The Villadom Times Weekly Newspaper Online-Jun 16, 2010 Issue

Page 14 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • June 16, 2010 Emmanuel asks... Can You Help? Our hat’s off to Glen Rock WICS (Women in Community Service) -- a great partner to ECF in our work to help families. WICS members just completed their bi-annual food drive, which netted over 130 bags of groceries. They also supported the Birthday Club by having their members create a complete kit for a child’s birthday party. If you are interested in this program, it’s a great way to involve your child in philanthropy. This family needs help: Bobby is 11 years old and has bone cancer in his leg. He is about to enter sixth grade after spending some time on home instruction because of his illness. When he is not in the hospital for chemotherapy, Bobby likes to spend his time at home on the computer and playing with Legos. Since there are no kids his age in his neighborhood, He 4-29-09 karen/janine he has to play by himself. but used to enjoy the interaction with friends in school, EmmanuelHelp2x.75(4-29-09) now he has to find his own fun. Bobby’s dad works, and his .75 3 xmom has taken on the full-time role of overseeing his medical care. Bobby has one older brother who will be entering high school at the end of the summer. Because of the income loss this family faced with mom out of work, they could use gift certificates to any chain grocery or department store. Our case worker is helping them find alternate resources, but your help is still needed. They have requested summer clothes for Bobby (adult size medium T-shirts). Bobby also likes board games of all types. We are able to make a difference with families like Bobby’s with your contribution to the Family Financial Assistance Program. With your continued donations of food and your financial support, ECF will continue to meet the needs of families like Bobby’s who might even be neighbors of yours. Please consider helping. We are also in need of a new, good quality copy machine for the Northern Regional Center. Save our van: A few years back, we were able to acquire a van due to the generosity of a local church. Since then, we have used the van to make countless deliveries of groceries and other items to ECF families. Now we need your help to keep the van in operation (maintenance, licensing, gas, and oil). If you want to help by contributing or by organizing a fundraiser, please let us know. Help us to help others! Event news: Please attend our Wine & Art Night in Franklin Lakes at the Endless Vine on the new date, Tuesday, June 29, from 7 to 9 p.m. The suggested donation is $40, and we expect this event to sell out quickly. The family Stroll-a-Thon will begin at 9 a.m. on Sat- urday, June 26 in Franklin Lakes. Call us for details and to reserve your tickets. To help: Volunteers are welcome to assist in the Regional Center as follows: Tuesday, 10 to 1; Wednesday and Friday, 10 to 5; Thursday, 2:30 to 5; and Saturday, 10 to 1. Call (201) 612-8118 before you stop by. Please do not leave items at the center without checking with us first. Our storage space is limited. Our current hours are Monday, 10 to 1; Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, 10 to 5; and Thursday, 10 to 2. The Northern Regional Center is located at 174 Paterson Avenue, Midland Park, NJ 07432. Visit us on the web at: www.emmanuelcancer. org. As always, thank you for helping the children and their families! November election challenge (continued from page 5) the general election. Bivona responded to Sciancalepore’s candidacy, saying, “I welcome the competition from the Independent candidate. As a lifelong Republican, I believe that this election is an important turning point for New Jersey. Franklin Lakes needs the strong Republican values that I will bring with my running mates, Nathalie Lota and Frank Pedone. The competition in November will give us the opportunity the express our views on how we will keep Franklin Lakes municipal tax rate the second lowest in Bergen County, reduce our debt, and improve services to our residents.” Sciancalepore has been a borough resident for 18 years. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Colorado and graduate teaching certification for grades K-8 from William Paterson University. She has been a substitute elementary school teacher in the Franklin Lakes school district and is a former staff assistant in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, DC. An outspoken critic of the council’s budget this year, Sciancalepore sees a sharp contrast in approach to fiscal management and transparency between the borough council and the local school board. She maintains that, because the school district budget must be approved by the voters, the school board spent hours debating various scenarios and outcomes of its budget, and when the school district’s state aid was cut by $1.3 million, the necessary adjustments were made to arrive at a budget with a 5.88 percent increase, which she described as lean. Sciancalepore claimed the state aid cuts to the borough were minimal by comparison, yet the initial borough budget showed a 12.5 percent increase, which was then reduced to a 10 percent increase. She criticized the council in public for coming up with a large budget increase in these hard economic times and she pondered whether the outcome of the budget would have been different if the borough budget had to be approved by the voters. The borough budget recently adopted by the council reflects a 4.2 percent increase in appropriations and a 1.8 cent (or 9.4 percent) increase in the borough’s property tax rate. Sciancalepore recently critiqued the council’s new bylaws, questioning the council at a public meeting as to why so many changes were made. She expressed her concern that many of the mayor’s duties have been taken away in the new bylaws. The council, supported by its attorney, responded to Sciancalepore’s comments on the bylaws explaining that the bylaws must comply with the language of the state statute covering the conduct and authority of the mayor and the borough council, and the bylaws were rewritten to do so. �� and will even leave a piece of chocolate on �� your pillow �� FREE ESTIMATE – REGULAR PRICES �� & FLOORING �� The birds are singing, the bees are buzzing…. And your paint is peeling. Don’t let peeling paint ruin the season. Call GSG Painting today and receive your next paint project! 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