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December 5, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 25
Bergen County Executive Kathleen A. Donovan recently announced four appointees to the Bergen Community College Board of Trustees. The executive’s new appointees are Anthony Miller of Mahwah and Dr. Jo-Anne Mecca of Leonia. For reappointment, she nominated E. Carter Corriston and Michael Neglia. All appointments are for four-year terms. Miller formerly served as the deputy superintendent of schools for the Bergen County Vocational-Technical School District during his 31-year tenure in the county vocational school system. He retired in 2006 after serving as the board secretary for the Waldwick Board of Education. Donovan said Miller’s “extensive experience and knowledge of the county vocational high school system will help develop closer, more synergistic ties between the vocational system and the county college, which is a goal of my administration. In addition, his experience in education administration will help BCC continue to adjust to the fiscal efficiencies that have been implemented over the past two years.” She added, “All these candidates possess the skills and experience I want to ensure that the college is running efficiently and is fulfilling its mission to the people of Bergen County.” Dr. Mecca is a professional educator and currently serves as director of the Center for Teacher Preparation and Partnerships at New Jersey City University in Jersey City. She holds a doctorate degree in adult learning and leadership from Columbia University Teacher’s College and master’s degree in counseling from New Jersey City University. Donovan said Dr. Mecca “has outstanding academic credentials and will provide board leadership in the critical area of assisting education and continuing education opportunities for adults.” Corriston is an Englewood Cliffs resident and an attorney and senior principal/president of Breslin & Breslin of Hackensack. Corriston, who currently serves as the chair-
Donovan announces appointees to college board
man of the College Board, has been praised by Donovan for his role in steering the college through a leadership transition that led to the hiring of new college president Dr. B. Kaye Walter. Corriston was first appointed to the board in 1993 and served as its chairman from 1997 to 2004. He resumed the chairmanship in 2008, continuing in that role to the present. “The transition to new leadership was critical for the institution and I commend Mr. Corriston for the professionalism and integrity he brought to the process,” said Donovan. “He has worked closely with me and my administration to create transparency and accountability at Bergen Community College and restored the college to its mission.”
Neglia, an engineer and president of Neglia Engineering Associates of Lyndhurst, is being re-nominated, said Donovan, for his “outstanding job as chairman of the College Construction Committee during a period when substantial investments were made in the college’s infrastructure.” Neglia is a certified municipal engineer and professional planner and has served on the College Board since 2007. Donovan has also written to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie strongly urging him to reappoint Phil Ciarco to the board. Ciarco, who serves as chairman of the Strategic Planning and Issues Committee, is a gubernatorial appointment. “Phil Ciarco has been a tireless advocate for the college and its students; we need him,” Donovan said.
Railroad crossing fatality
(continued from page 5) they expedite the process so someone else doesn’t get seriously injured or killed at this intersection. If it saves one life, it’s well worth the minimal investment.” According to Franklin Lakes Borough Administrator Gregory Hart, the railroad was scheduled to install safety gates and make other safety improvements at this railroad crossing this month, weather permitting. On the night of the accident, Cohen and two of his friends, Marcus Ruta and Joseph Belasco, were returning from a snowboarding trip to Campgaw Mountain in Mahwah when Cohen’s vehicle was traveling south on Pulis Avenue and collided with New York Susquehanna & Western Railway freight train that was moving west and had already passed the railroad crossing intersection. Freight trains often block the railroad crossing to switch tracks in order to back up onto a railroad siding east of Pulis Avenue. The borough’s police department reported at the time that the passengers were extricated from the demolished vehicle by the Franklin Lakes Fire Department and Ruta, the front seat passenger, who did not have his seat belt on, was pronounced dead at the scene. Cohen and Belasco were transported to Hackensack Medical Center by the Franklin Lakes Ambulance Corps. The borough police department’s preliminary investigation indicated that Cohen’s vehicle struck the locomotive’s side near the stairway leading to the engineer’s cabin as it traveled at a slow rate of speed through the crossing while the traffic safety warning equipment at the crossing was working properly, the red lights were flashing, and the alarm bells were ringing when the accident occurred. According to police, a witness to the accident claimed the train’s horn was blowing at the time of the accident and the traffic traveling northbound, on the other side of the railroad crossing, had stopped in response to those warning signals and was waiting for the train to pass.