MORRIS COUNTY — Representative Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) released the following statement on the 20th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks:

“For so many of us, it is difficult to believe it’s been 20 years since that fateful Tuesday morning in September, which changed our world forever and cost us so many loved ones.

“We all remember where we were that day. As a young Naval Officer, I was stationed at the US Atlantic Fleet Headquarters in Norfolk, VA. I’ll never forget the juxtaposition of a perfect fall day, beautiful blue skies, a crisp feeling in the air, and the absolute horror of the attack as I manned my post in the headquarters. Amidst the chaos, with the Pentagon under attack and so much uncertain information flowing, our hours and days following the attacks were dominated by our coordination of the military response, scrambling jets, and mobilizing forces to be on high alert.

“As we’d come to find out, 749 New Jerseyans died on 9/11, more than 90 of them residing in what is now the 11th Congressional District. As we do every year, we honor their lives by coming together as a community in each town across the district and continuing to keep their memories alive. We promised to never forget, and we keep that promise.

“We owe a debt of gratitude to our first responders from New York, New Jersey, and those who flooded in from all over the country to save lives and search for our loved ones in the rubble. Far too many of them lost their own lives as a result. And to this day, too many are still grappling with the health effects they incurred from their time on the pile. I’ve been so proud to be part of the fight, working for them to help make the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund permanent. Our continued support for them is central to our efforts to never forget.

“As we gather at services, memorials, and events on this anniversary, it’s heartening to be able to be together once again after the year and a half we’ve had. I look forward to joining you all in towns throughout the district to remember, grieve, and honor our families, friends, and neighbors today.”

MORRIS COUNTY — The Market Street Mission in Morristown packed and distributed 500 backpacks full of school supplies to children in need in our community, during August. As children begin to go back to school in person again this year, they are excited to help prepare and equip them with the materials they need to succeed.

Every August, hard-working volunteers come to the Mission to help prepare 500 backpacks and supply kits for students from preschool through high school. Many of the bags go to the men in the Mission’s addiction recovery Life Change Program to give to their children and grandchildren. Program alumni can sign up for backpacks as well. Throughout the program, they help the residents learn to be responsible, supportive fathers, and Project Backpack is one tangible way they can help them work to rebuild relationships with their children by providing for their needs while still pursuing their own recovery.

The Mission also works with local schools, churches, and organizations to provide backpacks for children in the community. This year, they were able to support organizations around the Morristown and Asbury Park Mission locations, as well as their new Sussex County location that opened in Newton earlier this year.

Partner organizations included Saint Margaret’s Church in Morristown, the Spring Street Alliance CDC and Bethel Church in Morristown, Neptune High School, and Project Self-Sufficiency in Newton.

It was a special blessing to be able to deepen our relationships with Sussex County community partners as we establish our new location in Newton. One leader from Project Self-Sufficiency commented on the backpacks, saying, “these items will bring so much joy to children in our community and fill them with excitement as they prepare to return to their classrooms this fall. You have given them the opportunity to start the year poised for academic success!”

The Market Street Mission has been serving the community for more than 130 years with meals, shelter, addiction recovery, and community outreach services. Project Backpack has served as a great opportunity to show support and care for our neighbors as we help local students prepare for the school year. Thank you to all our volunteers and donors who helped make this possible!

Established in 1889, the Market Street Mission is an experienced organization with a proven method of helping fight alcoholism, substance abuse, hunger, and homelessness in northern and central New Jersey. As a private non-profit we rely on the charitable support of compassionate donors to provide more than 110,000 meals and 30,000 nights of shelter per year. For more information on our emergency services, free addiction recovery program, community counseling services, and thrift store please visit by clicking here.

MORRIS COUNTY — On August 18, 2021, the Mayor of Parsippany-Troy Hills Township, Michael A. Soriano, became aware of a thirty-second video clip in which a white man used a racial epithet against the person holding the camera. The white man in the video was assumed, based on context clues given in the Instagram post publicizing the clip, to be acting as an employee of AJACO Towing Inc., a company contracted by the township to provide professional towing and other emergency-related services for the Parsippany Police Department and other municipal operations.

MAYORS VERDICT WITHOUT ANY INVESTIGATION

However, instead of allowing the police department to complete an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident, Mayor Soriano accepted the clip at face value and, without seeking approval from the town council or the township’s attorney or obtaining a single fact from the parties involved in the incident, made the decision to direct the acting police chief to terminate the townships nine-year-long contract with the 27-year-old company, AJACO towing Inc. without any investigation. Video footage uncovered and now reviewed for the first time by Detectives from Parsippany Police Department on August 27, 2021, reveal that AJACO Towing is a Victim of Crimes that include terroristic threats. Unlike the Mayor’s Actions in this matter, a complete investigation has begun.
THE ALLEGED CRIME

Mayor Soriano also instructed the township’s public information officer to issue a press release that branded AJACO Towing and everyone associated with it as racist, or, at the very least, as a business employing individuals who condone racist behavior. As a result, employees and even family members have endured harassment and even death threats on a near-constant basis since the press release was published and major media outlets began reporting about it.

The facts of the situation were never examined by Mayor Soriano, who acted wholly outside of his authority as township mayor by making an “executive” decision without giving a highly regarded company with nearly thirty years in business the rights afforded to that company by virtue of its contract with the township. He instructed the public information officer to issue a press release that can best be described as libel, which is defined by Cornell Law School as “a method of defamation expressed by print, writing, pictures, signs, effigies, or any communication embodied in physical form that is injurious to a person’s reputation, exposes a person to public hatred, contempt or ridicule, or injures a person in his/her business or profession.”

THE DEFAMATION

The release of this false statement to the public and the media has resulted in immediate negative consequences to AJACO Towing including financial damage related to the loss of its contract with the Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills, as well as immeasurable damage to its reputation, not only within the local community but across the country.

New Jersey Revised Statute Section 2C:27-12 describes the crime of corruption of public resources, which reads: “1. a. A person commits the crime of corruption of public resources if, with respect to a public resource which is subject to an obligation to be used for a specified purpose or purposes, the person knowingly uses or makes disposition of that public resource or any portion thereof for any unauthorized purpose.”

CORRUPTION OF PUBLIC RESOURCES

The township’s public information officer is indisputably a public resource. Instructing the public information officer to issue a libelous press release to the public and the media is almost certainly a misuse of that public resource. AJACO alleges that by using the public information officer to release a libelous public statement, Mayor Michael A. Soriano committed a crime against AJACO Towing, the municipality to which he was elected, and the PEOPLE for which he has taken an oath.

OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM VICTIM AJACO TOWING, INC.

“AJACO TOWING, INC. does not condone racism and never has. The Parsippany Public Information Office should not be used for one’s individual political gain nor should any government office be used to incite racism in our Parsippany Community. AJACO demands that the Mayor’s Press Release is rescinded without delay”

In fact, the public is welcome to visit with this author at AJACO Towing to review the actual facts of what happened that day on August 16, 2021.

This press release was submitted by Paul G. Argen, Investigative Reporter & Fraud Examiner

FULL DISCLOSURE: PAUL G. ARGEN is a Public Advocate and also employed as Chief Compliance Officer for AJACO Towing, Inc

MORRIS COUNTY — Morris County Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll and First Assistant Prosecutor Maggie Calderwood announce the hiring of Bridget Carr and Tatijana Lindsey as Assistant Prosecutors for the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office.

Assistant Prosecutors Carr and Lindsey were officially sworn in at the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office on September 1, 2021.

Assistant Prosecutor Carr will be assigned to the Juvenile Unit and Assistant Prosecutor Lindsey will be assigned to the Domestic Violence Unit. Assistant Prosecutor Carr served as a law clerk for the Honorable David H. Ironson, Judge of the Superior Court, New Jersey, Criminal Division-Morris County. She has held several intern and externships including at the U.S. Attorney’s Office-District of New Jersey, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and the Essex and Morris County Prosecutor’s Offices. She holds a B.A. from Rutgers University and a Juris Doctorate from Pace University.

Assistant Prosecutor Lindsey began her legal career as a legal assistant for a private law practice in 2014, later joining the staff of judges in the Family Division of the Vicinage 5 Superior Court and then the Criminal Division, both in Newark. Assistant Prosecutor Lindsey served as a law clerk for the Honorable Christopher Romanyshyn, Judge of the Superior Court, New Jersey, Criminal Division-Essex County. She holds a B.A. from Seton Hall University and a Juris Doctorate from Rutgers University. Prosecutor Carroll said, “I am confident that the incoming Assistant Prosecutors will serve honorably and will benefit the residents of Morris County.”