The BOE business. Serving our Community Board approves budget, Since 1888 Item Glenwood gets principal. March 30, 2006 Page A12. 75 cents weekly of Millburn and Short Hills www.theitemonline.com MUNICIPAL Mall lawsuit set to proceed By Patricia Harris undervalued for tax purposes, in of The Item light of a mortgage its owners The Township Committee secured last year. Under state Tuesday authorized its tax attor- statute, a municipality can file an ney to file a property tax appeal appeal against a property owner challenging the 2006 assessment if it believes the assessor’s valua- for The Mall at Short Hills. The tion is too low. township is named as plaintiff Township officials had sought and the mall as defendant. a meeting earlier this month with The governing body took the representatives of the Taubman action in a special open meeting Company, owners of the Mall at that followed a closed session Short Hills, in an effort to learn held earlier that evening with the more about the mall’s valuation. township’s tax attorney, John Despite the township’s overtures, Lloyd. The special meeting was however, that meeting never took necessitated by an April 1 dead- place. line, which is Saturday, for filing A handful of residents attend- property tax appeals. ed Tuesday’s 20-minute session. The litigation is intended to When it came time for public obtain information that will be comment, the Committee was useful in pinpointing the appro- tight-lipped. priate valuation of the mall for Members repeatedly declined the township’s 2007 assessment. The concern is that the mall is SEE MALL, PAGE B11 TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE Incumbent to try ADAM ANIK/THE ITEM for another term Isobel and Harvey Kahn show their family room, added in 1962 and designed to blend in with the character of their pre- Revolutionary War house. Their Millburn Avenue home, known as “The Hessian House,” will go on sale this week, and township Township Committeewoman than April 10. officials are seeking to buy it and convert it into a museum. Sandra H. Haimoff, a Republi- The primary can, has announced she will seek election will a second three-year term on the take place HISTORIC PRESERVATION municipality’s governing body. Tuesday, June The five-member Committee 6, and the gen- will have one open seat this year. eral election Linda Seelbach, vice chairman will take place Town eyes pre-Revolutionary of the township’s Republican Tuesday, Nov. Committee and its acting leader, 7. said Monday the Committee held Haimoff In related a screening meeting March 13 news, Nicolas War house for conservation and unanimously nominated Romano, chairman of the town- Haimoff as its candidate. No oth- ship’s Democratic Committee, er nominations were entered, she said Monday he expects to By Patricia Harris 155 Millburn Ave., is scheduled to house has been connected with the and she has spoken with a number said. announce the Democratic candi- ofTheItem go on the market Tuesday. The American Revolution. of individuals who may be able to “We think Sandy is a superior date for the Committee seat next Township Committeewoman asking price will be $1,150,000, Haimoff said this week she is help. candidate and has completed her week. Sandra Haimoff has stepped up according to Haimoff. leaving no stone unturned in her She said she is also exploring first term with distinction,” Seel- He said six residents had efforts to secure funding for the The house, owned by longtime efforts to find funding. She has the possibility of obtaining a grant bach said. “She merits another expressed interest in running for township to purchase an historic residents Harvey and Isobel Kahn, brainstormed with members of the from a private foundation, term.” the Committee and were inter- house and convert it into a muse- dates from the 1730s and is one of subcommittee of the Historic although the grants are given in Candidates’ petitions for the viewed by a group of approxi- um. the township’s oldest structures. Preservation Commission working primary election must be filed The Hessian House, located at Located near Vaux Hall Road, the on protecting historic properties, SEE TOWN, PAGE B11 with the municipal clerk no later SEE INCUMBENT, PAGE B11 SCHOOLS SCHOOL ELECTION State aid to pay Board of Ed candidates sound off The Item invited all seven can- B.D. Drayton Jr. David Dwyer Ralph J. Inglese for new hires didates for three open seats on Oak Hill Road resident B.D. Oxford Drive residents Dave Ralph Inglese and his wife, Lau- the Board of Education to visit Drayton Jr. is a former financial Dwyer and his wife, Helen, have rie, live on Highland Avenue. They By Harry Trumbore the offices this week in prepara- analyst who boasts he “has never four children: two in preschool and have a daughter who attends Mill- “We can appropriate the funds tion for the April 18 school board been divorced” and has no chil- two in Hartshorn School. Dave, a burn High School, a son at the ofTheItem to revenues without affecting the elections. dren in the school system. financial analyst, shares a Web site middle school and another son at During the past two months, budget cap, and we are doing A summary of their comments B.D. Drayton Jr. would like to with Liz O’Brien and Ralph Hartshorn School. Ralph, a man- Robert Zeglarski, assistant super- that,” Zeglarski said. “We will be follows. see the public school system com- Inglese at MillburnCORE.com. aging director for a French bank, intendent for business, warned adding positions.” This year three seats with full pletely overhauled. Dwyer would like to be part of a shares a Web site with Dave the delay in the governor’s mes- Superintendent of Schools three-year terms will be available “Public schools are on their way Board of Education that can work Dwyer and Liz O’Brien at Mill- sage regarding state aid for edu- Richard Brodow told the audi- on the board. The terms of board out,” he said, “like department cooperatively and arrive at a con- burnCORE.com. cation might have a serious ence the AAEA funds will allow members Ronni Schuman- stores and newspapers.” sensus. Inglese said he is running for the impact on the budget for the the district to add English and sci- Brown, Alfred Trafford and The goal of the Millburn school “That doesn’t mean we can’t Board of Education because he is 2006-07 school year. ence teaching positions at the Joshua Scharf are up this year. district, according to Drayton, demand more accountability,” he concerned that the community is It did. The delay, however, was high school, part-time basic skills Polling places will be open should be a concentration on col- said. “That doesn’t mean we can’t nearing the “tipping point.” worth the wait. instructors at the middle school from 2 to 9 p.m. on April 18. lege preparatory courses. mold it into something more man- “I’m concerned about taxes,” he At Monday night’s Board of and Deerfield and Hartshorn ele- He would go so far as to ageable.” said, “and I see a lot of homes on Education meeting and public mentary schools, an additional hearing on the proposed $72.3 teacher at Hartshorn, Glenwood SEE DRAYTON, PAGE A15 SEE DWYER, PAGE A15 SEE INGLESE, PAGE A15 million budget, Zeglarski and South Mountain elementary announced the final draft of the schools and an instructional budget includes a windfall of supervisor at Hartshorn. Janet Brief Landau Samuel D. Levy Elizabeth A. O’Brien Dr. Mark Jay Zucker $253,102 in state Above Average Janet Landau and her husband, Sam Levy and his wife, Robin, Liz O’Brien is a local real estate Dr. Mark Zucker and his wife, Enrollment Aid (AAEA). SEE STATE, PAGE B11 Mark, live on Robert Drive. They live on Browning Road and have attorney and lives on Forest Drive Judith Jacobs, live on Long Hill have a daughter and a son attend- three children: one in Hartshorn with her husband, Paul Fried. They Drive and have two sons who ing Millburn High School and School, one in preschool and one have two daughters in the middle attend Deerfield School. Zucker, another daughter at Far Brook toddler. Levy, an attorney with a and high schools and a son at the director of the Heart Failure Spring forward, School who will attend Millburn Wall Street law firm, has a Web site Glenwood School. Treatment and Transplant Pro- Middle School next year. Landau, at samlevy.com. She shares a Web site with Dave gram at Newark Beth Israel Med- don’t think who has experience as a banker, Levy wants to ensure that the Dwyer and Ralph Inglese at Mill- ical Center has a Web site at retail buyer and teacher has a Web district schools are up to speed for burnCORE.com. mjzucker.com. of falling back site at votelandau.org. the 21st century world. O’Brien makes no apologies for Zucker said he would bring Landau believes Millburn “What are the educational skills running on a slate with two fellow “diversity” and a rational sense of Daylight Saving Time begins Township is defined by the school that will be important?” he asked. members of the grass roots group analysis to the Board of Education. Sunday at 2 a.m. Don’t forget system. “The schools should explore the WeLoveMillburn. He has watched a health care to turn your clocks ahead “It’s in our DNA to value edu- jobs or profession that the world “We share a common vision,” system reinvent itself because of cation,” she said.