Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Michael Strumolo says the township's form of government should evolve to give residents more representation.
Michael Strumolo, a member of the Parsippany Board of Education running for one of two contested Town Council seats in the Republican June 4 primary, says the township's form of government needs to evolve. Strumolo said the Faulkner model used by Parsippany, with one full-time "strong" mayor and a five-member part-time legislative body, is not meeting residents' needs. He insisted his thoughts are in no way meant to criticize anyone currently serving. "I am committed to running a campaign based upon ideas and not personal attacks on any other candidates," he said, but added that citizens must ask themselves some important questions. "Do you know your current Town Council member? Do you feel they are representing your interests well? Do you…
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Parsippany 'regular guy' wants to represent the people and offers a revenue-generating idea for the Knoll Golf Club.
Michael Strumolo was almost as surprised by his last-minute decision to run for Town Council in the June 4 Republican Party primary election as many others were. "It was a late decision, I'll be truthful," he told Patch. "I didn't have any plans for it, but I thought about the town and thought I could do some good. "I've had concerns about the direction of the community, and I'm concerned about the direction of the Republican Party, with all the in-house fighting," he said."I got the signatures we needed the weekend before [the April 1 filing deadline]. My son Matt and I went out and got 104, 105 signatures for the petition." Strumolo said his campaign for council will be unlike any others—and will remain focused on tangible issues. "I'm …
Monday, December 17, 2012
Parsippany resident appeals OPRA request denial for board member's electronic correspondences.
A citizen-activist's appeal of a Parsippany school district Open Public Records Act request hasn't been answered yet, but the process itself reveals a bit of the information he seeks. In September, Robert Crawford, a former Board of Education member, made an official request to discover what was said in emails allegedly sent in 2011 and 2012 by school board member Anthony Mancuso and to whom they were sent. Mancuso would not comment on the matter of the documents, which allegedly were sent from his personal email address, except to insist that they were personal communications. Crawford contended that the emails, which he believes include discussions of confidential board business between board members including Superintendent of Schools …
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Michael Strumolo still demands to have access to what colleague Anthony Mancuso calls his private emails.
The issue over emails written by a Parsippany Board of Education member—deemed not to be public government documents by the district last week—was still on the minds of some at the body's meeting last Thursday. Early in the gathering, BOE member Michael Strumolo revived last month's call to be allowed to see the documents written and shared by member Anthony Mancuso. Addressing Board Attorney Kathleen Gilfillan, Strumolo again insisted that "as a duly elected member of this board, I have the right to see these emails." Gilfillan, as she did in October, said that board members do not have an automatic right to see every document that resides on the BOE computer server. "To the extent that these records do not represent something that the …
Thursday, November 15, 2012
School board member Anthony Mancuso said Robert Crawford's activities regarding his 'private' communications invaded his privacy.
The author of the so-called "secret" emails sought by citizen-activist Robert Crawford says he isn't surprised that what he calls "private" communications were deemed by the school district not to be government documents. School board member Anthony Mancuso, concluding that his personal privacy was invaded, said he is talking with an attorney and considering taking legal action. "The whole thing raises questions for me," Mancuso told Patch. "These documents were found to be un-OPRA-able. Mr. Crawford clearly has seen them. How did he obtain them?" In September, Crawford made an Open Public Records Act request to the school district inquiring about a number of emails that came from Mancuso's personal email address. Crawford, a former Board …
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Citizen-activist said he 'absolutely' will appeal the decision.
After a months-long wait to get a ruling on whether he can have access to reportedly secret emails distributed by a Board of Education member, citizen-activist Robert Crawford finally got his answer: No. In a letter from Interim Schools Business Administrator Mark Resnick denying Crawford's Open Public Records Act request, he said that the office reviewed emails sent from the private address of BOE member Anthony Mancuso to other school board members and Superintendent LeRoy Seitz on Feb. 5, 2011, March 11, 2011, and Nov. 9, 2011, and determined that they are "not government records pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1." Crawford also requested emails from Jan 14, March 8, May 24, June 4 and June 26 of this year that contained subject lines …
Friday, October 19, 2012
Board of Ed members testify Thursday as Dr. LeRoy Seitz's breach of contract suit against the BOE and Department of Education quietly began last month.
The long-promised legal face-off between Parsippany Superintendent of Schools LeRoy Seitz, the school board and the state Department of Education over the schools chief's disputed contract is underway. Testimony in the case being heard at the Office of Administrative Law in Newark began quietly in September, with no announcement by the school district. Seitz, who gave his testimony last month, is alleging breach of contract against the school board and the state. In December 2010, Parsippany's board signed a contract with the superintendent—a year before the old pact's expiration date. The state then demanded that the pact be rescinded because it did not comply with a salary cap announced in summer 2010 and enacted in February 2011 by Gov…
Monday, October 15, 2012
Alleged correspondences between some board members raise red flags for a resident and a BOE member.
At its Thursday meeting, the Parsippany Board of Education once again revealed a simmering band of anger and a serious divide among its members. The subject of the conflict is an Open Public Records Act request seeking a series of emails rumored to exist that some fear may show board members conducting business improperly. Resident Robert Crawford told Patch that he is requesting the documents and received a reply from Interim Business Administrator Mark Resnick, the district's records custodian asking for 21 days to gather and examine the requested information, and then a second reply asking for another month. He said the followup added that his request still could be denied. Asked what he thought were in the emails or if he ever saw them…
Sunday, September 30, 2012
School board member Michael Strumolo, thinking he was the target of a possible ethics probe, gave the public a look into secret BOE talks.
Those wondering why the Parsippany Board of Education opted to spend up to $5,000 to hire former state Supreme Court justice Gary Stein for some unnamed investigative purpose finally got some answers last Thursday night. At the school board's meeting at Knollwood School last week, member Michael Strumolo, suspecting he was the rumored probe's focus, made a move to bring the matter into the open. When President Frank Calabria asked the board to approve the minutes of its Sept. 13 closed session, Strumolo asked to read a portion of the minutes into the public record. It was unclear whether permission to do so was granted, but Strumolo moved ahead, recounting the board's private meeting with Justice Stein and his son, attorney Michael Stein, …
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Former state Supreme Court justice was hired by the board for 'unspecified litigation.'
Thursday night's Parsippany Board of Education meeting will get a later than usual start—8 p.m.—thanks to a special closed session beginning at the usual 7 p.m. start time, and to a special guest. Board President Frank Calabria said the private members-only portion of the meeting will feature a visit from Gary Stein, the attorney and former state Supreme Court justice hired by most of the board Aug. 1 for up to $5,000 for "unspecified litigation." School board member Michael Strumolo was not included in the decision. He reportedly stormed out of that closed session and was not present for the vote. A short time later, Strumolo sent Gov. Chris Christie a letter asking him to come to Parsippany to deal with unnamed board members' allegedly …
Nicholas Robert Homyak
6:28 am on Friday, May 3, 2013
Apparently our present administration favors developers over community values. They forgot why people like Parsipanny and harp on; its 17th or 15th favorite place to live opinion poll. Waterview Rezone ordinance proved it.More unneeded sprawl over remaining landscapes. Corporations over the real America the land and people.Not considering the true value of Waterview's landscape, its natural asset… more ›