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BLUE DEVIL C. BARBER, COUGAR WEISS PLACE SECOND; COUGARS MURRAY, MARKOVITCH 3RD

Blue Devil Bulger, Raider Tufaro Grab Region 3 Mat TitlesBy DAVID B. CORBIN

Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

One hundred and sixty eightindividuals began competing atthe Region 3 Tournament in Unionon February 27, but when all wassaid and done, only three in eachof the 14 weight classes qualifiedfor the NJSIAA Tournament,which begins tomorrow, March8, at Boardwalk Hall in AtlanticCity (AC) and continues throughSunday, March 10.

Scotch Plains-Fanwood HighSchool senior heavyweight An-thony Tufaro earned his secondRegion 3 title, and Westfield BlueDevil senior Brian Bulgeremerged as the 182-lb cham-pion. Blue Devil Colin Barber(152-lbs) and Cranford CougarJeff Weiss (220-lbs) each placedsecond, while Cougars GavinMurray (132-lbs) and CoreyMarkovitch (182-lbs) both placedthird.

Tufaro began his move to thetitle with an 11-2, majority deci-sion over Tyler Calderone (SouthPlainfield – SoP). Tufaro foundsuccess three times with a dev-astating double-leg takedownthen added some finesse for an-other takedown.

“I just started hitting it re-cently. It works! I tried to go fora little trip in the beginning, buthe got loose. I was getting tired.I saw that I could touch his legsand I could get in there for ashot,” Tufaro explained.

Next on his list would be an-other showdown with Blue DevilKyle Kania in the semifinals.

“He’s a good wrestler. I feel if Ican take my shots, I can beathim,” Tufaro said. “Stay awayfrom the Jap [Whizzer]!”

Tufaro added some flare to histakedown repertoire with anankle pick that brought Kania tohis back for a fall in 1:46.

In his title bout with Rod Cenat(Columbia – Cb), Tufaro show-cased his quickness with a pair of

spin-behind takedowns to grab a5-3 victory.

“When he shot for it, I knew it,and I can sprawl pretty fast, so I

spun around got the two. I lethim up. He shot again, and I spunaround and got the two again,”Tufaro explained.

Previously, Kania defeated An-thony Rizzolo (Watchung Hills –WH) in a 6-2 tiebreaker then he

edged Kris Lewis (Union), 4-3.Kania lost his bid for AC when hedropped a 4-3 ultimate tiebreakerto Joe Romero (Elizabeth – E) inthe wrestleback semis.

Despite his stunning 4-3 loss

to Jeff Velez (Brearley – Br) inthe District 11 finals, Bulger re-ceived the top seed. After pin-ning Matt Fastiggi of Madison(Mad) on February 27 in 1:42,he pinned Steve Webb(Whippany Park – WP) in 1:55and Mick Pizzuta (Parsippany –P) in 1:19 to reach the champi-onship bout against Velez. Withthe help of a pair of batteringtakedowns, Bulger got his re-venge with a 6-4 decision.

“I really wanted revenge. I wasangry about that loss. I don’tknow how to describe it. I justwanted a takedown, so I took it.I put everything I could into itand attacked him. I think he wasmore tired than me. He actuallyscored off my shot, a front headto a single to a double. He wasn’tsetting anything up on me,”Bulger said.

Colin Barber, seeded first, beatJoe Tavoso (Delbarton – Del), 7-2, then had quite a battle withBrian Matthews (Roselle Park –RP) but pulled out a 6-4, threeovertime (OT) victory to advanceto the title bout and ensure a tripto AC.

“The kid had a kind of awkwardstance. It was hard to get to hislegs. It was hard to open up withhis stance. Once the match wenton, I was using my shots and Itook him down,” Barber said.

Looking to his bout with DylanPainton (SoP), Barber said, “Ihave a tough competitor. There’smore need to open up, be active,it should be a fun match.”

This bout also went to OT wherePainton won, 2-1, although Bar-ber did hit a devastating lateraldrop that was ruled out of bounds.

Weiss, seeded third, met an oldfoe in the quarterfinals with ALJohnson’s Ed Olenick. Weiss re-corded a pair of takedowns to

Probitas Verus Honos

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Story on page 11

of The Westfield Leader

David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The TimesUNDER CONTROL…Cougar Corey Markovitch, top, has Kyle Dotey (Middlesex) all wrapped up in his 182-lbquarterfinal bout. Markovitch placed third to earn a trip to the NJSIAA Tournament in Atlantic City.





win, 5-2.“It was a really tough match. I

wrestled him twice before earlierin the season. He’s a bull! I gaveit my all. I worked my butt off inpractice. Coach wrestled me allweek to make sure my condi-tioning was up. I was a little tiredat the end. I wanted to controlmy breathing, but I kept movingto try to get a win. That’s what Idid,” Weiss said.

Next, Weiss bumped DonavanMantone (Mad), 5-3, to facetop-seeded AJ Iarussi (Summit).The two football players battledto a 1-1 tie in regulation, butIarussi managed a takedown towin, 3-1.

Markovitch won his eliminationbout with D’yvetnot Beaublane(Irvington) in 2:36. Next, he con-trolled Kyle Dotey (Middlesex)with his bread and butter grape-vines and tilts but managed onlya 1-0 victory.

“Even though I wasn’t able to

score on him, I still kind of won,because he was much more tiredfor the next period,” Markovitchexplained.

Next on his list was anotherbout with Velez (Brearley).

“I was just focusing on thismatch, trying to get this matchout of the way, so I can seeVelez. I have been looking at thetapes, so I am going in thereready to wrestle as hard as Ican,” Markovitch said.

Both wrestled well, but Veleztallied a takedown in overtime towin, 7-5. Markovitch recoveredto win both of his wrestlebackbouts to place third.

After losing, 12-6, to second-seeded Nick Anderson (Del) inhis opening bout, Cougar Murrayhad to earn his trip to AC in thewrestlebacks, beginning with a3-2 win over Nick Abbott (Sum-mit) and a 10-7 win over Chris-tian Signorelli (Parsippany Hills –PH). The only figure to stand

between him and the trip southwas Blue Devil Matt Barber.

Barber advanced to the Gangof Eight with a 4:45 fall overBrian Mooney (ALJ). After losingto top-seeded Scott DelVecchio(SoP), he won the battle of per-sistence with a 5-3, ultimatetiebreaker (UTB) over AnthonyCanfora (Seton Hall Prep – SHP).

“I knew I was more conditionedthan he. He was good at defense,and he was defending most ofmy shots, which wore him out alot. That’s what killed him. Hewasn’t as conditioned as me, andthat’s why I won. Third period isall heart,” Barber said.

Barber’s heart did it again, thistime with a 6-5 UTB over JoeZecca (Hanover Park – HP). Theshowdown with Murray was muchthe same. This time Murray cameout on top of a 2-1 TB.

“This bracket was loaded. Ev-ery kid here knows how to

Raider Hwt Tufaro, Blue Devil Brian Bulger (182-lbs) Win at Region 3 Mat Tournament

CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

Blue Devil Colin Barber

Panther Brian Matthews – 152-lbs

Cougar Niko Capello (145-lbs)

Anthony DiRosa – Watchung Hills

Tom Cunningham (SPF)

Jon Mele (GL) – 120-lbs





Rotondo advanced to thequarterfinals with a 7-5 deci-sion over Chris Forte(Morristown) but dropped hisnext two bouts.

On February 27, Cougar CoreyBirch was involved in a wild boutwith Isaac Antonelly (Barringer)and converted a takedown to atwo-point nearfall in overtime toclaim a 16-12 decision. Birch losthis next two bouts.

In his elimination bout, RaiderMatt Ridge got just what hewanted when New ProvidencePioneer Joe Ciarrocca engaged inan upper torso battle with him.Ridge then slammed him to themat with a lateral drop andgrabbed an 8-4 victory. Ridgelost in the first round wrestleback.

At 120-lbs, Raider TomCunningham clamped Dave Mupo(WH) in 3:43 before losing totop-seeded Jon Mele (GL), wholater destroyed Christian

wrestle. We met again the thirdtime this year. It was a grindagain. I did what I had to do,”Murray said.

Blue Devil Nick Arnold scoredthree takedowns in a 10-5 vic-tory over Luigi Giraldi (SoP) toadvance to the 195-lb semis.

“He was tough. I was havingtrouble getting my front head in.It was kind of a sloppy match,but I was lucky enough to getthose other takedowns. The first,I shot a double on him on theedge. [Second] We were fightinghard, but I was able to get inthere and take a shot on him witha nice angle,” Arnold explained.

After a loss to top-seeded ShaneHaddad (Governor Livingston –GL), Arnold was shocked, 12-5,by Raider Dan Van Brunt, whoshocked quite a few individualsprior to his loss to Nick Haboj(Mad) for third place.

Blue Devil Nick Velez, seededthird at 138-lbs, lost his bid for

AC with back-to-back losses.Raider Brian Lapham, seededfourth, defeated John Coler (ALJ),4-0, in the preliminary roundthen later recorded a 4-2 victoryin the wrestlebacks before beingeliminated by Travis Vasquez(Del), 10-5.

Blue Devil Nick Kalimtzis,seeded sixth at 106-lbs, waseliminated in the first roundwrestlebacks.

Seeded third at 160-lbs, Cou-gar Jim Dwyer recorded a 5-0victory over Colum Dougerty(Summit) to advance to thequarterfinals to face SteveLoevsky (RP) but lost, 3-2 inthree OT. Dwyer won his firstwrestleback but dropped his sec-ond to Inan Sikel (SoP).

Cougar Niko Capello, seededeighth at 145-lbs) lost hisquarterfinal bout, 2-1, to An-thony DiRosa (WH) then lost, 3-2, to Anthony Oliveri (HP) in thewrestlebacks. Blue Devil Nick


CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

Blue Devil Nick Kalimtzis

Ty Agaisse (Delbarton) – 106-lbs

Raider Brian Lapham (138-lbs)

Dylan Mulcahy (Chatham)

Cougar Jeff Weiss (220-lbs)

ALJ Crusader Ed Olenick






Raider heavyweight Anthony Tufaro – Blue Devil Kyle Kania Blue Devil Nick Velez (138-lbs)

Travis Vasquez (Delbarton)

Hwt Anthony Tufaro (SPF)

Rod Cenat (Columbia)

Blue Devil Colin Barber/Dylan Painton (South Plainfield) 152-lbs





Cr’s Giaccio QualifiesFor NCAA Tournament

Cranford High School 2011graduate, Joe Giaccio, wrestlingfor York College, won the 133-lbcrown at the Mideast RegionalChampionships to advance to theNCAA Tournament to be held inCedar Rapids, Iowa in mid March.

THIRD PLACE:106: — Casey Egan (Seton Hall Prep)113: — Nick Tekula (Linden)120: — Innarella (Delbarton)126: — Genaro Cuccolo (HP)132: — Murray (Cranford)138: — Christian Bassolino (HP)145: — Dan Reed (Delbarton)152: — Anthony Bassolino (HP)160: — Inan Sikel (SoP)170: — Phil Woods (Roselle Park)182: — Markovitch (Cranford)195: — Nick Haboj (Par. Hills)220: — Tory Russell (SoP)Hwt: — Nick LaShell (HP)

Innarella (Del – NJSIAA sixthplace in 2012), 17-6, and woundup placing second after droppinga 3-1, OT decision to returningstate champ Brenden Calas(SHP).

The February 27 action was anelimination round to determinethe final eight competitors in eachweight class. At 106-lbs, ALJ’sKyle Gregorio pulled off a 9-5,overtime victory. At 113-lbs, BlueDevil John Fuller dropped a 7-0decision to Alex Pollera (WH) andRaider JT Bernie lost to MattMastrobuono (WP) via 18-3, techfall.

Blue Devil Kevin Frega gotpinned in 2:49 in his 170-lb boutwith Christophe Auriemma (Cb).Cougar Rob Kessler got stuck in3:24 at 195-lbs by Matt Valazquez

(Par). ALJ’s Charlie Hudak ekedout a 4-3 decision in his firstround at 126-lbs.

CHAMPIONSHIP:160: — Joseph Johnson (Del) d JohnBalboni (Br)170: — Joe Balboni (Br) d MikeCarroccia (WH), 7-2182: — Bulger (W) d Velez (Br), 6-4195: — Haddad (GL) md Nick D’Uva(P.H.), 14-4220: — Iarussi (S) d Weiss (C), 3-1 OTHwt: — Tufaro (SPF) d Cenat (Cb), 5-3106: — Ty Agaisse (Del) d Requir vander Merwe (Mt. Lakes), 3-1113: — Nick Farro (Del) md Dan Hedden(SoP), 12-4120: — Calas (SHP) d Mele (GL), 3-1 OT126: — Corey Strasenko (SoP) d MikeMegaldo (WH), 5-2132: — DelVecchio (SoP) d Anderson(Del), 5-2138: — Anthony Ashnault (SoP) p MattCoppola (WH), 4:40145: — Troy Heilmann (SoP) p DiRosa(WH), 1:58152: — Painton (SoP) d Barber (W), 2-13 OT



Blue Devil Nick Arnold – 195-lbs

Luigi Giraldi (So. Plainfield)

Jon Mele (GL) 120-lbs

Brenden Calas (Seton Hall Prep)

Blue Devil Matt Barber (132-lbs)

Anthony Canfora (Seton Hall Prep)





MCGOVERN NETS 18 PTs; MAUCIONE KEY RBS, 11 PTs, McCOY HITS 12, GOELLER SINKS 9

Cougars Topple Highlanders for Section Hoops Title, 56-51By DAVID B. CORBIN

Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

“Three” was a charm for theGovernor Livingston High Schoolbasketball girls when they de-feated Cranford in the UnionCounty Tournament, after losingtwice to them during the regularseason, and went on to win thetitle. But “four” was a charm forthe Lady Cougars when theyseized the initiative from the startand held on to defeat the 23-5Highlanders for the North Jer-sey, Section 2, Group 3 Champi-onship in Berkeley Heights onMarch 4.

Unlike in the previous threegames, when both teams suf-fered hot and cold spells, the 20-8 Cougars maintained their scor-ing momentum throughout.

“Against Iselin-Kennedy, wecame out strong and we wantedto prove, even though we lost tothem in counties, we are thebetter team. We are going to go3-1 against you. Counties is brag-ging rights! States is what actu-ally matters! The fact that we aregoing out with a sectional cham-pionship says a lot about ourteam,” senior point guard JennaGoeller said.

Senior Kaitlin McGovern scoredeight of her game-leading 18points in the first quarter, andGoeller finished with nine points,including two 3-pointers. SeniorJess McCoy, who finished with 12points, sent a message earlywhen she banged a 3-pointer toforce the Highlanders, trailing 7-2, to call a timeout with 5:25 left

in the first quarter. Junior CarlyMaucione sank five of her 11points in the first quarter. JuniorKerry Wischusen kept momen-tum on the Cougars’ side whenshe hit a 3-pointer to start thesecond quarter.

“The big difference in this gamecompared to all the games weplayed was we came out and wewanted it from the beginning.We played our hardest,” McCoysaid.

However, all was not roses forthe Cougars. Despite holding a12-point lead entering the fourthquarter, all three seniors even-tually fouled out, and the High-landers closed the gap to 46-40with 3:57 remaining. ButMaucione slowed the slide withthree crucial rebounds, especially

the first when she was fouled,sent to the charity line and sankboth free throws.

Maucione, who finished withseven rebounds and three as-sists, sealed the deal when shewent to the line again and nailedanother two free throws withless than seven seconds left.Just before the seal of the deal,Megan Pringle came off the benchand took a charge from High-lander Erin Ferguson with 33.6on the clock. Junior MaireadMcKeary (3 points) added tena-cious defense, especially in thesecond half.

“Carly came up so big with thefree throws and the rebounds.She really was on her game. Weneeded her, especially when wethree fouled out. That was a tough

one. We also need to give Kerrycredit. We need to give Maireadcredit and Megan [Pringle] com-ing in and taking that charge onFerguson. Everyone stepped upbig,” Goeller said.

“The last minutes, we got intofoul trouble. It was like the long-est minutes in all of our lives. Butthe way we have been playingthe entire game set the tempo.All the underclassmen, who camein, pulled together. Carly, Megan,Mairead played tight defense. Icouldn’t be prouder of them,”McCoy said.

McGovern also played tight de-fense and finished with severaltipped throws and blocked shots.

“Not as much as last game, butI was trying to keep up the tips

CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The Times

On left, Cougar Kaitlin McGovern hugs Megan Pringle after winning the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 Tournament on March 4. Cougar Jenna Goeller guards GL’s Alisa Cranston, No. 10.

Story on page 13






and blocks. I am so happy to goout like this. I was actually cry-ing. It was really at the end. Itwasn’t the seniors, who broughtit home. It was the underclass-

men. It’s great for them. It’s notabout us. It’s great for every-one,” McGovern said.Cranford 18 10 16 12 56Gov. Livingston 13 8 11 19 51

Cougars Topple GL Highlanders





By DAVID B. CORBINSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

Senior leadership led the sixth-seeded, 17-8 Cranford HighSchool girls basketball team to asomewhat smooth, 42-32, vic-tory over 10-13 Roxbury in thefirst round of the North Jersey,Section 2, Group 3 Tournamentin Cranford on February 26.

Although they had a choppystart with the Roxbury Gaels, theLady Cougars, trailing 4-0, foundtheir flow when senior point guardJenna Goeller banged the first ofher three 3-pointers of the firstquarter, which Cranford won, 9-5. Senior forward Jess McCoyassisted on all three 3-pointers.

“At the beginning, our coacheven said our tempo was way tooup. You always need that oneshot to get us going, and weweren’t getting that. I took likean NBA three and it rimmed out,but once I hit my first shot, it goteveryone going, including my-self,” Goeller said.

“We definitely started off rough.We started really playing ourgame when Jenna started get-ting her shots. I think she had allour points in the first quarter. Weplayed strong defensively. Wewere a little weak rebounding,”

McCoy said.Goeller hit an additional 3-

pointer to finish the game with12 points, while adding four as-sists, a steal and a pair of re-bounds. McCoy got into the scor-ing act from the second quarteronward and finished with a game-high 20 points, while accumulat-ing four assists, four steals, twotips that led to steals, and sixrebounds. Senior center KaitlinMcGovern had six rebounds, twosteals, a blocked shot, an assistand two points.

“Even though they were a lowerseed than us, we still thoughtthey would be a good team, andthey were actually. So we didn’twant to be too confident, but Ithink we came out slow at first,”McGovern said.

The Cougars added three more3-pointers to win the secondquarter, 17-8. Junior KerryWischusen (5 rebounds, steal,two tips, 2 assists), McCoy andGoeller each sank the threes.McCoy also hit three of four fromthe free throw line to total six

SENIORS McCOY HITS 20 POINTS, GOELLER NETS 12 POINTS, McGOVERN GRABS 6 REBOUNDS

Cougars Rap Roxbury Gaels in Girls Hoops Section, 42-32points. Goeller assisted McCoyon her 3-pointer and MaireadMcKeary (3 points, 2 rebounds,steal) on a lay-up.

“I give her shots and she givesme shots. She gets me the ball.I get her the ball, and we try toget it to Katie,” Goeller said.

Goeller added two more assistsin the third quarter and the re-cipients were McCoy and CarlyMaucione, whose dogged defen-sive presence earned her foursteals, two blocked shots andfour rebounds. The Cougars won

the quarter, 8-7, and McCoy againwent 3-for-4 from the line.

The Cougars did run into somefoul trouble and McCoy even drewher fourth foul midway throughthe third quarter, but it neverbecame a factor in the game.

“We are aggressive on defense.I know, especially for me thisgame, they were bad fouls notgood giveaways, but it workedout. It came together in the end.We got a lot of fast breaks,”McCoy said.

McCoy scored all eight of theCougars’ points in the fourthquarter and hit two more freethrows to finish 7-for-8 (88 per-cent) from the line.

Lauren Kornmann led the Gaelswith 13 points. Tara Leonard sankseven points and Brittany Casolahad six points.

The Cougars’ next opponentwas to be at Iselin-Kennedy onFebruary 28.

“I know that I haven’t beenhitting as many shots the lastcouple of games, so I think thefirst half got my confidence backon the outside. As a team for thenext game, which may be Iselin-Kennedy, I know we are going tocome out strong, because wewant this section,” Goeller said.

The Cougars did, indeed, comeout strong in the quarterfinalround and jumped on the 26-2Lady Mustangs with a 20-9, first-quarter lead en route to a 50-45victory.

Wischusen sank three 3-point-ers and led the Cougars with 11points, while McCoy and Maucione(two 3-pointers) each put in 10points. McGovern rolled in ninepoints, Goeller scored eight pointsand McKeary added two points.Roxbury 5 8 7 12 32Cranford 9 17 8 8 42

Cranford 20 10 9 11 50Kennedy 9 12 12 12 45

Westfield LeaderNewspapers AvailableWith Cranford Sports

and Other News

at Miln Street Market103 Miln Street

David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The TimesDRIVING AROUND A GAEL…Cougar Jess McCoy dribbles around a Gael defender in the opening round of the NorthJersey, Section 2, Group 3 Tournament in Cranford on February 26.

Story on page 13






By DELL SIMEONESpecially Written for The Westfield Leader

CRANFORD – The CranfordTownship Committee heard thelast round of reports by depart-ment heads presenting their ten-tative budgets for 2013. The de-partments represented at themeeting were: health, recreationand pool, financial, engineeringand utilities, and administrative.

In a March 1 memo to the town-ship committee obtained by TheWestfield Leader, Cranford InterimAdministrator Joseph Hartnett saidthis year’s preliminary municipalbudget is $34,292,514, represent-ing an increase of $322,476, or0.95 percent, over 2012. A total of$21,303,085 would be raised intaxes, an increase of $460,343, or1.96 percent, over last year.

According to Mr. Hartnett, thekey factor influencing taxes thisyear is the loss of two items on therevenue side of the budget. Theyare a tax abatement payment fromCranford Crossing of $400,000 anda reserve of debt service of$135,000, which was available lastyear but not this year. Informa-tion sent to The Leader by Mr.Hartnett indicated that an amountof surplus was used to keep thetax increase below the 2 percenttax cap. The amount of state aid isexpected to be the same as lastyear at $2,900,112.

At last week’s budget meeting,Megan Avallone, health officer withthe Westfield Regional Health De-partment, told the committee thatthe free rabies clinic, which washeld recently at the Cranford Com-munity Center, was a huge suc-cess. She also said that homevisits to the elderly was also asuccessful program.

Mr. Hartnett said that changesmight be made to the way thetownship handles health services.He said the township has dis-cussed hiring a full-time healthinspector, as well as a full-timeregistrar. Cranford joined theWestfield regional department

after its health officer, WarrenHehl, resigned to become healthofficer with the Rahway HealthDepartment.

Such a move would enable thedepartment to better deliver healthservices, he added. The depart-ment operates a clinic for childrenages 2 to 18 who are not coveredby health insurance. The servicesoffered include examinations, im-munizations, health and nutritionalguidance.

Mayor Tom Hannen suggestedadvertising the services so the resi-dents are aware of the programsavailable to them at little or nocost. The health department bud-get for this year comes in at ap-proximately $277,958, includingsalaries.

Stephen Robertazzi, director ofRecreation, Parks and Pools, toldthe committee that this year Com-munity Block Grants from the NewJersey Department of CommunityAffairs were cut. He said the grantfor the Handy Man program, whichinvolves making minor repairs tothe homes of senior citizens, wascut from $14,000 to $10,000. Hesaid seniors who need more sig-nificant repairs are referred to thecounty. He also said the socialservices grant went from $16,000to $12,690. He added that federalgrants were cut across the board.

Mr. Robertazzi said the depart-ment maintains two senior buses,drivers and a backup van. He saidapproximately 75 seniors use thebuses for in-town and out-of-townshopping.

Mayor Hannen asked if the an-nual Fourth of July fireworks dis-play would take place this year towhich Mr. Robertazzi said it wouldbe held. He also said the indoorand outdoor pools will operatemuch as they did last year. He saidpool enrollment is down a little,but that the number is not signifi-cant.

Mr. Hartnett suggested takinganother look at Cranford West, apiece of property on the banks of

Gino Jannotti for The Westfield LeaderGOP…Republicans gathered Monday night for the Union County GOP Convention at The Westwood in Garwood to showtheir support for Governor Chris Christie, left, including seated, left to right, Senator Tom Kean, Jr. (R-21, Westfield),Assemblyman Jon Bramnick (R-21, Westfield) and Assemblywoman Nancy Munoz (R-21, Summit).

Silver Lake, which was leased bythe township in Hope Township,Warren County for outdoor recre-ation and camping. He said he wasconcerned about the lack of su-pervision or management at thesite, which could cause liabilityproblems for Cranford.

Mr. Robertazzi said the propertyis used by 100 residents annually.Mayor Hannen said he would liketo keep it going, but agreed to lookat options concerning thetownship’s liability. Mr. Robertazzisaid the recreation budget is ap-proximately $350,000 and thepool’s budget is $1.8 million.

Township Engineer Rick Marsdenasked the committee to fund two

part-time summer interns at thecost of $8,000 to do upgrading ofstorm water maps, surveying andinventory.

“We have stuff that gets piled upthrough the year,” he said. He alsosaid it would cost about $20,000 ayear to maintain the CranfordCrossing parking garage.

Mr. Hartnett suggested hiring aparking professional to handle thedowntown parking arrangements.Mr. Marsden said improvementswere needed in lighting, curbs,

roads and sidewalks.He also cautioned the commit-

tee about the practice of not moni-toring the use of gasoline pumpsat the department of public works.Mr. Marsden said the total budgetrequest, not including salaries, is$316,000.

Steve Wardell, the supervisor ofpublic works, said his budget is$2.5 million, including salaries.

The finance department was rep-resented by acting Chief FinancialOfficer (CFO) Ken DeRoberts andDeputy CFO Ronald Angelo, whotold the committee that the sur-plus in this year’s budget is $8.5million, as opposed to last year’s$2.4 million.

Cranford Township Committee Hears Department Budget Reports






GW Planning Board OK’sCO for 2-Family on Oak St.

By MEGAN K. SCOTTSpecially written for the Westfield Leader

GARWOOD – The borough’s plan-ning board last week approved acertificate of non-conformity for atwo-family home on Oak Streetafter an extensive discussion aboutwhether the property ownersneeded to apply for the permit inthe first place.

Robert Dill and his wife appliedfor the variance despite alreadyhaving a certificate of occupancyfor their home that was subse-quently zoned in an area thatprohibits multi-family dwellings.The couple purchased the homeas a multi-family dwelling in 1983,with Mrs. Dill’s mother living in theupstairs apartment for 22 yearsuntil her passing in 2006.

It remained vacant since, whilethe Dills made renovations andrepairs and searched for a suitabletenant.

The discussion at the February27 meeting ensued when boardmember Kathleen Villaggio askedwhy the application needed to beheard.

The Dills were attempting to sellthe home when a prospectivebuyer asked for a new certificateof occupancy to complete thetransaction. The Dills’ real estateagent, Ileen Cuccaro, said shesought out Borough Engineer Vic-tor Vinegra, who informed herthat the certificate of non-confor-mity was needed to obtain thenew certificate of occupancy.

Ms. Cuccaro also said subse-quent inquiries to other boardmembers, whom she did not iden-tify, confirmed Mr. Vinegra’s in-structions. Mr. Vinegra did notreturn a call seeking comment.

“My feeling is that anyone thathad the zone changed out fromunderneath them should begrandfathered and a certificateissued at no cost and certainly notwhat the town required,” Ms.

Cuccaro said in an e-mail.Board member and Borough

Councilman Bill Nierstedt arguedat the meeting that the certifi-cate of non-conformity was un-necessary and all that was neededwas a new inspection for theissuance of a certificate of occu-pancy.

“If a property owner has a COfor a use that is not permitted inthat zone, that CO protects thatuse going forward and there is noneed for an application for a cer-tificate of non-conformity,” Mr.Nierstedt said.

The Dills were in attendance atthe meeting and – because of theconfusion – asked that their appli-cation be heard to expedite thesale. While board members ap-peared unsure if they should hearthe matter, the Dills asked for thehearing in order to complete thesale without the possibility of hav-ing to appear again.

The panel ceded and voted unani-mously to approve the applica-tion. Mr. Nierstedt abstained, laterexplaining he did not want to set aprecedent by voting and thereforeappearing to endorse the neces-sity for such an application.

Because of the uncertainty, Mr.Nierstedt said he is organizing ameeting to resolve the confusionover the procedure for issuing thecertificates of non-conformity. Themeeting is to include himself, Con-struction Official Richard Belluscio,Mr. Vinegra, Board Chairman SteveGreet, Board Secretary AdeleLewis, Board Attorney Don Fraser,Borough Attorney Bob Renaud andBorough Engineer Don Guarriello.

The meeting also is to resolveinspection conflicts between Mr.Vinegra and Mr. Guarriello.

In other matters, Mr. Greet ap-pointed a four-member redevel-opment committee including him-self, Garwood Mayor Patricia Quat-trocchi, Ms. Villaggio and planningboard member Gene Jannotti.

By PAUL J. PEYTONSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

GARWOOD — The Union CountyRepublican Committee on Mon-day named their candidates forstate Senate and General As-sembly in legislative districts 20,21 and 22 as well as pickingcandidates for the Board of Cho-sen Freeholders.

The hour-plus convention, heldat The Westwood in Garwood,began with the nomination ofChris Christie for a second term.The Governor gave as 30-minutespeech at the start of the con-vention, thanking the county GOPfor being the first in the state toback his campaign for governorin 2009.

“I want to do this job for an-other four years because I knowour work isn’t finished,” the Gov-ernor told covention attendees.“... If you lock arms with me, wewe will win this fight in Novemberand we will win the bigger fight torestore our state to greatness.”

County GOP Committee mem-bers backed incumbents, SenatorTom Kean, Jr. and AssemblymanJon Bramnick of Westfield, theRepublican/minority leaders oftheir respective houses, and As-semblywoman Nancy Munoz ofSummit in district 21 for re-elec-tion. Mr. Kean has served in theSenate for 10 years after previ-ously being an Assemblyman for ayear-and-a-half. Mr. Bramnick hasserved in the Assembly since 2003.

In District 22, currently repre-sented by Democrats SenatorNicholas Scutari of Linden, As-semblywoman Linda Stender ofScotch Plains and AssemblymanJerry Green of Plainfield, the GOPbacked former Middlesex BoroughMayor Robert Sherr for Senateand John Campbell, Jr. of Plainfieldand former Middlesex BoroughCouncilman Jeffrey First for As-

sembly. Mr. First, a nursing homeadministrator, ran unsuccessfullyfor Assembly in 2011. Mr.Campbell is a graduate of BostonCollege and an entrepreneur, ac-cording to the Union County Ur-ban League website, of which hereceived an Urban League “I amEmpowered” award in 2011.

Mr. Sherr served 30 years asdirector of health for the WestfieldRegional Health Department be-fore retiring at the end of 2008.He served as Middlesex mayorfrom November 2009 to Decem-ber 2011, according to hisLinkedIn account.

In District 20, currently repre-sented by Democrats, SenatorRay Lesniak of Elizabeth, Assem-blyman Joseph Cryan of Unionand Assemblywoman AnnetteQuijano of Elizabeth, the GOPsupported John Donoso of Eliza-beth for Senate and Assemblycandidates Christopher Hackettand Charles Donnelly, both UnionTownship residents. Mr. Hackett,a 2012 Rutgers University gradu-ate, according to his Facebookpage, and Mr. Donnelly previ-ously ran for Union TownshipCommittee; Mr. Hackett in 2012and Mr. Donnelly in 2010.

Mr. Donoso, who ran for As-sembly in 2011, is a member ofthe Elizabeth Board of Educa-tion and is employed as a finan-cial advisor with JP MorganChase, according to his Eliza-beth BOE biography, and previ-ously was a field director forActing Governor DonaldDiFrancesco.

In the race for freeholder, theparty selected former SpringfieldTownship Committeeman MarcKrauss and Ira Geiger of Union, asubstitute teacher in UnionCounty and an outreach coordi-nator for conservative Republi-can campaigns and who holds a

master’s degree in education,according to his LinkedIn account.Mr. Krauss is senior program ana-lyst with Marine Corps SystemsCommand at Subsystem Tech-nologies, Inc., according to hisLinkedIn account.County GOP Chairman Phil Morinsaid the GOP executive commit-tee will select the third candidatefor freeholder and sheriff candi-date. The Union County RegularDemocratic Organization haspicked long-time Sheriff RalphFroehlich of Elizabeth for reelec-tion as well incumbent Freehold-ers Linda Carter of Plainfield andBette Jane Kowalski of Cranfordas well newcomer SergioGranados of Elizabeth. Mr.Granados replaces 19-year Free-holder Dan Sullivan on the Demo-cratic ticket.

Union County GOP SelectsCands. for Legislature, Freeholder

Garwood Knights PlanSt. Patrick’s Dinner

GARWOOD – The GarwoodKnights of Columbus will havetheir annual St. Patrick’s Dinneron Saturday, March 16, from 6 to10 p.m. at their council hall.

Tickets for the corned beef andcabbage dinner are $25 in ad-vance and will be $30 at thedoor. Included will be beer, wineand soda. DJ MO will providemusical entertainment.

Tickets can be purchased after4 p.m. weekdays at the councilhall, located at 37 South Avenue,Garwood, opposite PathMark.Parking is available behind theKnights hall, off Willow Avenue(turn at Marty Shoes).

Visitors are asked to use theside-door entrance. On week-ends, interested persons areasked to call (908) 789-9809first after 2 p.m. Further infor-mation also is available by call-ing (908) 789-9809.





CRANFORD – The Cranford His-torical Society will sponsor the“United States Secret Service:Sons of Cranford” display at theCranford Public Library duringthe month of March. The libraryis located at 220 Walnut Avenuein Cranford.

The exhibit features photo-graphs, documents and memo-rabilia about six Secret Serviceagents who lived in Cranford.John Baffa was the first Cranfordresident to become a Secret Ser-vice Special Agent, followed byRobert J. Kasdon, Thomas D.Sloan, James F. Sloan, RichardC. Harrington and Jose Riera.

Mr. Baffa’s most notable as-signments were protecting JesseJackson during his first run forPresident and serving as nationalcoordinator for the 1987 UnitedStates Papal visit of Pope JohnPaul II. He is now retired fromthe Secret Service.

Mr. Kasdon traveled extensivelyin support of the mission of theSecret Service. He participatedin five Presidential campaignsand served during the adminis-trations of five Presidents. Heretired in 1996.

Thomas D. Sloan is the first oftwo brothers from Cranford tobecome Secret Service agents.He served as Special Agent inCharge of the Baltimore FieldOffice, where he oversaw com-plex financial crimes investiga-tions. He also was responsiblefor the security of President Wil-liam Clinton and managed aninternational fraud task force. Heretired in 2001.

James F. Sloan, his olderbrother, served with the SecretService for 20 years. His mostnotable position was as DetailLeader on First Lady BarbaraBush while assigned to the Presi-dential Protective Division. Hedied on June 24, 2009 from

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis(Lou Gehrig’s disease).

Mr. Harrington served in theSecret Service’s Newark FieldOffice before transferring toWashington, D.C., where he wasassigned to various headquar-ter divisions. He retired in 2004but remains associated with theSecret Service as a technicalconsultant on matters of FieldOffice Security.

Mr. Riera has been with theSecret Service since 2000 andremains an active member as aSpecial Agent currently assignedto the Presidential Protection Di-vision.

Library hours are Mondaythrough Wednesday, 10 a.m. to8 p.m.; Thursday and Friday, 10a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday, 10a.m. to 4 p.m.

For further information, call theCranford Historical Society’s of-fice at (908) 276-0082 or [email protected] persons also may visitthe historical society’s websiteat cranfordhistoricalsociety.com.

Senior Club OffersTrip to Brownstone

GARWOOD – The Senior Citi-zen Club of Garwood invites thecommunity to join club memberson a trip to the Brownstone inPaterson on Wednesday, March20, to see the Jersey Dreamers.Included in the price will be aspecially prepared Italian-stylemeal and two complimentarydrinks.

The price for the trip is $45 perperson for club members and $47for non-members. The bus willleave the Garwood Firehouse at10 a.m. and will return at approxi-mately 5 p.m. For further informa-tion and registration, call MarySpina at (908) 789-0127.

Local Letters to the Editor

The procedure used to fill avacated municipal council seat,in partisan municipalities, ofwhich Garwood is one, is clearlyspelled out in N.J. State Statute(N.J.S.A. 40A:16 et seq). Thestatute states that within 15 daysthe municipal committee of thepolitical party vacating the seatsubmits the names of three nomi-nees to the governing body forthe selection of a successor to fillthe vacancy. The governing bodyshall then appoint one of thenominees as the successor to fillthat vacancy.

The Garwood GOP Committeesubmitted the names in a verytimely manner, within sevendays, the council members re-ceived the names a full six daysprior to the council meeting ofFebruary 26. The governing bodydeclined to make a selection atthat time. They will have to makea choice within 30 days of theresignation; this would be at thenext council meeting on March12 or the GOP Committee willthan choose one of the threeafter March 14.

The procedure is surely de-signed to be political in nature toprotect the interests of the reg-istered voters who elected theoutgoing council member — thisis undeniable.

Councilman Jim Mathieu, whowas quoted in The WestfieldLeader’s Feb. 28th edition anddescribed as the lone Republicanon the council, refers to his notbeing included in the selectionprocess and banned from theparty. It should be made clearthat there was not an obligationto include him as he is no longeran elected member of theGarwood Republican Committee,for good reason.Mr. Mathieu’s activities can onlybe considered as malfeasance ofduty when he has publicly an-

nounced that he did not vote forthe GOP candidates in the lasttwo general elections, but sup-ported the Democrats. He alsonominated and voted for Demo-crat council members for Councilpresident when two Republicancouncil members were availableand our Republican legislatorswere in the room, while he was aRepublican District Leader. Theseactivities of not supporting Re-publican candidates on all levelsare what led to his now deserv-edly being left on the outsidelooking in.

John QuattrocchiGarwood Republican Chairman

Garwood Councilman Is On The Outside

Garwood Posts BoroughNewsletter Online

GARWOOD — Mayor PatriciaQuattrocchi has announced thatthe first edition of the boroughnewsletter, The Garwood Ga-zette, is now available for view-ing on the borough website,www.garwood.org.

“We encountered some unfore-seen difficulties when we were readyto go to press, requiring that theprinting of the newsletter be post-poned. However, so as not to wastethe efforts of the volunteers, weare able to move forward with thedigital version,” the mayor said.

Mayor Quattrocchi explainedthat the newsletter containedsome time sensitive items so itmade sense to launch it onlineimmediately. “Hopefully futureeditions will commence landingin the residents’ mailboxesshortly and on a regular basis aswell,” she added.

“Our residents have been clam-oring for information pertainingmostly to borough activities thatthey could participate in, but alsoabout services that they can uti-lize,” the mayor said. “We will beupgrading our website in the nearfuture and are hoping that thecombination of a print newslet-ter, updated website, the bor-ough marquee on Center Streetand local media we will be able tokeep the borough population in-formed of what is going on in ourtown.”

The mayor also said she wantsto encourage residents to bringtheir questions, concerns and sug-gestions to her personally at coun-cil meetings or drop in on Mayor’sSaturdays, the third Saturday ofeach month when she is in heroffice from 10 a.m. to noon, withno appointment necessary.

UCC AnnouncesAdult School

CRANFORD - The Hypnosis Coun-seling Center with offices inBloomfield, Flemington andPrinceton will present a special setof workshops on Tuesday March12 for Smoking Cessation, WeightLoss and The Tuning Method atUnion County College, 1033Springfield Avenue, Cranford.

Barry Wolfson, who possessesa Master’s Degree in Counselingand 26 years of proven successin the art of hypnosis, will leadeach workshop.

The cost per workshop is $55.Registration begins immediately,and participants will be acceptedon a first come, first serve basis.

For further information, call(908) 709-7600. For informa-tion on Hypnosis techniques orother Hypnosis workshops, con-tact Barry Wolfson, HypnosisCounseling Center at (908) 996-3311 or visit hypnosisnj.com.


Cranford Historical SocietySpotlights Secret Service

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