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Congratulations To The Class of 2008 Ad Populos, Non Aditus, Pervenimus Published Every Thursday Since September 3, 1890 (908) 232-4407 USPS 680020 Thursday, June 19, 2008 OUR 118th YEAR – ISSUE NO. 25-2008 Periodical – Postage Paid at Westfield, N.J. www.goleader.com [email protected] SIXTY CENTS Westfield Council Finalizes E-Alert System Purchase By MICHAEL J. POLLACK called Muhlenberg Hospital, the bones and burns, not life-threatening Specially Written for The Westfield Leader facility’s origins date back to the matters, such as heart attacks and WESTFIELD — In addition to fi- 1870’s. strokes. nalizing the purchase of an emer- With losses this year in excess of Effectively, the town’s resolution gency-alert system, Westfield offi- $11 million, and a projected $19 mil- asks the state’s health planning board, cials, Tuesday, passed a resolution lion shortfall in 2009, Solaris Health responsible for conducting a full re- stating the municipality’s concern Care System, which owns view of the “certificate of need,” to over the potential closing of Muhlenberg, filed the required “cer- assure that the decision will not be Muhlenberg Regional Medical Cen- tificate of need” with the New Jersey “harmful to the public interest.” ter, and asked the state to take a closer Department of Health and Senior Second Ward Councilwoman Vicki look at the matter. Services pursuant to its intent to close Kimmins has attended various The Plainfield medical center, a the facility. Muhlenberg-related meetings re- 396-bed acute-care facility that boasts Solaris Chief Executive Officer cently. She told the council, last week, schools of radiology, nursing and John McGee has stated that a “satel- that Muhlenberg serves a vital func- nuclear medicine technology, serves lite emergency department” will re- tion to area residents, and its closing the central New Jersey region and main open, and the facility will be would cause hospitals such as Over- many Westfield citizens. Originally able to handle issues such as broken look, in Summit, to “feel a crunch.” She said, “Our residents use [Muhlenberg]. [If it is closed], we are concerned that they would see more waiting times at other hospitals. It’s going to be a disaster.” Under the Public Safety, Transpor- tation and Parking report, the town Photo courtesy of Jodi Jacobs awarded a contract to establish an e- A DAY AT THE CIRCUS...The circus came to Westfield Friday, June 13, thanks to the voracious readers at McKinley alert system to Honeywell. Elementary School. Students were rewarded with a performance by the Zerbini Family Circus after meeting their goal of Jointly purchased with the reading of 16,000 books. They went the extra step by reading 16,913 books. Word spread of this accomplishment and reporter Westfield Board of Education, there Pat Battle from WNBC-TV came to report on the day. Later, the kids saw themselves on TV on the 6 p.m. news. will be two separate, but connected, systems. This year, the town will pay $27,000, and the BOE will be charged WF Board of Ed. Gives Updates on $17,000. A three-year arrangement, the cost drops $4,000 for both entities next year. The e-alert system will enable the Database and Teacher Mentoring town to send important notices more By CHRISTINA M. HINKE guidance at Westfield High School, cess of scheduling through Simple. effectively. Residents will have the Specially Written for The Westfield Leader Scott White, will coordinate the ef- Following the update, Barbara Ball, ability to stay informed via an “un- WESTFIELD — Superintendent forts to integrate the system. human resources supervisor for the Raynor Denitzio for The Westfield Leader DRAWING THE LINE… Union County Police Officer Frank Catena rides his limited” number of devices, includ- of Schools Margaret Dolan updated She also noted that because of the district, presented the teacher- horse, Justice, during Substance Abuse Awareness Day in Garwood on Saturday. ing home phone, pager, cell phone, e- the board of education during its regu- setback with the database, high school mentoring plan for 2008 to 2010. Hosted by Garwood Parents Draw the Line, the event enabled residents to enjoy mail and more. lar Tuesday meeting on the school class schedules would not be out in “Teacher quality is most important” rides, games and demonstrations from local police agencies. Sue Baron, one of the Last week, Third Ward Council- district’s implementation of the stu- June, but at a later date not yet deter- in the success of students,” said Ms. organizers of the event, said that the purpose of the day was “to show what a fun man Mark Ciarrocca said the town dent database provided by Simple. mined. Ball, and mentoring is a path to im- family day you can have without drugs.” would work with the school system to The database allows teachers to Board member Beth Cassie said, as proving the quality of teachers. She encourage those on the school’s net- input their report cards online, tran- a parent, the elementary report card said, “A teacher can affect 3,000 stu- work to “opt in” to Westfield’s ser- scripts and state reports. These state via Simple is “far superior” and “much dents in a lifetime.” Mountainside Board Denies vice. reports have “grown exponentially in clearer” than the old method of re- Her presentation showed that the Mr. Ciarrocca said he hopes, even- the last few years,” said Ms. Dolan. trieving report cards. district has 32 novice, i.e. brand new Arirang’s Expansion Plan tually, enough people take part in the “For every student taking the test, Board president Ginny Leiz re- in his/her profession, teachers for the alert system and that it eliminates the there are 30 fields [to fill in].” quested a study measuring the suc- CONTINUED ON PAGE 10 By CAROLYN D. FREUNDLICH ing, another option to accommodate need to disseminate information via She elaborated on some of the is- Specially Written for The Westfield Leader the additional patronage, and use all paper mailings, which are more costly sues users are facing with the new MOUNTAINSIDE — The plan- 205 spaces, would be to hire people to and environmentally unfriendly. system. Printing and formatting prob- Legislators Wrangle Over ning board, last Thursday, unani- direct traffic through the parking lot. Separately, at Tuesday’s meeting, lems exist, as does the lack of an mously denied Arirang Hibachi This would change the previous clock- Mr. Ciarrocca took a moment to thank option for a “print preview,” which is State Budget in Trenton Steakhouse and Sushi Bar’s submit- wise traffic flow into a counter clock- Bruce Kaufmann, recreation direc- “cumbersome and time consuming” tor; Paul Checchio, pool technician; for the teachers, Ms. Dolan said. She By BETH BUDNICK ties must tighten their belts,” he said. tal for a use variance, after a two- wise direction, thus filtering traffic Specially Written for The Westfield Leader year-long debate. The restaurant out of the back exit onto Beech Av- William Palatucci, recreation com- said the district is talking to the com- Mr. Scutari also said this year’s wanted to expand its business by turn- enue. mission chairman; and all volunteers pany to forge a solution. Also low TRENTON — Governor Jon budget was “almost historical” in its ing the 12,000 square feet of unused This traffic flow and exit strategy involved with the opening of the reno- bandwidth has caused systems to Corzine and the State Legislature reductions of spending by a Demo- space in the basement into a banquet would safely allow for emergency vated and expanded Westfield Me- “freeze,” she added. agreed on $32.8-billion budget for cratic majority. hall. The banquet hall would accom- vehicles to enter and exit the pre- morial Pool. Although glitches with Simple ex- the 2008-2009 fiscal year on Mon- Officials stated that that aid reduc- modate an additional 207 patrons. mises. Mr. Ciarrocca said the “first-rate ist, Ms. Dolan said the number of day. This budget includes cuts in state tion itself should not result in more The board has lingered on the con- Mr. Maltz, traffic and transporta- complex” experienced a new record users have doubled to over 600. aid to municipalities, such as than a $100 increase over 2007 aver- troversial topic for about two years, tion consulting expert, agreed with CONTINUED ON PAGE 10 Going forward, the new director of Fanwood’s loss of funds “that we age residential property taxes as cal- holding numerous meetings to dis- Mr. Chadwick’s proposals of valet don’t have any control over” accord- culated by the Division of Local Gov- cuss the possibilities. parking or regulated traffic within the ing to Mayor Colleen Mahr (see Ted ernment Services. However, this pre- Arirang is a restaurant located at parking lot. Garwood BOE Hires Resnick Ritter’s article on page 10). ventative measure does little to coun- 1230 Route 22, West. Behind Arirang, Mr. Chadwick also suggested in- Such measures are a part of Govenor teract that “this budget directly in- parallel to Route 22, lies Beech Av- corporating a buffer to accommodate Corzine’s “Financial Restructuring creases people’s property tax and in- enue, a heavily populated, residential the nearby residents, because of the For Interim Bus. Admin. and Debt Reduction Plan.” Mr. creases people’s utility bills” while district. Many residents of Beech increased business the banquet hall By RAYNOR DENITZIO pre-school special education program Corzine said measures, such as the “not going far enough in more effi- Avenue and the surrounding area op- would potentially generate, and the Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and the principal vacancy at the Lin- budget cuts, were to account for the ciently spending people’s money,” posing the application have regularly traffic that would increase in the resi- GARWOOD — The board of edu- coln School.

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