MORRIS COUNTY — Assemblyman Jay Webber speaks on a bill that would create a pithy 10-day tax holiday on school supplies and proposes taxpayers get real savings by lowering the sales tax to 6%.
Missing Dems Cause Tense Moment During Whirlwind Assembly Session
MORRIS COUNTY — Aides were caught casting votes for missing Democrat lawmakers during a four-hour Assembly session on Wednesday that passed a massive $50.6 billion budget, a controversial gun-control package, and abortion bills fast tracked over three days.
Many passed with only a few more votes than the 41 required. Democrats currently have a 46-34 majority.
Assemblyman Brian Bergen called to use a rare procedural motion to put the house “under call” to compel members back into the chamber and cast a vote.
“On the majority party side I now count twelve staffers in seats and I’m concerned,” Bergen (R-Morris) noted on the Assembly floor. “We have so much important stuff to debate and discuss today and the members are not available to hear all our sound arguments before they vote.”
The procedure was last used by the Legislature in 2015 as the Democratic majorities attempted to override Gov. Chris Christie’s conditional veto of legislation on expunging mental health records.
Morris County Prosecutor’s Public Safety Announcement For Parents and Children
MORRIS COUNTY — The Morris County Prosecutor’s Office is dedicated to educating the general public about the risks and potential hazards relating to Child Sexual Abuse Material Child Pornography and the misuse of technology by children.
They also continue to promote increased awareness of the recommended safeguards that can help to prevent the victimization of our children. During the past several years, there has been a dramatic increase in online activity among our nation’s youth. Law enforcement agencies across the country are seeing a rise in sexually explicit material by children of all ages. This material includes activities such as “sexting” and sending or soliciting nude photographs.
With a generation of youth utilizing electronic means of communication and engaging online as content creators, it is important for parents to have open communication with their children about content sharing and exercise good judgment when it comes to how they interact with others online or through other electronic means, such as email, text messaging, and social media.
With boys and girls involved in these potentially dangerous behaviors, parents should have age-appropriate conversations with their children beginning as soon as they have access to any technological device. Conversations with children should include a clear explanation as to why it is so important not to send, not to ask others, and not to share sexually explicit images, videos, or other content.
Children must be mindful of what they post and share through these electronic means, because social media and technology document everything, even photos and messages a child may assume was deleted or temporary, or that were intended to be private. Data shared through electronic means can be accessed and potentially disseminated to others even after being deleted. Moreover, individuals communicating with children through electronic means can misrepresent their true age, gender, or identity. The dissemination of electronic data may subject the child to harassment or ridicule, and even create the potential for extortion or kidnapping.
Morris County Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll said, “We at the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office want to enable our youth to make smart choices about how they interact online and through electronic means, as poor decisions can have unfortunate consequences.”
Anyone with any questions can contact the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Unit or the Sex Crimes/Child Endangerment Unit of the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office at (973) 285-6200. Persons may remain anonymous.
Jerry Seinfeld Will Be Performing at MPAC
MORRIS COUNTY — Jerry Seinfeld will be coming to the Mayo Performing Arts Center (MPAC) in Morristown as part of his 27-city tour across North America.
The popular comedian will perform two shows in Morristown on September 9. He will perform at 7:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Tickets are selling quickly, so fans are encouraged to reach out to the MPAC box office at (973) 539-8008 for tickets at face value.
Tickets are on sale for the two September 9 performances at the Mayo Performing Arts Center, with the first beginning at 7:00 p.m. and the second beginning at 9:30 p.m.
Click here to purchase tickets.
“America’s premier comedian, Jerry Seinfeld, comes to the Mayo Performing Arts Center to perform his newest stand-up! Seinfeld has been hailed for his uncanny ability to joke about the little things in life that relate to audiences everywhere,” Mayo Performing Arts Center stated about the upcoming performance.
Seinfeld is best known for his hit sitcom “Seinfeld,” which he created and co-wrote with Larry David and in which he plays a semi-fictionalized version of himself.
Pride Comes to the Community Caring
MORRIS PLAINS — For 50+ years, the month of June has been nationally recognized as “Pride Month.” On May 19 Morris Plains Mayor Jason Karr and our bipartisan Borough Council unanimously passed a resolution supporting and accepting the month of June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer/Questioning and Plus (LGBTQ+) “Pride Month.” With this Resolution, Morris Plains joins its neighboring communities of Madison, Morristown, Morris Township, Randolph, and others. It solidifies our town’s commitment to supporting and accepting the many LGBTQ+ residents of our town. As residents of Morris Plains for 23 years, my wife and I couldn’t be prouder of our Mayor and our Council for acknowledging our town’s growing LGBTQ+ community.
Mayor Karr and our Council partnered with the Morris Plains School District and invited middle school students and their families to place Pride banners in front of Borough Hall and at the entrance to our parks. The photographs of these students posing with the banners were priceless! The joy on their faces was infectious. To finally be recognized in the community they call home. Seeing the joyful faces of these children brought me back to the day in 2014 when Mayor Frank Druetzler married my wife and I in Borough Hall. Something as simple as signing a marriage certificate, a rite once reserved only for our heterosexual counterparts, was such a powerful, uplifting moment for us. To finally be included and recognized.
While there has been progress toward acceptance and equality, members of the LGBTQ+ community continue to face discrimination, intolerance, and hate. By recognizing June as Pride Month, Morris Plains lets its LGBTQ+ residents know that their community, the Community of Caring, stands with them to protect their civil rights and their ability to live openly, equally, and without fear. There is no room for hate and discrimination in our town.
So, when you drive through Morris Plains and see the Pride banners in front of Borough Hall or at our parks, think about the pride our LGBTQ+ residents feel in the town they call home. Think about our youth who proudly placed those banners there.
Mountain Lakes Council Meeting to be held on June 27
MOUNTAIN LAKES — Mountain Lakes Borough Council Meeting will be held on Monday, June 27, starting at 7:30 p.m. at Mountain Lakes High School Media Center, 96 Powerville Road.
The agenda for the Borough Council meeting includes:
1) Intervale Road Repaving;
2) Renewing Liquor License for 2022-2023 Licensing Term
3) Authorizing the Award of Bid to MMD Group, LLC and KS State Bank for the Leasing of Two 2022 Ford Explorer Police AWD Vehicles Audit Corrective Action Plan.
Click here to download the agenda.
Weichert Community Moves to Fight Hunger
MORRIS COUNTY — Colleagues at the Weichert Corporate Headquarters Campus and various sales offices recently completed 2.5-mile Fun Walks to help fight food insecurity. In all, 63 walkers hit the pavement with the miles walked converted into 481 meals.
Weichert’s Fun Walk was part of a companywide MOVE 2 Fight Hunger Challenge presented by Weichert Workforce Mobility and Nelson Westerberg. The Challenge supports Move for Hunger, a national nonprofit organization that aims to offer a sustainable solution to reduce food waste and feed the hungry.
“At Weichert, we have always stressed the importance of giving back to the communities where we live and work,” said Aram Minnetian, president of and COO of The Weichert Family of Companies. “It was great to see so many of our colleagues join together for a little exercise and camaraderie as we moved to fight hunger.”
The M2FH Challenge runs from June 1 through July 5. Colleagues can provide meals to feed the hungry by participating in any activity – from walking and running to cooking, dancing, or even reading a book. Their progress is tracked using atlasGO, a hybrid activity/social media app. The activities earn points that will be converted to meals at the end of the Challenge. The challenge goal is to earn 75,000 meals to support the cause.
Sales associates and colleagues at Weichert’s Rumson and Middletown sales offices participated in their own M2FH Challenge Fun Walks.
“We met at Popamora Point, which is a beautiful part of the Henry Hudson Trail in Atlantic Highlands,” said Christina Weiner, sales manager of Weichert’s Middletown office. “It was a great opportunity to enjoy nature and enjoy each other’s company away from the office while logging miles for meals to support a great cause.”
According to Move for Hunger, more than 42 million Americans face hunger every day, including 1 in 6 children. Meanwhile, 35 percent of the food produced in the United States every year is wasted. Move for Hunger’s network of socially responsible relocation companies provides its customers, clients, and residents with the opportunity to donate their food when they move. Members of Move for Hunger also volunteer to host/assist with community food drives, participate in cause marketing campaigns and create employee giving programs. Since 2009, Move for Hunger has delivered 26 million pounds to food-to-food banks across the United States and Canada — the equivalent of nearly 22 million meals.
For more information about Weichert, Realtors or to find your local office click here.
Since 1969, Weichert, Realtors has grown from a single office into one of the nation’s leading providers of homeownership services by putting its customers first. A family of 18 full-service real estate-related companies, Weichert provides an integrated real estate, mortgage, insurance, and title settlement solution — branded as All Under One Roof ℠— to simplify the home purchase experience for buyers and sellers, in most markets. Weichert leverages its customer website, click here, one of the nation’s most visited real estate websites, to help families and individuals realize the dream of homeownership through quick and easy access to listing information and its services to real estate professionals nationwide. According to several national surveys, Weichert enjoys greater public trust than other family-owned and -operated businesses. For more information, Weichert’s customer service center can be reached at 1-800-USA-SOLD.
Florham Park Students Named on Susquehanna University Dean’s List
MORRIS COUNTY — Susquehanna congratulates its dean’s list of students. The dean’s list recognizes students who achieve a grade point average of 3.4 or higher out of a possible 4.0 for the semester.
Erin Cisek, of Florham Park, Class of 2022, majoring in early childhood education.
Julia Acevedo, of Florham Park, Class of 2024, majoring in political science and public policy with a focus on domestic policy.
Susquehanna, a liberal arts university offering more than 100 majors and minors in business, humanities, arts, and sciences, focuses on intellectual development, global competence, and career success. Students develop critical thinking, writing, teamwork, and communication skills which, combined with internships and research opportunities, prepare them for a lifetime of personal and professional success. The university is recognized nationally for its commitment to off-campus study through the Global Opportunities program.
Small classes enable faculty members to serve as mentors and teachers. Ninety-six percent of Susquehanna graduates are employed or in graduate or professional school within months. For more information click here.
Bill Banning Body Armor Possession Could Have Consequences for Veterans and Schoolchildren
MORRIS COUNTY — Republican members of the Assembly Appropriations Committee slammed Democrats for moving a bill banning body armor possession that could carry criminal consequences for veterans and prohibit parents from buying bulletproof backpacks.
Assemblyman Brian Bergen (R-Morris), holding up his U.S. Army-issued body armor he wore as an Apache helicopter pilot while serving in Iraq, argued the bill could hurt veterans who have similar tokens from their service.
“You’re creating criminals out of Americans who helped defend our very freedom. At one point this served to protect me, but now it serves to potentially put me in jail. Who am I hurting and who are my brothers and sisters in arms hurting?” asked Bergen (R-Morris).
Click here to watch: Dems’ body armor ban could make veterans criminals
Assemblyman Kevin J. Rooney moved an amendment to exempt bulletproof backpacks from the bill.
“The moms and dads across New Jersey are going to find that it is partisan and that we are rushing a bill that now doesn’t protect their children,” Rooney (R-Bergen) said.
Click here to watch Rooney proposes exempting bulletproof bookbags from the ban on body armor
Assemblyman Antwan McClellan, who works for the Cape May County Sheriff’s Office, countered Democrat criticism of a Republican’s attempt amends a bill.
“If we all care about our kids in our schools, then why can’t we all just sit around and talk about that? A backpack may seem not protective enough, but it is protected if the kid turns it around and hides behind it. If we want a common-sense approach then we need to have a common-sense conversation,” McClellan (R-Cape May) said.
Click here to watch McClellan: A common-sense approach needs a common-sense conversation.
Assemblyman Jay Webber also expressed his disappointment in the amendment being tabled by Democrats.
“You can’t come into the statehouse and say you’re going to protect our kids, you’re going to protect our kids, you’re going to protect our kids, and then a very simple amendment that would allow moms and dads to put a protective backpack on the backs of their children is offered, and at the altar of politics, you vote it down. That is unacceptable,” Webber (R-Morris) said. “I think the country is seeing how upset parents get when you get between them and their kids’ education. Let’s watch how upset New Jerseyans get when you come between parents and the protection of their kids.”
Click here to watch Webber disappointed partisan politics block GOP school safety push
Mountain Lakes Democratic Committee Releases Statement In Reaction To Supreme Court Decision
MOUNTAIN LAKES — The Mountain Lakes Democratic Committee released the following statement in response to the Supreme Court overturning long-held legal precedent first established in Roe and Casey:
“Today, the Supreme Court of the United States overturned the landmark decision Roe v Wade, ending nearly fifty years of women having safe and legal access to abortion in the United States. The Court’s action overruled the long-held legal precedent of the 14th Amendment’s protection of the right to individual privacy and has removed the concept of bodily autonomy for American women. We are devastated by this news and will continue to work to elect candidates for office who will never stop trying to right this wrong.”