Page 20 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • April 17. 2013 Area One of the area’s best-known spring fundraisers, the Volunteer Center’s Derby Day Party, is scheduled for Saturday, May 4. The event will be held from 3:30 to 7 p.m. at Apple Ridge Country Club, 269 East Crescent Avenue in Mahwah. The volunteer center’s 21st annual Derby Day party promises a winning combination of savory southern food, signature cocktails, wine tasting, great music, prizes and special auctions, the famous Winner’s Circle and Wine Pull, and the viewing of the Kentucky Derby on monitors throughout the venue. A new feature will be a cigar rolling demo on the outdoor patio courtesy of Maxum Cigars. Guests are encouraged to dress in festive, casual-elegant attire. In the spirit of the Kentucky Derby, trophies will be given for the “Most Elegant Hat” for the women and “Most Outrageous Tie” for the men. A preview of the auction items can be viewed at http:// bergenvolunteers.org/derby_day.htm. Auction items include a Sharp Aquos 52” Sharp LED Smart TV, weekend getaway at Burn Brae Mansion in Glen Spey, New York, tickets to area events, and more. The event is sponsored by TD Bank, Compensation Solutions, 201 Magazine/Bergen.com, Inserra Shop Rite, OritaniBank Charitable Foundation, Synetek Solutions, United Water, Atlantic, Tomorrows Office and numerous benefactors of the Volunteer Center of Bergen County. Funds raised at this event will support the work of the Volunteer Center of Bergen County, which for 46 years has strengthened the community by connecting people with opportunities to serve, operating direct service volunteer programs, building capacity for effective volunteering, and participating in strategic partnerships that meet community needs. The Volunteer Center of Bergen County’s programs include: • Two mentoring programs are helping more than 100 abused or neglected children and over 50 overwhelmed mothers see and take steps to achieve a brighter future. • The Chore Volunteer Handyman Service, which is keeping more than 1,500 seniors safe in their own homes. • Bergen LEADS, with monthly seminars led by former County Executive William “Pat” Schuber, is developing a Volunteer center to host annual Derby Day Party Attendees making their selections from the buffet at last year’s Derby Day Party. new generation of community leaders schooled in issues of critical importance to Bergen County. • The Business Volunteer Council sponsors initiatives that benefit children and families in need. The work center’s initiatives include: • The All Wrapped Up holiday giving program which generated over $400,000 in resources for people in need during the recent holiday season. • An expanded roster of training geared toward helping nonprofits increase their management capacity. • The 2013 Guide to Volunteering and the searchable online database link to thousands of prospective volunteers with 1,100 volunteer jobs at over 330 agencies. • Youth service activities that help students, schools, and groups become engaged in the community. “A movement growing is growing out of the current economic climate, an interest in civic engagement, an appetite by Americans to pull together to help their neighbors,” said Janet Sharma, the volunteer center’s executive director. “We are uniquely positioned to play an important role in shaping how Bergen County residents respond to needs in our community.” Tickets to the Derby Day event are $100 per person. To make reservations, to inquire about corporate sponsorship, or for further information, call (201) 489-9454 or visit www.bergenvolunteers.org and click on the Derby Day link. The Volunteer Center of Bergen County strengthens the community by connecting people with opportunities to serve, operating direct service volunteer programs, building capacity for effective volunteering, and participating in strategic partnerships that meet community needs. Borough opposes public meetings law (continued from page 14) The council also opposes the proposal that comprehensive minutes must include each member’s stated reason for his or her actions or vote, the identity of each member of the public who spoke, a summary of what was said, and they must be made available to the public as soon as possible, but no later than 60 days after the meeting. The council claims that will not only be costly, but the historical value of minutes will be lost in order to meet an arbitrary deadline. The council claims the bills’ new requirement that the public be allowed to speak for a minimum of three minutes at the start of a public meeting without the ability of the public body to limit the length of the public comment could disrupt public meetings, lead to filibustering and could prevent the governing body from conducting business. “The provisions of S-2511 and A-3713 place financial, time, manpower, and other burdens on municipalities at a time when municipalities are forced to lay off municipal employees, impose furloughs, and reduce departmental budgets,” the council states in its resolution, “so that municipalities can meet the strict tax levy cap requirements with decreased revenues and increasing operating expense.” The council also opposes the legislation because there would be a significant cost to local and state government with no known appropriation contemplated to cover that cost, or any alternate means to offset those costs. In addition, the provisions of the legislation do not apply to the state legislature which is exempt from the requirements that the bill places placed on municipalities. The council strongly urges the state to remove the various exceptions in the open public meetings law that apply to the Legislature, stating that the rules that the legislation makes applicable to other governmental bodies should apply equally to all governmental levels and officials.