative partnerships with non-profit housing organizations, municipalities, corporations, congregations, businesses, and organizations.
• Rated in the top 4% of Habitat affiliates nationwide in its new home construction and in the top 10% in overall program delivery.
• Successfully led program activities during COVID, serving 60 families with housing solutions and hundreds more through donations of N95 masks to first responders, furniture to local nonprofits serving the homeless, laptops to inner city school children, and launched an online food drive as well as assisting with food distribution activities.

PARSIPPANY — The Parsippany Education Foundation will host its annual Tom Ladas Memorial Golf Classic on Tuesday, May 16, at the Knoll West Country Club.

Starting at 11:30 a.m., participants will be treated to lunch, a premium bag, locker room access, a full round of golf, carts, dinner, and an awards presentation.  

While on the course, golfers will participate in contests for longest drive, straightest drive, closest to the pin, a putting contest, and a hole-in-one luxury automobile prize sponsored by Trend Motors of Rockaway.

The golf format will be a four-person team scramble with awards for first, second, and third-place teams.  The entrance fee for the tournament is $200.00 per golfer, and sponsorship packages are available.  

Proceeds benefit the foundation’s mission of supporting new, unique learning opportunities and enhancing educational experiences for Parsippany Pro Hills school district students.  To register or become a sponsor, contact the PEF at PEF4KIDS@AOL.com.

PARSIPPANY — The Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills held a second special meeting to “Review and Discussion of the Mayor’s 2023 Budget Recommendations” on Tuesday, May 9.

The following departments were on the agenda: Sewer Department – Joe Beckmeyer; Water Department – John Wieworka; Knoll Golf Utility – Joe Jannarone; Recreation – Sam Yodice and Planning, Zoning, Construction – Jennifer Vealey.

In April, disagreements arose between Musella and Barberio over the budget process’s transparency, leading to two budget hearings. While some members of the Council expressed concern that implementing proposed cuts could lead to reduced municipal services, not all favored the proposal.

During the public comments period, most residents thanked the Council and Administration for having these hearings as they were helpful. Some residents said they had a better understanding as to how their money was being spent but still wanted there to be cuts. Mayor Barberio responded, “I wish it were a 0% increase, but to get there, we’d have to cut services which I don’t think anybody wants to do.”

Following a lengthy second budget hearing on Tuesday evening, May 9, Mayor James Barberio and Councilman Justin Musella agreed in principle regarding the necessity for additional reductions in the municipal budget.

Musella pointed out it was mentioned repeatedly throughout the course of the hearings that each department has nothing to cut and has been historically understaffed. I want to dispel this notion by highlighting the numbers within the budget.

When this administration took office, there were 437 full-time and 28 part-time employees for $58,465,715. As proposed in 2023’s budget, there is a growth to 453 full-time employees and 68 part-time for $63,743,794 to the taxpayer. That is an increase of 26 full-time and 40 part-time employees.

“On top of this, there are almost 24 non-essential and presently vacant Township positions, many of which have been vacant for two years. These vacant positions alone are budgeted for $1,363,155. For this reason, I would like to eliminate vacant positions from this budget so that we can cut the tax increase almost in half by 2%. In addition, Musella would also propose we reduce the increases of the following departments in the following: Salary Raises and Bonuses $328,731;  Parks and Recreation Services $200,000;  Legal Services  $100,000; Summer Concert Series $90,000; Administration $20,000; OEM $20,000 and Tax Collection $10,000,” said Musella.”

I am not asking my colleagues to take a different position than they have in the past. In 2019, an article was written during a budget spat with the previous administration where my colleagues called on eliminating vacant positions, saving taxpayers almost $1,000,000. I agreed with them then and agree with those cuts now, so I am calling on my colleagues to join me in a formal motion to minimize the tax increase on residents. I formally move that the 2023 proposed budget be reduced by $2,131,886 according to the adjustments I have laid out,” said Musella.

Council President Loretta Gragnani questioned Musella, “And where will that be putting our services for our people? What about the police department? What about our Parks and Forestry? What about our public works? What about our senior citizens? Do you know Councilman Musella, these are great cuts that you wanna make, but we’ve just heard from each and every department over the past two weeks that we need workers. We’re losing workers because we’re not paying enough money. But you wanna cut the concert summer series. You wanna cut legal bills? I don’t know what’s going on with the legal department. Do we have some issues that are gonna be coming up? Negotiations.”

Councilman Frank Neglia asked CFO Leonard Ho, “How much would it benefit the homeowner instead of $8.33 a month? If you were to cut $2 million?”

CFO Ho replied, “$2 million would put you under 1%.”

Council President Gragnani replied, “What is it doing to our residents? What about our safety? What about all the other services that we are receiving? We can’t arbitrarily say let’s deduct $2 million from this budget.” 

Musella replied, “

Respectfully, councilwoman, I want to address your points. I made no mention of cutting any funding to the police department. I was fully supportive of the additional police offers that we have. In my view, these are mostly edits to ancillary items if negates any layoffs, and it’s eliminating vacant positions, something that people on this council previously supported doing. So if we can’t go the full way of $2 million, that’s fine. But let’s at least take steps in that direction. Let’s have the dialogue about what we cut can cut. Because for the better part of these two meetings, the tonality has been we can’t cut anything. Everything off is off the board. But let’s turn that on its head. Let’s explore how we can better allocate our resources to prevent this from happening in the future.”

Mayor James Barberio said to Musella, “How about we do this? You come into my office, and we’ll sit and talk, we’ll go, we we can go through the budget. We’ll have ’em run there. We’ll discuss it. Maybe something can be cut, but I can tell you this. In the millions would, which would devastate the town. Maybe there’s a, you know, it’s like Ronald Reagan said, better get a half over bread than none. I get all that. We can discuss it, but I will say this, and you and I agree. We have a very good, very good forecast on Rateables coming. We’re gonna have 200 million in new rateables, and you take the rate; if the rate is now 3%, that’s a 6 million increase in revenue. That’s significant.”

Councilman Paul Carifi asked, “I’m gonna ask the two money people here, Mr. Ho and Mr. Cryan. If we cut $2 million from the budget, would that devastate our town and operations?

Mr. Ho responded, “I’m completely against it because that prevents us from regenerating surplus.”

Mr. Cryan responded, “I agree. Yeah, it would be devastating. The mayor especially mentioned the affordable housing element that’s coming on. There are going to be an incredible amount of units coming on each year. To make these cuts would be devastating.

The story will be updated when the meeting between Mayor Barberio and Councilman Musella meets.

PARSIPPANY — At the Parsippany Library at 449 Halsey Road, avid gardeners eagerly collected their purchased plants from The Great Swamp Watershed Association’s 3rd annual online Plant for Pollinators Native Plant Sale. The sale featured a diverse range of attractively priced native perennials and simple instructions for planting pollinator gardens that will flourish with minimal upkeep.

The Native Plant Sale is operated with promotional support and volunteers from the Community Plant Sale Partners, which include 16 local towns and eight non-governmental organizations. Our joint goal is to foster broad adoption of native plant gardens across our area to create necessary habitat for the pollinator insects and bird communities that are foundation elements of our local ecosystem – pooling our private yards to create what the popular lecturer and entomologist Doug Tallamy describe as a Homegrown National Park.

The yards have the power to provide critical habitat for threatened bird and insect populations and also provide us with beautiful flowers to enjoy. Create an important part of the region-wide network of yards supporting a sustainable ecosystem – a Homegrown National Park.

Finding a good selection of locally appropriate native plants for your garden can be difficult. This GSWA sale makes it easy for you by providing a selection of native plants suited to our local soils and climate (our local ecoregion).

Why is a native plant more appropriate than an exotic or non-native plant? Wildlife may eat the fruit and seeds of exotics or non-native plants, but it does not mean their nutritional needs are fully met. Pollinators and other wildlife co-evolved with native plants and require them for food and habitat throughout their life cycle.

To request ongoing email updates and reminders about the GSWA Native Plant Program, click here.

PARSIPPANY — On May 6, Parsippany United Methodist Church held its annual Roast Beef fundraiser, where attendees could indulge in a buffet-style dinner of the church’s renowned Roast Beef, delicious Cole Slaw, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Vegetables, and a large assortment of homemade desserts.

The Parsippany United Methodist Church (PUMC) congregation was founded in 1830. A parcel of land was given by a wealthy member of the Presbyterian Church with the idea that the servants of the wealthy should have their own church. Our roots are humble.

In 1962, our original church building on Route 46 was torn down to make room for Highway 287. The congregation worshipped in local schools and met in members’ homes until, in 1964, an education building and fellowship hall were built at 903 South Beverwyck Road.

For years the congregation dreamed of a new, dedicated sanctuary. The congregation worshipped in the fellowship hall for church dinners and play productions. For forty years, the congregation forged an identity based on the quality of love found in our fellowship and worship. People were drawn to the congregation, not for the edifice — the school-like building was not much to look at –- but rather by the spirit of compassion, inclusion, humor, and artistic creativity.

In 1989, the congregation’s growth made it possible to plan for actively constructing a new worship space. Together we engaged in an extended process of envisioning, fundraising, and planning for a new sanctuary that — with its simple and open design — was in keeping with the spirit of our congregation. Construction began in November of 2001 amid the national grief of 9/11. As we witnessed people spontaneously flock to communal sacred spaces seeking contact with the holy, it seemed timely to be building the sanctuary as an expression of the peace and presence of God in unsettling times.

Construction began in November of 2001, amid the national grief of 9/11. As we witnessed people spontaneously flock to communal holy spaces seeking contact with the holy, it seemed timely to be building the sanctuary as an expression of the peace and presence of God in unsettling times.

Six months into construction, amid the typical frustrations and setbacks that are a part of this process, Henry “Hank” Heitschel, the building committee chairperson, suddenly died. Shortly thereafter, his wife Myra also died. When finally the new sanctuary was dedicated six months later, in December of 2002, the joy we felt was mixed with sadness that this much-beloved couple who had been so instrumental in sustaining our dream of the new sanctuary for forty years was not with us to share in the celebration.

PARSIPPANY — Gary Martin and Danny Desai, candidates for Parsippany-Troy Hills Township, were joined by approximately 75 supporters at a fundraiser on Thursday, May 4, held at Rishta Banquet Hall, 269 Littleton Road.

Danny Desai and Gary Martin are dedicated to serving all communities with trustworthiness and fearlessness, and they will work to improve the quality of life for the residents of Parsippany.

Desai said, “I am a successful business owner. I know how to micromanagement. I know how to spend our taxpayer’s dollars efficiently; transparently and fiscally responsible governance will lead to a brighter future. We can’t sustain ourselves if we keep on increasing taxes on our residents. There has to be accountability and responsibility from each and every department. Parsippany is a beautiful place to raise a family.”

“It is important to consider the impact of taxes on our senior population, as continuously increasing tax burdens may lead to their displacement from the town. We should prioritize our seniors’ well-being and ensure they are not facing unnecessary financial hardship that would force them to relocate,” said Martin.

Gary Martin and Danny Desai are in Column 3 in the June primary.